Skipndance

Hi Lois, I went to Maryland in November 2014 for an English saddlery class. The first week was re-flocking English saddles and replacing billets and the second week was Level 1 Bridle Making which is really learning your tools and some basic hand stitching and strap work. The class is taught by two Master Saddlers (one is primarily a saddle maker and the other a saddle fitter) and a "bridler" from England. In the classroom (in the basement of an old farmhouse) they had 4 stations set up. The work surfaces are covered with carpet so the leather doesn't get scratched when you are working on the English saddles. You have the saddles sitting on the surface and moving them around, turning them over, removing stitches, working on the panels, sewing/lacing them back up. When we moved on to the next section where we were cutting leather, striking the pricking irons, etc, they would bring out a 1" thick board and set it on top of the carpet so we had a hard surface to work on. Rather than have the bench permanently covered in carpet and have another board to set on top and remove, I got the idea to use these toggles, so I can take the carpet off as needed. When I'm working on English saddles or other repairs, not cutting, tooling, edging or dyeing, I'll use the carpet cover. If I'm doing anything best done on a hard surface, I'll take the carpet off and use the hard surface. I might get some cheap craft paper to cover the board when I'm dyeing things to keep the surface clean as possible. That is a suggestion I read somewhere here, I think. I got a carpet remnant from someone on Craigslist for $10 which is 29" x 10 feet (I think) originally to recover my mom's old saddle stand which is stained from 25 years of use and I realized it would be enough to do both the saddle stand and the workbench. Bit by bit, I'll make it a nice little workspace. Then I have to learn how to do the work... Anita

Thanks Lois. I'm taking baby steps right now since I work full time - got to pay my bills. My mom was a saddler and passed away about 18 months ago. So many of her clients and people I know were encouraging/begging me to continue her work, but I'm not at a skill level where I can just step in and do the work. I can generally see what needs to be done, but don't know the step by step of how to do it. The frustrating part was that about 6 months before she passed, we had talked about me coming up in the summer and having her train me, so I could help her, but we never got that far. I kept her tools, equipment and supplies, and brought them to my place a little less than a year ago, a week before I started my new job. Everything is kind of squeezed in with my personal stuff, which will need to be thinned out further. My friend's husband works in construction, so I drew a diagram of a workbench (and gestured a fair bit) that would fold up against the garage wall when not in use and asked him to look at it and tell me if that was feasible. He collected scrap wood from the job sites and built the workbench for me with a couple of improvements/considerations I hadn't thought of. I have been buying little things here and there and now just need to get in there and rearrange things so I can finish setting it up and have room to work on things. I have two 4 ft wide wire shelving units on casters that I got for cheap that utilize the vertical space and keep things accessible. My next projects are to get some peg board for the wall behind the bench (between the open studs) and magnetic strips for tools, nail down the cutting surface on the work bench plywood top and then to cut the carpet scrap I got to the size of the work bench surface. I got some toggle fasteners to attach to the carpet and work bench, so I can take the carpet on and off easily. I'm starting with a few small projects. I have lots of stuff I need to figure out how to use in order to bring my ideas to life. I'm looking forward to gleaning what I can from this community and sharing what I can that might be helpful. Tannin, it's amazing what you find and can consolidate when you start cleaning out drawers. Congrats on your newfound liberty!

Hi All After I read thru this thread, I did a general google search on small space workshops and came across this link to an article on setting up a shop in a one car garage. http://www.startwoodworking.com/post/smart-shop-one-car-garage This is another, similar article: http://www.kregtool.com/webres/Files/newsletters/kregplus/march15.html Both are talking about a wood working shop, but I was thinking that the principles apply such as considering workflow, keeping big pieces mobile and using an adjacent work surface as outfeed support (or in the case of leather, maybe a couple of work surfaces could be put together as a cutting table). I have a 1 car detached garage with my 1 bedroom apartment, so I'm considering all of the suggestions. As I get it set up, I'll share anything that seems like it would be helpful.

Hi DavidL, I am relatively new, but have been lurking for a while. I think what you are talking about that looks like a shoe polishing brush is used to remove the excess wax/residue. I would imagine it would work for English or "western" leathers, but my experience was with English bridle. The side was unrolled and I was given a brush and told to keep rubbing firmly in a circular motion until the friction causes the wax to warm and be removed, reabsorbed or redistributed. I think the flattening out of the roll is an advantageous side effect to the application of elbow grease. ;-) I came across this thread because I am also looking for an innovative way to store leather in a small space, so thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread, especially the pictures.

Just one more point: Holding the skived end between thumb and pointer finger, bent at the appropriate location so your skived end is folded back, dip the bend in a cup of warm water for a 2 second splash. You will feel the leather give as the water absorbs and it will not crack. Tap the bend gently with your tack hammer to set and when it dries, you should be good.

Hi All, I'm new to leather work, familiar with carving, stamping and embossing wheels for borders and straps. I was perusing the internet looking for vintage embossing wheels and came upon embossing plates used for book binding. They are beautiful and I was thinking they would make great corner plates and maybe even for a large handbag, but I'm not sure how they work and if they would be ok to use for regular/heavier weight leathers than book cover weight. Any guidance is appreciated. Thanks in advance!