All Activity

Welcome to the forum 🙂 There is a lot of good information to be found here on various leather projects. The best advice I feel I can give- is that many of the "complete tool sets" that are for sale are not of a very good quality, and will often contain things you might not use. Instead buy a couple of individual items and learn to use them, then you can always buy more if there is a specific thing you like/need. A good starting point is: A utility knife. marking wheel, diamond awl, a hole cutter (Lidl has a remarkably good one), a block of cork to act as backing for the diamond awl, some thread, a small pack of leather needles, some beeswax for the thread, a steel rule, a cutting mat. With the tools mentioned above, you can get a lot done. The next things I would get are: A stitching groover, an edge beveler, a skiving knife, sharpening tools for the skiving knife. It all depends on the type of leatherwork you would like to do. If you are going to focus on carving, you need some other tools, but those just mentioned will get you a long way in terms of hand sewing general items. If you plan to use a lot of rivets in your work, you are going to need a hammer and a small anvil too. Brgds Jonas

Here is one of my black powder shooting bags. I used 'Buck-tanned' cow to bind the edges.

Plus one on Montana Leather. Part of that same business family is Oregon Leather. And my other go to is Mavrick Leather in Bend, Oregon. I have bought from Maker's Leather from Texas, but only at shows. That being said, I was happy with what I got from them

Greetings and welcome to the craft. You sound committed to continuing, great. Others have mentioned Tandy, and that's great. I would add that if you get to actually know the folks at Tandy, you can talk to them when you order and tailor your order to your needs. Also, some good deals on tools can be found on eBay. Just be sure to shop around for the better price.

I have never felt the need for 'irons' in the decades I've been doing this. I have several marker wheels, 5-10 stitches per inch, and several sizes of awls. It is far faster and a lot easier.

Howdy all. I’m starting to collect some tools as I begin my journey into this craft and I’m currently trying to figure out what style and size pricking iron/stitching chisel to get. I was leaning towards getting both a 4mm and a 3mm set to start to cover my bases, but what are your recommendations? Any reason to get a French style over a diamond? I’ve been looking at particularly Kevin Lee tools as the reviews are great and the price is very nice https://kevinleathertools.com/products/kl-basic-upgrade-pricking-iron?VariantsId=10715 https://kevinleathertools.com/products/upgrade-basic-diamond-iron?VariantsId=11398 For context, my goal is to try to make some belts, knife sheaths, and holsters eventually. For now, I’m planning on trying some smaller projects as well such as valet trays, wallets, and dog collars. Thanks!

To piggyback on Tandy if you get on their website and look up your local store they offer classes you could go to typically they are kits you’ll have to buy but they will help you put it together and let you borrow the tools you need for it. That way you can get a feel for what you need. My local store has an open table on Saturday and you can bring in a project that you’re working on and need some help with. I don’t know if all stores have that but it helped me get started tooling.

If you're into the armor/cosplay leathercraft, you need to check out the Prince Armory warrior helmet kit from Weaver. It may be available elsewhere to, but I know weaver has it for sure. It might be a little pricey ($98) for a beginner, but all the pieces are cut and hardware is included, along with instructions. A kit is sometimes the better way to learn some basic skills. You may need to buy some tools, don't go all out and spend a fortune on them. Go with the cheap tools first and figure out what you use and don't use. I got a shop full of expensive unused tools. I started with hobby lobby kits before taking a serious plunge into the craft. Then I went to my nearest tandy (5 hour drive at the time) and bought a pattern pack, a side, some tools, thread etc. to make a western style gun rig for my 44. After a couple trips to tandy I started shopping online because the drive. I knew weaver was reputable and I started doing most of my leather and tool buying through them. As I developed skills and knowledge of what I was looking for, I have since found several sources to go to depending what I'm needing. Weaver is still a top choice for most things, especially since they have a point program that does pay off, but they're super pricey compared to other suppliers out there.

