kiltedcelt

I'd like to make a satchel type bag for carrying my laptop when I'm out in the field, bushwhacking. Ideally I'd like it to be tough and as weather proof as I can make it in case things turn inclement when I'm out in the field. I'm planning on dressing it up with some tooling but otherwise I want to keep it pretty utilitarian. Any thoughts as to design, how to seal the leather, etc?

I'm not entirely new to leatherworking but I feel I have a couple of newbie-ish questions. I've made a few leather quivers (I'm into archery) and I'm looking to make more and do some other things like arm guards and even some non-archery related things like a laptop bag/satchel. I have a few 5-7 oz. tooling sides and my question about them regards the flesh side of the hide. In all cases, the hides I have the flesh side is rather rough in appearance. Also, these are un-dyed hides which I prefer to dye myself to get the colors I want. In some instances the roughness of the flesh side of the hide doesn't cause any problems, however in other instances such as making arm guards, I'd rather have a smoother surface on that side of the hide. How do you get a smooth finish on the flesh side? Am I the victim of buying poorly prepared hides? I could swear I've seen veg-tan tooling leather (un-dyed), that had a smooth surface on the flesh side. I've tried sanding and scraping and that just seems to keep messing things up and frankly I think if you tried too much you'd end up with a lower weight hide simply by removing too much from the flesh side. Now, for the second part of the question. I'd like to get into doing some tooling as well and while I understand the principle and have even seen a minor demonstration of tool usage from a fellow (much more experienced) leatherworker, I'm stuck as to where to begin with tools. I mainly want to stick to mostly simplistic geometric designs. Cross-hatched designs, linear kinda stuff, a bit of Celtic knotwork, that sort of thing. Not a lot of flowery Al Stohlman western saddle type stuff. That's not my style. Should I just pick up a Stohlman book, because I'm assuming the techniques are going to be the same regardless of the design? Also, anyone have any suggestions of basic tooling stamps to get started doing simple patterns? I think I'd like to steer away from sets because most of them seem to have duds in them that I'd never see using. Also, one final question. I've done all my stitching up until now with 1/8" thonging chisels and waxed linen cord. I'd like to continue that route because I like the look of the linen cord but I want to get smaller stitches. I see that the next size down in a thonging chisel is only 3/32 - a whopping 1/32 smaller in size which I think is still not going to be as fine of a stitch as I'd like. Am I looking at using one of those roller wheel tools and going along and using an awl to punch out individual tiny holes much closer together? Or, is there a tool (aside from a sewing machine), that will allow me to make finer stitch holes? Or, am I wrong in thinking of making finer holes because maybe the smaller the hole and the closer together the stitches, the more likely the seam will not be as strong? Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks in advance if you can point me in the right direction.