Julius

Thank you so much for the help Bad Hide

I am planning on making my first few wallets etc. I was wondering what's the best type of leather to go about doing this? I know I should aim for 3 / 4 oz leather. Where I'm stumped is veg tanned tooling/carving leather or veg tanned skirting leather? I am planning on ordering from W&C. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

thank you for this information. I try to avoid all plated hardware, and opt for SS or solid brass when I get the chance just from a quality standpoint, but didn't take nickel allergies into consideration. Definitely would not want people coming back for those reasons or spoil what would've been a great gift for a loved one.

i envy you guys. my studio is pretty laughable, but hey...I have fun and get things done in there I will have to take notes here when I get some space to fully dedicate to this hobby

thank you for the clarification TwinOaks! When I first became interested in leatherworking, before I even touched a tool, I did some reading up on everything and found a glossary online about some terms. Bookmarked this link http://www.natanning.com/natcorpleather_glossary.htm . I took that definiton for weight as true and never questioned it. So to the original poster, see there is never a dumb question because there are people who either want to know the same thing, or people who are misinformed like me hehe. TwinOaks

check out weaverleather.com for hardware

Never a stupid question here. Basically as mentioned before, the weight of leather is measured in ounces per square foot. So the heavier the leather, the thicker it will be. As far as coloring, I would use dye thats meant for leather such as Fiebing's etc. There are homemade dyes that work well such as Vinegaroon if you're looking for black, crushed walnut shells, coffee and so forth. Using the search function on this forum will give you plenty of info on what you're looking for. Cheers!

has anyone found these belt buckles?

I have also experienced lousy service from Siegel. I made an order for 3-4oz leather hide and never received it. I spoke to a lady who said they would ship it whenever they had more in supply, and it has been awhile. I did receive part of the order however (a 8-9oz double back), but I believe I was charged for the complete order. I completely forgot about this order until running into this post. On another occasion, I have had to email multiple times concerning hardware (buckles) that I was interested in. When I get a response, It would be forgotten and I'd have to double check. I had an inquiry about a certain buckle they used to offer, and after no response I just gave up on that. They have great stuff, but I am left with this bitter taste in my mouth.

The packing tape tip is a great and easy method to keep your leather from distorting

King's X has some very good advice. The way I did it though was a tad on the impulsive side. I wanted to get my hands dirty ASAP. I am fortunate to have a Tandy store close to me, so I drove that day and bought one of the kits. They mentioned they offered free classes, but you had to have your own tools which conveniently were all in the kit that I purchased that day. The kit however wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be. I learned that I am not too much into the design/tooling aspect of leatherworking, so the kit was essentially a bust. What I did enjoy was cutting and creating items like belts etc. I bought all the tools I needed to make belts, and it's been a blast since then. Figure out what you enjoy first as cheaply as possible and roll with it. Good luck and enjoy!

As Rhonda mentioned, those graphite artist pencils work well for marking. They are easy to take off the leather as well, as long as it's dark. The markings rub off easily or you can gently use an eraser.

Greetings everyone! I am new to the forum and would just like to introduce myself. I look forward to learning and providing whatever help that I can. Seems like a great group here!

Beautiful work there. Looks like you spent a good amount of time on the details.