billybopp

Unfortunately, there are a few instances of things that are pretty much leather only - edge creasers, bevelers, stamps, stitching chisels and irons, and a few others. Even with those, you can sometimes find a creative substitute. But fortunately there are also a LOT of tools and things that CAN cross over! Sharpening stones and strops don't much care what is sharpened on them - leather tools, straight razors, kitchen knives, woodworking tools - you name it. (now that I've learned to sharpen leather tools, I have to warn the family when I've been at the kitchen knives so as not to scare them). Cutting surfaces are more or less universal. Self-healing cutting mats don't care what's cut on them. While I wouldn't return them to kitchen use, a retired cutting board can be really useful. The same goes for silicone cutting mats - they're really nice for gluing as the glue peels right off. Retired silicone spatulas and basting brushes can be used for gluing as well and clean reasonably easily. Hobby knives (X-Acto) have too many uses to count. The usual #11 blade is a little too flimsy for leather IMHO, but the #2 scalpel blades work great. Same knife handles either way. Good for leather, wood, paper, fabric, even occasionally in the kitchen. For the most part, a ruler is a ruler is a ruler. Same for a square and any number of layout tools. I'm fond of combination squares, and have a few different sizes. They do excellent double-duty as square AND ruler. Being metal they are also excellent for guiding your knife as you cut. Utility knives have all kinds of uses, and most everybody has a few. Worth noting, however, disposable blades such as these and hobby knife blades are OK from the package but can be improved with some stropping! More or less, mallets, mauls and hammers can cross over easily. Same goes for chisels. So there are a TON of possibilities. - Bill

Contact cement of one sort or another is the way to go. As Mutt mentioned, Barge or Weldwood(technically a wood contact cement) will work very well. Some have been reporting very good results using Renia Aquilim GL and 315 which are water-based contact cements. It's a little hard to get in hobby quantities in the USA, but it's a German brand and may be easier for you to get there! - Bill

I've seen similar on eBay being sold as hole punches for leather. - Bill

Uh oh. NOW you've runed it! - Bill PS .. Lookin' really cool!

I've thought I'd give bissonettes a try, and they work nicely on thick leather, but not so hot on thin. They're kinda wide, and to get to the edge you need to prop up the leather on something. They aren't so easy to sharpen IMHO. So far, my favorite is an old unbranded set, similar to the round-bottom Tandys. I'm still looking for "the right ones" tho. - Bill

If you're using linen thread, you can run into some problems with really long runs as the thread will wear a bit with each stitch that you pull through and eventually will get ragged and break. With poly thread, such as Ritza, that's not a problem and you can do very long runs with a couple of caveats. The thread will wear a little bit around the knots where attached to the needles making it a bit harder to pull through the holes. To deal with that, just make your thread a couple of feet longer and re-thread the needle when it gets raggedy. Lighter colored thread can also pick up dye and dirt as you go along and start to look a little dingy, but that's not a problem with darker colors. Probably the hardest thing to deal with on really long runs is when the thread gets tangled and knotted. For that, it just takes a little extra time and care. Watch the thread as you pull it through and look for tangles and knots. They're not all that hard to deal with before they are pulled tight, but a real pain after! Taking a little care to keep your thread separated on each side of your work can help prevent the nastiest knots. It's also a good idea to keep your work area very clean where the thread lies on the floor or work surface to keep it from getting dingy. I've done several belts and guitar straps in a single run with poly, so it can certainly be done. Hope that helps! - Bill

I've been using ziplocks too ... 2 gallon for largish patterns, other sizes for smaller ones. Even for something as large as a briefcase, the smaller parts go into bags and bigger pieces get held together with punched holes and chicago screws. Bags then go into big plastic bins on a shelf. Bags come in darned handy for keeping already cut parts together for individual projects when working on more than one at a time. - Bill

That's awesome!

Now THAT is a workshop with a view!! - Bill

Barry King is a sponsor here on LWN. Look for his banner ads at the top of the page and use that to get to his website. Give LWN a little love that way! - Bill

This might help a little ... Somebody posted it on here awhile ago. Not by any means complete, but it'll give you an idea. - Bill Craftool Conversion Chart.pdf

This is the book I picked up some 40 years ago on brain tanning ...https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B008GE55U2/ref=mp_s_a_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1518051048&sr=8-13&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=deer+tanning

I'm 53 by the calendar. 25 in my mind, and 70 in my arthritic body. So it goes!! - Bill

@rodneywt1180b Give "deer tanned" leather a try. It's very soft with a good amount of stretch - It would have a very nice feel for what you are doing. Deer, Elk and Moose are usually tanned this way, but cow can be too. I don't know how it is made in tanneries in the modern world ( I suspect some variation of chrome tannage ), but it was traditionally done with brain, sometimes eggs added and other things. Native Americans supposedly said "Every animal has enough brain to tan its own hide". If you look about on youtube, you'll find a few videos on brain tanning - they tend to be a little gross tho. - Bill

Leather tends to distort and "grow" a bit when tooled. If you punch holes then too, they likely will not align again after. As Mattsbagger said, punching holes for sewing is usually near the end of the process. - Bill

Sounds like you might be describing Renia?

