bizbeblu

As has already been mentioned, the Foredom is really a must have tool for so many kinds of work. They mount up out of the way with a flex shaft and a grip in which whatever tool can be chucked. Speed is variable and controlled by a foot pedal. I do many things with it including burnishing. A hardwood shaped wheel and your secret sauce for finishing. The leatherburnisher guys make some beauties out of Cocobola. Best deals I've seen on Foredoms have been at Otto Frei and sometimes at Rio Grande supply in Albuquerque. Actually there are a number of excellent jewelers' tools (like for silversmiths) that work perfectly on leather. Robert

Andy, You have certainly nailed it. The three most important things in the creation of anything are quality, quality, quality. (Now I might make an exception for say sand bagging a rapidly rising river to try to save the town. In that case it would be sand bag, sand bag, sand bag No one can ever accuse me of not being a tool aficionado. As a carpenter/builder of some 40 years experience I have got the best of every thing and in some cases more than one. I'm trying to get a handle on how much difference a - let's call them handmade, artisan made, non-massproduced or whatever - and the Craptools I currently own. Clearly, with the possible exception of the Al Stohlman stuff, it's all made at the lowest possible price. I'm sure better tools can assist in finer work. With the Craptools at least I can make the long drive to the big city and pick the stamp up and examine it. For others, like yourself, how do I know what I'm getting, and perhaps most important if the stamps are $25+ @ which tools are going to make the most difference in my work? In my thinking bevelers are among the most important (I do a lot of old school floral and such). I have I guess 5 Tandy models only one of which is worth a ****. Then I think of some of the erratic stuff I get from basket weave tools. I'm convinced that they are not bilaterally symmetrical. I really do want better tools in no small part because of how long I have them in my hand and also to make finer products. Perhaps some of the tool makers here can make suggestions of what would be the best pieces to start with and how to know what I'm getting. (Is there a return policy perhaps?) Robert You are of course absolutely correct that CNC can make crap. It is a function of the design, the quality of the programming that runs the machine, how well the machine is maintained, and of course the quality of the raw material going in. CNC's strength is control of repeatability and we've all seen in say WallyWorld 10,000 absolutely identical ugly widgets.

Now there's a great idea! Stamping on the dead I've been wanting a bigger stone and that was a excellent suggestion.

Moveable type, if you can get it in a large enough size, could make an excellent way to stamp leather. After all, printing use to be a "stamping" process. Great idea. I'm going to start looking around.

Crafttools 1/2" letter stamps appears to be a bastardized version of Helvetica which is a very old sans serif font. Their 3/4" sets likely were created by someone who was obviously NOT a typographer as they contain contradictory elements and have no sense of leading or any of the other things important to a font. The one labeled "leather art" is particularly odd. Their "script" font is also bizarre. Considering how useful it would be to be able to stamp names on products, it is disappointing how poorly the 3 sets I have work and look. I've started to cut and finish my personalizations by creating the name via most any font using computer program, Photoshop, Illustrator, even Word. I can scale them to exactly what the work piece. needs apply all typographical conventions, and then print them out on acetate sheets to transfer to leather. I've decided that the alphabet stamps (at least from Tandy) were wasted money. Robert

As noted by others, you are loosing a great deal of your stamping force due to the type of maul, the force absorption of the bench, and perhaps most important the concrete paver as a stamping surface. I understand that you are just starting out, but folks use polished granite slabs for a reason: it deflects (that is resists) a blow better than most other materials. Even stamping on a concrete floor won't help much because concrete is quite elastic. (That's one reason it is used in making highways.) I'd suggest you make purchasing a granite stone your highest priority and then a good maul. If you are careful you can use a 16 oz carpenter's hammer in the interim. Robert

I remember when growing up my granddad use to say, "Nothing wrong with my eyes, it's just that my arms have gotten too short." I wrote it off as old folk talk, but while I'd never admit to being old, it does appear that my arms have shrunk I have good light at my work bench including an overhead arm ring lamp so the work area is well lit. My problem seems to be - particularly when working a repetitive pattern like a basket weave - getting the foot to fit precisely in the previously stamped mark. It's clear that the edges of the tool (I'm using nothing but Craptools) are larger than the pattern itself. My hand holding the tool and the mallet cast a shadow so that it is hard to get a clear view of where to anchor the tool and how to see that it is lined up correctly on the other end. I've tried using one of those magnifying eye shades which doesn't seem to help. Trying to line up only from the side doesn't seem to work, so how do you folks see where the tool is on the work piece? I do understand that a perfect basket weave is a Carnage Hall sort of thing (practice, practice, practice), but even after doing a lot of it I seem to be struggling with actually seeing where I'm stamping. Any thoughts or descriptions of how you do it, greatly appreciated. Robert

