Artimus

What's the difference between the "saddlemaker's groover" and the regular groover? I'm more referring to the less expensive models offered, probably by Tandy and the like. ($15.00 - $25.00).

Sylvia, those are actually cool, too. maybe I should get them all! I just found the Craftool at Colonel Carters.... $7.99. I hope it's in stock. http://colonelcarters.com/682leathercrafttool.aspx

I've been looking for this stamp (Below). I found that Tandy used to sell it. And I found someone on Etsy who used to sell it. Other than that, I'm out of luck. From what I saw, I think Crafftool made it. My last name is Shell, so this would be perfect for my maker's mark.

Thanks, Northmount!

Again, I'm new to leather work. I was about to start playing with / practicing snaps and rivets. Jeez, there's no single place that I've found that even explains it all in easy to follow ways. After two days of researching, I've figured out a little. But isn't there somewhere out there that explains the different types of snaps and rivets? And the sizes (i.e. line 20, line 24) and which size goes with which size of leather (oz or mm)? And the different lengths of the posts. And which snaps are good for which applications. (i.e. Line 20 with ___ size post for ___ oz leather). And what's up with that title for the sizing, "Line" (this is answered below) It seems like it'd be an easy chart to create. It's got to be out there somewhere. For the fun of it, during my research I discovered the answer to the "Line" question. From Wikipedia - The ligne (from the French word meaning "line") is a unit of length that was in use prior to the French adoption of the metric system in the late 18th century, and is still used by French and Swiss wristwatch makers to measure the size of a watch movement. In the 9th century the term ligne came into use among German button makers, where it was used to measure the diameter of buttons. The consensus definition was that a ligne was the measurement of a round wick, folded flat. In this sense it measures 1⁄40 of an inch, but not exactly, for there were several inches in the kingdoms and petty states of Germany at that time. Such a measurement became the American measurement called "line," being one-fortieth of the US-customary inch. Its use was again to measure buttons, and was probably introduced by German immigrants. The ligne system is in some instances still in use for buttons or snap buttons, where the size number of the button refers to ligne.

This is ROUGH leather work, but I had the same problem. Found this scrap of leather and just sewed it right to the back of a scaramanga bag. It's ugly but effective.

Maybe that's the problem. The type of leather.

Then I must not have the leather wet enough. because I think one side of the leather mallet is toast. And one of the stamps (a foot symbol) never did leave a deep impression in the leather to even be seen. So more water?

am new x 10. What hammer should I use to stamp into leather? Letters (1/4 inch), numbers (1/4 inch) and symbols, etc. I thought I'd read that you shouldn't use a metal hammer, so I happen to have a rubber mallet. Tried that first. It worked, somewhat, but it's too soft. I got a rawhide mallet, but after a few hits already, the leather in the mallet head is deforming. I've read somewhere on here about a dead blow hammer, too. For clarification, I'm stamping, not carving. Just pounding an image into the face of the leather. In the end, what hammer, relatively inexpensive, to use for stamping letters into thick leather?