A tag of some sort is a great idea. Depending on what you make, another nice option could be a simple fabric presentation bag made of flannel, satin, or cotton - whatever suits your product - can be nice. They cost little, can be put together in minutes, and provide a little bit of protection for your product in the shipping box. It gives the customer the idea that you've taken that extra care for the product you've made for them. - Bill

While I normally subscribe to the "Buy once, cry once" philosophy, that really only applies when you have a pretty good idea of what you want / need. To my way of thinking, that's where Tandy level tools come into their own. No, they're not great but they are good enough and cheap enough when on sale to start to get an idea of what you want to do. A good option for you might be to poke around on ebay and find somebody that's selling a good sized collection of tools for a good price and go to town! I'd try not to pay more than a couple bucks per tool buying that way. After six months or a year or so experimenting you'll have a MUCH better idea of what good tools you want to buy. Keep those Tandy tools that you don't replace around too - you never know when you might need to do that one-off tool that's just good enough. Just my opinion - Bill

My Dad's family are from near Latrobe. I think Rock was the first beer that I ever tasted. Dad gave me a taste of the beer that he was drinking when I was six or so years old. I still remember thinking "'How on earth could anybody like this stuff" .. much like I did with coffee. Now I can't imagine how I didn't like it, and subscribe to the notion that "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" (often attributed incorrectly to Ben Franklin, who did actually say something similar about wine). - Bill PS .. These days my favored everyday brew is another great Pennsylvania beer, Yuengling Lager.

Mutt's almost got it .. not a bar grounder, but he's right about the clue near that bottom right snap. It looks like a Tandy A104 for most of the area and possibly A105 at the edges - but there are a few others in that general family of tools that it could be (and could also be a similar tool from another maker). Go to Tandy's website and search "background". Additionally, they look to have used either a lined or checked beveler around the outside border, also likely Tandy. P.S. Sad that Netflix hasn't yet released the rumored season 5 of Arrested Development. *Cue the Charlie Brown sad music* - Bill

Years ago, the tourist trap shops in Florida used to sell cans of Florida sunshine for a couple bucks a piece. If you google "Canned Florida Sunshine", you find both vintage and new cans for sale. I'm sure they laughed all the way to the bank on those. Your idea is much better, tho. When the novelty wears off, it's still usable as a drinking cup! - Bill

Last I knew, there are several stories about Rolling Rock's 33 ... but since the brewer who originally had it put on his bottles is long gone .. we may never know. - Bill

I've been following Princes work for a number of years. He never fails to impress! Check out the gallery on his website, you won't be disappointed. - Bill

... I literally laughed out loud when I saw this. Thanks!! @Sledzep01 is quite right. WD40 does provide a bit of lubrication but that's not really what it is for. It's pretty fascinating stuff. Developed for Convair Astronautics in the 50's for the Atlas missile program. They needed a product to prevent corrosion while missiles were in storage waiting to start / end WWIII. The name comes from Water Displacement formula 40 (since apparently 1 through 39 didn't work as they wanted). It didn't take long for folks to discover myriad other uses for the stuff, and was made available to consumers in 1958. About 8 or 9 years ago, my bathroom door developed a nasty squeak, probably from the moist environment when taking showers. It used to wake me up during the night when roommates went in and out. Eventually I got tired of that, and give the hinges a spritz of WD40 but that didn't last too long. So, I gave it a spritz again and followed it up with tri-flow lubricant. Now, many years later not only are the hinges quiet, but the door needs a doorstop to keep the door from closing on its own. Pretty amazing stuff. - Bill

Hermes isn't going to tell you this, but they do in fact use sewing machines for the parts of the bag that aren't visible such as liners. They DO hand sewing where it shows and makes a difference. I expect that handmade doesn't have a solid definition - hence you find people selling items made from Tandy kits on etsy and calling it handmade. Bespoke tailors usually use machines, but there are a very few that hand sew at the very highest level, and some in-between that, like Hermes, use machines where the result isn't visible. There is a difference to the trained eye, but most wouldn't notice it. I think that leather is much the same way. Handmade is fairly broad. If I were selling handsewn, I'd state it and use it as a marketing tool. Those that know the difference will understand what that really means - a generally superior product. When it comes to cutting, burnishing, and many other operations, when making a standard product the leather doesn't care how it is cut or burnished. There isn't any distinguishable difference, and where there is use the method that gives the result that you want and your customers want. If an item is truly bespoke, then a cutting die isn't going to be the best solution, at least for parts of the product. That's just my 2 cents - and that's probably about all that it's worth. - Bill