3M "Transparency Film for Copiers" PP2500 or Universal "Laser Printer Transparency Film" 65125. Either or both available cheap at any big box office supply store. From the days of overhead projects (back when the world wasn't run by yet another powerpoint presentation If working from an existing paper pattern just copy the original onto the clear acetate (using the copy function of your all in one printer or a regular copier). Shrink or expand to desired size. If creating from a computer graphics program just print direct to the acetate. With transparency in hand I use a very small ball point modeling tool to trace pattern onto leather (works best if leather is cased). Always keep the printed side up as the ink will transfer to the leather. (The line of tracing scraps the ink off.) Drawbacks: generally single use, though I've done as many as four on one transparency. Size limited to 8.5x11. For bigger work one would have to section the pattern into smaller chunks. Never understood the value or reason for Tandy's way over price "tracing paper." Robert

OK, I'm going to play devil's advocate here. Please note that I'm not against handmade tools (in fact I love the concept and generally the execution and I've actually made a few simple ones myself). Still to categorically say handmade = good, machine made = bad is really false. The key to quality in both cases is the care taken in the the making. There are many reasons why manufacturing has evolved thru assembly lines, to machine aided - jig based, to CNC laser or other cutter/maker methods. One is obviously greater productivity. The capital investment in tools is generally cheaper than continuing to pay humans to do things by hand. We are also making a false comparison between mass-produced-cheap-as-possible Craptools and carefully made precision tools. I'm sure I'm not alone in noting that I have a rack or two of Craftools (some a couple of decades old), and I'm also sure I'm not alone in that fact that I curse at them with some degree of regularity. But there is another very important point here: repeatability and the ability to statistically check and control output. I'll state this bluntly: no hand made object can compete with a well designed and executed CNC machined product - say in this case a stamping tool. Assuming the maker maintains similar input material, keeps the equipment in working order, and samples regularly for variation, a CNC product will have minute variability and often much finer detail and also greater complexity. Put in a crude way: do you really want some guy in a shop somewhere hand shaping the pistons for your truck? I - and I suspect most of us who work with our hands - are predisposed to value hand made things. This makes sense when we are describing intimate objects (things we wear, keep close to us, use by hand) the variability in human making is a valuable thing. In tools I want quality, durability, and repeatability. I'm quite sure that Messrs. Hopkins, King, et. al., make beautiful tools though I've never used them. Will there be a time when CNC controlled machining will come to leather working tools? Don't know. It's a small market and the up front costs are significant. Food for thought and obviously not the last word on the subject, Robert

Art and BigGun, Thanks for the responses. Quite some time ago (maybe 20+ years?) I had a Pfaf on a large table/stand. Don't remember its specs, but I was sewing teepees from very heavy canvas. (Must have been more than 20 years now that I think about it ). Anyway I do remember that I basically couldn't bog it down even bringing together four hemmed pieces of treated duck. I did check some of the links located ever so often at the top of the page, but as always on the Internet, I don't know if I'm being fed something by Google or if these ads are site specific. Good to know they are "site approved." I have a fair amount of experience sewing in light leather - vests and such things - but would like to expand into large bags, boxes, satchels, etc. I've done a couple by hand and frankly life is too sweet to punch and stitch that thick of leather for very long. Guess I have that attention deficit thingy as I'd never last long enough to finish a saddle. The problem with Craigslist (and also its advantage) is that one doesn't have a clue if the person knows what they're talking about and if it is represented accurately. It's about 120 miles to an area that is served by Craigslist, so paying more to a dealer that would back one up makes sense. Thanks again, Robert

Interesting. Without having a clue that this was an "accepted practice" I got into using a resistance soldering machine with a broad tip to produce probably much the same effect. A resistance solderer creates an electrical current between the work piece and the active solder point. This of course won't work with leather cause it doesn't conduct electricity, but properly equipped they can also create the resistance within a given tip much like a standard soldering iron. Their advantage is that you can "dial up" temperature and work with a variety of tips. (I work in brass fairly often and stumbled across the idea of doing leather from that.) The keys for me were to clamp the edge to be worked securely along its full length with the edge barely above the clamping material and work the "stuff" (I've tried various combinations of carnauba and bee's wax) lightly, a very thin coat at a time. Knowing how to solder and also how to sweat copper helped, but it shouldn't be hard to learn. Unless you are producing work at a factory output level or maybe have really large pieces, the tools noted above look like overkill. I use a device no longer on the market, but American Beauty's are available in base configuration for about $300.

