Forums

What have you been up to lately? Show it here! If you want a critique, just ask! Our members willingly share their knowledge and experience.

Please post your introductions, your pictures and your website links in your own thread. Let's get to know each other and the kind of leatherwork we do!

Ask the members...between us, we have made it at least once, or can figure it out. Some of us have even made mistakes that we can share, and keep you from wasting time and money.

Don't know where to post? If it's about leatherwork, put it here.

Do you have pictures of an old shop? Antique tools? Stories of long ago masters? Information gleaned from dusty forgotten books? We are the keepers of a ten thousand year old tradition, and we enjoy learning about what was as much as what is.

Links, periodicals, books, Guilds and other professional organizations, trade show and demonstration announcements go here.

Where to find what you need.

Discuss ways to improve your business and increase your profits. Whether you do custom work or stock vendors, your business cannot grow if people don't know about it. From flyers to websites, how to make sales.

If you are looking for a leatherworker to meet your request, post your message here. If you are a leatherworker wanting work, keep your eye on this forum.

Hey, we all start somewhere? What kind of tools and supplies do you need? Are there any helpful books? How can you get going now that you have been bitten by The Leather Bug? Post your newbie questions here, and let the more experienced folks help you through the initiation. The only dumb questions are the ones not asked!

Leatherworkers need sharp tools to do the best work. Find out how to sharpen knives and blades, and share your success stories!

Leather tools have specialized uses. Learn about available tools, how to care for them, sharpening, and safety.

Lighter weight leathers can be sewn on home machines, but the tough stuff requires commercial or industrial sewing machines. They can be tricky to set up and operate, but can't be beat for production work.

Leather clickers, burnishers, splitters, and other leather machinery that doesn't sew.

Discuss computer driven 3D printers, engraving and milling machines, laser cutters and their software and resources

Learn how to create your own, or how to use standard patterns.

Whether you sew by hand or by machine, stitching can add beauty and durability to your work. Discuss lacing, appliqué, embroidery and the like here.

From whips to purse straps, braiding leather is an art of its own.

Snaps, rivets, clasps, D & O rings, conchos and the like. Your project needs hardware that can handle the stress placed on it, and retain its appearance through the years.

It takes special expertise to use exotic leathers and furs. Find out more about these "rare" critters here.

Latigo & Harness Leathers are treated with waxes and oils to resist water and limit stretching. Garment leather is not just from cows, it includes deerskin, pigskin, goatskin, sheepskin, suede/splits, and other lightweight leathers. Upholstery leather is heavier weight and may require a commercial machine. Rawhide is not tanned, and has excellent properties for forming. It is not the leather your shoelaces are made from. Vegetable tanned leather is the only type of leather that will absorb water enough to stamp or carve.

Sometimes called "Sheridan", or Traditional Western Style, it is the familiar scrolls, western roses and leaves brought to North America by the Spanish and used in California, Arizona, Porters etc

Any scene can be represented on leather. Figure carving can be embossed or not.

Geometric tools, basketweave, 3D stamps and alphabet and number sets. Learn to make patterns to suit your style.

The chemical department. Coloring and accenting your work, protecting it from the elements and ravages of time, care and maintainance of leather, and preservation and restoration of old leather.

Bridles, reins, harnesses and more... Do you know how to fit your animal for comfort and safety?

Protect your weapons with style and safety. Law enforcement, hunting, self protection, sharp shooting, target practice.

Not all saddlebags are on horses! Bikers like quality gear they can depend on, and making and maintaining hard used leather is a challenge to any leatherworker. Show off your work! Teach the world how leatherworkers make bikes beautiful.

The bread-n-butter of leatherworkers, the things we carry or wear every day.

LARP (Live Action Role Playing) SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism)Fantasy, Buckskinners, Muzzleloaders, Civil War buffs, Native American Regalia, and other period leatherwork.

Churches, camps, scouts, and home schooled kids love leatherwork. Share projects that worked, or stories of what didn't. How to we keep leatherwork a dynamic art form? Each one, teach one.

Clothing, art, bookbinding, boots & shoes, luggage, taxidermy, upholstery, working with furs, dog collars and harnesses, toolbelts, etc What is your specialty?
 

Leatherworker.net News to know!

We have a lot going on here! See here for the latest scoop on board activities. Post your ideas, too!

How can we improve? Leatherworker.net wants to be the main place for leatherwork conversation. All comments appreciated.

We all have real lives. Share a birthday message, wish holiday greetings, post links of interest for IRL (in real life) stuff. Rant and rave, any subject. Congratulate a soldier, mourn a loss, share a laugh, a comment, some wisdom. We're more than leatherworkers, we're people with jobs, families, hobbies, happy times, sad times. General discussion of any topic, leather related or not.

Learn to resize images, do backups, create web pages and solve other computer problems with expert help from our members.

Cameras, light-boxes, pictures for sales brochures, websites, advertisements, catalogs and record keeping. Take realistic pics like a pro to show off your work to the best advantage.

Please read the Marketplace rules here. Your participation in this forum means you agree to them.

Artwork/pictures Bags, Luggage and Cases BDSM Gear Belts Chaps and Chinks Chessboards Clocks Harness Holsters and Gunbelts Jewelry, and Watchbands Motorcycle Gear Rodeo Gear Saddles and Horse Gear Wallets, Handbags and Purses Whips

Clicking, dyeing, tanning, commercial sewing, upholstery, straps, toolmaking, molds and dies, knife and blade sharpening, sewing machine repair, machine repair, computer and internet services, web design, printing, credit card processing and anything else leatherworkers may need and use.

Swap, buy, sell, barter, exchange...What are YOU looking for?

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