Glendon

If your not loving the pigskin, try thin goat or kipskin.

Not a bad idea if you comfortable with doing it. It is a skill that takes some practice.

Let's see, this will be spendy but fun. Keep in mind I'm taking the post as written and talking shop set up here, not insanely good starter tools. Leather Wranglers round knife (working on this one) Restored Landis 5 in 1 Rivet press setter Manual clicker press New plough gauge Custom bench with in set stamping stone Full set of common oblong punches Full set of common strap end punches Laser cutter for cutting patterns and custom stamps Unlimited line of credit at a good clicker die shop

My first thought was plastic. Not pretty, but functional. Ohio Travel Bag has some options.

The kits are pretty basic, but are a good place start if you are beginning from zero. If you have done other small leather projects and have the basics down, the Big House Daddy patterns are pretty easy to follow.

Hi all, Would anyone have a good process or trick to laying out an accordion gusset for a particular size of bag? The Art of Making Cases has a good example, but I'm having a heck of a time scaling it. I can't seem to figure out the math.

Personally I like water stones for leather tools. Oil stones are a bit messy with leather around in my opinion. I would love to have a diamond stone set, but the are pretty expensive.

I'm with Dan. I use small backless stools for my work. I tend to buy doctors type stools that can be raised as needed.

Yep. That about sums it up. I ran up on this same issue looking for a Japanese alphabet stamp set. You will likely have to have them made. There are a number of stamp makers that do sets like this. They will run a few hundred to 1k depending.

I personally use two bins. One for larger cuts I could get wallet backs, a few coasters, or the like out of. The other is for key fobs, bracelets, hardware tabs, ect. Anything so small I can't look at and see something being cut out of gets tossed. It takes some discipline for sure.

If you want to buy cheaper leather for practice, find a supplier in your country that sells scrap leather. Thee is enough economy and mid grade stuff out there. You don't want top quality as a beginner but you don't want unknown quality either.

I would second the Valerie Michael book. It is a great all around intro book. Al's techniques are great, but I think the explanations and illustrations in Valerie's book are a bit better.

As I'm sure you figured out, the price of bags is not materials. It's all labor and mark up. If you have the time to spend, making your own will be a lot cheaper.

Really you need to try a few things and see what works for you if you don't have a way you were taught. When I started in leather, I bought a set of digital calipers. I used them a lot at first, but I rarely pull them anymore. I find the simpler plastic gauge easier and faster to grab when I need to double check a piece of leather.

I would strongly suggest you pick up the Handy Gauge by Black River Laser http://www.ebay.com/itm/HANDY-GAUGE-LEATHER-OZ-GAUGE-CRAFTAID-LEATHER-CRAFT-/130978443726?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e7eec71ce You really can't get a feel for leather thickness until you've handled it and actually seen the numbers.

Well, I don't know anywhere that has heavier strips in stock right now, but here is a lead to chase down. Horween is the main supplier of horse leather in the U.S. Here is a link to the businesses that stock their leather. http://horween.com/stockists/ You might be able to track down someone who has the thicker strips in stock.

I would second the Springfield suggestion. A bit more money, but it will really get you started. Plus Springfield is just a good business to support. Springfield is a local small business that will get you off to a good start in leatherwork.

If you're looking for something a bit uncommon, belt loop clips would be easy to make out of those. A snap or rivet and a snap hook would be all the hardware needed.

Ya, good pricking irons are not cheap. Tandy expects everyone to start off with the overstitch wheel. Honestly, I use lacing chisels for both lacing and stitching. Some people really don't like that look though, and you can argue that it is a weaker stitch then an awl. I would go with one of the offerings from Goods Japan. The Japanese tools really are the best middle ground between quality and price right now.

Ya, you laugh about the blood until you slip with a stropped blade. If this is your first hands on hobby as it sounds like it might be, please do develop a safety mind set. As far as needles go, I'd go cheap and get a lot of them. Sewing leather is not like sewing fabric. You will go through a few learning hole sizes and the power needed to sew thick leather.

Everything looks good to me. That set should get you started just fine. The safety ruler is your friend in leatherwork. Because the tools for leather have to be so sharp, keep in mind that the best safety equipment is your own head. Don't rush or you will bleed.

No sure on that one. One of the old timers probobly know exactly what it is, but my bet would be just something random that made it past the tanning process. Remember that skins are not harvested for quality first. They are a byproduct of meat packing so the tanners kind of get what they get.

As far as how long a hide would last, mostly leather is leather. It will all last. The difference between the cheap stuff and the primo leather is mainly the amount of good clean usable leather per square foot. The enonomy stuff is enconomy not because of inharent flaws inside the leather, but the amount of range marks, holes, fatty areas, clamp marks, burns, ect, that is on the hide.

Waterhouse Leather will also skive on request, and they have some thin veg tan on special right now. http://www.waterhouseleather.com/econo_veg_45.htm Usually veg tan is not done on hides less then about 4oz. My thinking is because the main point of veg tan is that you can stamp it, and stamping would not work well on anything real thin. Most people use thiner chrome tan for things that thin. However, like we said, if you want thin veg tan because you want to dye it or whatever, you will just have to make a special request at a supplier that offers skiving.

Hi all, Has anyone ordered from http://www.leathercrafttools.com/ ? I am wondering how reliable they are. I would like to pick up a couple of the newer Japanese leathercraft books. I went to the old standby Goods Japan. On a side note, its pretty amazing how fast those guys became a standard supplier. While their tool and supply pricing is just fine, the books they sell are pretty high up there. So if anyone has experence with leathercrafttools.com, I would apprecate a quick review. Thanks..