Curiousone

Thanks so the belly material is just thin and loose because the only thing it supports is the gut. I'm guessing its bad about stretching and if it is. I'm guessing it won't have the integrity or density too hold tooling very well or it won't have the depth. Saw a YouTube video the other day where someone used 2-3 ounce veg tan and tooled it and it was so thin that they couldn't tool deep and it looked awful. It was like the tooling was flat. Is that more in line to what I would expect out of a belly piece.

Thanks Dwight I had no idea while on that thought how do the different sections of leather differ as far as uses or is it all the same. I thought I read somewhere that there was a difference in strength or thickness depending on what area of the hide the leather originated.

Thanks that makes since

Ok great how do you tell the difference in the quality of leather if you have two pieces of veg tan side by side

I should be getting enough tools to start my first projects in a couple of days. I took a intro class at tandy and was told to not let your lines meet when using a swivel knife. Why is that I want to practice tooling by carving a "layout?" I'm not sure how to make a continuous connected piece if my swivel knife cuts aren't supposed to connect. I'm wanting to do figure carving to practice with instead of flowers. I just don't comprehend why connect intersecting cut lines is a problem and what would happen if they do. Thanks in advance

I really appreciate the replies and support this is something that my son and I are both getting involved with I really appreciate the tips and anymore pointers anyone has. I have some ideas on some tooling just have to get started I'm going to get some bags of scrap from tandy to start with.

Thanks those are great tips using coffee or tea am I doing anything specifically to get better results. Also when it comes to veg tan leather is there any suppliers that are cheaper on leather than tandy. I thought about it last night that I could use stainless steel door hinges to make some stamps out of those things are extremely tough I have a Dremel and a bench grinder. As far as making stamps are there any topics of instruction already on this site? That I could look up instead of starting another thread?

Can you add me as well thanks

I recently took a tooling class at tandy I know that's extremely minute and not scratching the surface of leatherwork but I'm hooked. My budget is extremely restricted but I have got a piece of granite and I'm looking at a smart budget minded way of getting started. I'm interested in tooling as well as I'd love to make lots of different things from shoes, jackets, bags, wallets, well I think it's all cool. So my original question after the rabbit trail where do I get started? What to do to start gaining skill without breaking the bank as the bank is very fragile at this point. Thank you in advance for any replies and I love this site by the way.