A good question. A master cabinet maker I apprenticed with briefly (too young/impatient to stay at it), always finished the backs of his cases just as well as the fronts. I asked him about it because no one would ever know the difference. His answer, "I know." I had no answer then and, even these many years later, still don't.

I've wasted a fair amount of time searching this via our overlord Google, but am not coming up with credible results. Part of the problem is that I don't know what is good and what is value in the used market. I have a nice Bernina that I use on thin leathers (like pigskin) but am looking for something that can stitch say a pair of 4-5 oz pieces. Maybe slightly more. I don't think I need anything more than a 10-12" throat. Anyone have a recommendation for brand, supplier, and information/advice on price? Would be greatly appreciated, Robert

Love the Mark Twain quote, but then he may be the greatest of all American philosophers. Can't imagine what delights and horrors wait in the Adult section (I know some folks that think leather is kinky, but . . .). Still I'm compelled to follow the crowd thru the doors. Hope it's not PT Burnam's "To the Egress." Oh, yeah, 18 was rather a long time ago. Robert

Nope. Probably never will be. As you all know, our fingers, eyes, and ears felt/heard/saw the less than perfect moments in the creation of our work. I've created beautiful basketwork stamped large purses that were wonderfully received and paid for. But I remember/see/feel each less than precise imprint of the tool. OCD? Maybe. I think we have to acknowledge that the process of creating is what is important and accept that the product, i.e. the point were we finally say, "I can't do anything more with this" will always be less than the ideal. Or to put it bluntly, if I could make a perfect thing, why would I bother? Robert

Jon, I'm not a great expert and in looking at your image I'm not exactly sure where your closure needs to go, but I've dealt with a somewhat similar situation, in building custom smartphone cases. On the inside of the case I embed a rivet back "super" magnet and line the inside of the case with pigskin. I then modify a double prong concho so that it pivots and after removing the second rivet glue the other side of the magnet in its place. I use CA and have had some of the cases in daily use for 4+ years without failure. Finding something to work as the active side of the clasp might be your biggest challenge. Most of my work comes out of the Spanish/geometric tradition so there are a number of decorated conchos that can work. I can provide a couple of quick pix if this might be of use to you. Robert

Wow! Thanks all for the suggestions. I have plenty of 3M's blue tape around. (I still work as a builder on the rare occasion that anyone can afford a home these days The Lexan is a good idea also. Will experiment. Thanks again to all, Robert

Thanks. Even when I lived in Seattle, I never got too much coffee. Making tape is an idea I hadn't considered. I thought of rubber cementing it to my granite block, but I have to move the work piece so much - particularly when I'm cutting - so that seemed impractical. Has anyone tried something like a thin sheet of metal (maybe not a good idea with leather) or perhaps laminate as a backing while working? Thinking thru it I can't see a problem but if someone has already done it, will save me a possible disaster Robert

Hi, just wandered in out of the sun. Literally. I've returned to working leather after a break of several years. A collection of old craft tools, a few specialized ones, a work bench. Currently I'm limited by my skill not my tools. I was scratching my head about a problem and the sudden thought, "Oh, bet there's a leather forum on the net somewhere!" Like I said, just came in out of the sun. I live in a very depressed town (mine closed) and sell a lot of work to Hispanic people. The winter folks don't seem too interested in local work. I've found that older people really like the traditional floral patterns: acanthia, poppy, rose, etc. Younger folks (say below about 35?) want patterned, abstract work as in basket weave and such things. No problem, I like both. I've done a couple of simple wallets using commercial "guts" (just don't have the time and patience to sew up all that pig skin). When doing a complete stamped back, the leather deforms quite a bit. I can still get the thing laced up and looking good, but it's quite a bit of extra work. I don't remember having this problem in the past though I was working heavier leather. I think my casing technique is still good, so does anyone have a "special" or secret way to help the blank hold its shape. Help would be much appreciated. Robert