I have had good luck with Montana Leather in Billings, MT. Get on their email list, they have specials frequently on different types of leather. Todd

Bro bringing the big boys to the game. Glad to see you didn't go with a snubby 500. They brake people lol The test got holster looks great. Can't wait to see what bling you're going to bring. I mean that 3 piece buckle set is more bling than I'm used to. Looks like a nice buckle set too

Chuck, I would love to meet you sometime. You are always one of the first to respond and you have a lot of useful knowledge. Thanks for being a great member here. I'm done sucking up lol So here's what I found on what this company is calling a back. It's not the double bend like you had mentioned. My mistake is asking Google, which is only as smart ad a toddler sometimes. When I asked the question, Google stated that the back cut is also known as a double bend. In this diagram the company sent me with a bunch of samples, it shows the back section as B/D or C/E. This is where my confusion in pricing comes in. It's just a trimmed side, no belly, no neck (head.) So I'm trying to understand why I would pay more for less at this point. Sure the belly is a source of wasted material, but there's still usable leather. I get the double bend being more of a premium, since hind quarters are usually the better sections of a side. Which is what i originally thought until... Google lol.

I tried talking him into black stitching, but he wouldn't budge on the color. I like black on natural better than white or cream. The contrast makes all the effort of hand stitching shine. From what I can tell with what little information I was able to find online and pictures, they don't typically make any cartridge or western style belts. Just the normal everyday belt. I'm still kinda perplexed by it. Long story short, they opened up so about 2 years ago. (I considered buying the business when the previous owner was retiring) Every time I try to go in to introduce myself, they're closed. They don't answer the phone and they don't return calls. That seems to be a pattern with some other people I've talked to. It would be nice to meet and work with some local makers though.

Thank you. This was the first time using that kind of bison. It's Utta shrunken bison in mocha flavor. I usually go with the Big Sky bison they sell but they were out of any decent colors at the time. I like the temper and feel of the Big Sky a little better, but the shrunken bison has such character that's it's hard not to like. It's heavier, and a little looser grain. I think it's stronger than the Big Sky and it doesn't stretch much considering the feel. I rarely get requests to use bison, so I usually buy the 2x3 pieces. A whole side would be nice but it's not cost efficient for me at this time of my journey. I'll be making a dog collar out of some of the leftover here shortly though. Billings is a long drive from my part of Montana, but some day I'll get out there and actually see the store. Problem is it'll take all my money for the gas to get there and I won't be able to splurge hahaha. I know that the employees there are some of the best I've dealt with long distance. It's a great company to work with.

You’re one mystery braid ahead of me. Looks like you’re headed the right way keep it up.

Been pretty happy with panhandle leather.

Looks like they donated a piece they couldn't sell.

Welcome! We all start somewhere. It's not bad, but as you say, room for improvement. Try to find a Tandy or something. Hobby lobby scrap bags are as described....

Goliger. Talk to Cheryl. http://www.goligerleather.us/index.htm

Very nice

Thanks. She really liked it when we dropped it off, especially the brand. It was kinda funny, when the show board changed the rule to have the kids give buyer’s gifts she came to our board meeting and told us she didn’t like the rule change. Fast forward a couple years to when we dropped the purse off she said she remembered coming to the meeting and telling us she disagreed with the rule, then she said, with a big smile on her face “but now look at what I got”. I thought it was kinda funny.

You’re right about a strange situation. But your end of it turned out looking pretty dang good. Hope the other place doesn’t mess up your nice work.

So #20 is 135 and I on;y have brown. #15 is 210 and I have a few colors there… I can check specifics tomorrow

...$800 - save it from going to ebay!

Hey all, Cutting to the point, where do you buy your leather online? (Everyone loves a good price, but I’m looking more at quality of product and customer service…) I just got 4 dbl shoulders through Tandy’s website in the hopes that I might get better quality directly from the warehouse than in-store (just got a couple sides that had significant flaws that weren’t obvious by looking at them). Unfortunately, it seems that they sent us the smallest and worst pieces that they had. I would have passed on all 4 in the store. So where do you like to buy, and just as importantly, where do you avoid? Thanks, and may you never burn your bacon, AZR

I like it. Beautiful!