TwinOaks

The best awl is by Bob Douglas. Period. The Osborne awls are decent, cost effective, and readily available. But they aren't quite the same as a Bob Douglas. His don't need to be sharpened 'out of the box'. Then again, starting out, you don't need to spend a lot of money on a single tool. Regarding an awl: Go ahead and plan to pick up two. It'll save a trip if you ever break one, as that's what happened to me. However, the broken awl isn't necessarily a piece of trash. I inadvertently bent the tip on mine and when trying to straighten it, snapped it off....just about in the middle. I used a lighter to warm the blade and loosen the glue, then pulled the remaining bit of the awl out of the haft. Then I reprofiled the broken part with a file and turned it into a bridle awl...which has the diamond cross section, but is only about half as big as the osborne. Your awl should be scary sharp at the point. The sides should not be sharpened, only profiled. I'm linking a thread which you should find useful, click on the picture in post # 8 to see a good example of the different sizes of awl blades and the holes they make. click me

It's called "Custom" art work.....

This and several threads like it. There is no comprehensive list of what you should buy....unless you just want to say "all of it" and be done. The tools you need are highly dependent on the type of leather work you want to do. If you never ever plan or want to lace anything, then it wouldn't make sense to tell you to get a lace maker, Aussie strander, lacing nippers, or a 4 prong lacing punch. Nor would you need the complete Barry King set of stamps/ tools if all you'll be doing is sewing chrome-tanned purses. Tell us a bit more about what you want to do, and we will be able to direct your future purchases in the right direction.

From one Eagle to another, Welcome to Leatherworker.net! You've got a good start, and we are looking forward to helping you progress in your addiction new hobby.

First things first.....Welcome to Leatherworker.net, best site on the entire internet! +1 on reading the article(s) on casing leather. vegetable tanned Leather needs to have a certain moisture content to carve and tool it. If it is too wet, it will mush around; too dry and your impressions won't take. Highlighting is almost a misnomer, because the solution/paste darkens things. When using it,It really helps if you can think in terms of negative space because you are darkening everything you DON'T want to stand out. It is supposed to get down in the cracks and cuts. It works by making the background and tooling darker than the rest of the piece, visually making the 'highlighted' sections "pop" out from the rest of the leather. Steps for Highlighting: Have design, case leather, stamp/cut/tool design, apply conditioner if needed, apply resist (and let dry), apply highlighter and let dry, use damp cloth to remove highlighter from 'raised' (meaning not pressed/stamped/tooled down) areas, repeat as necessary, apply top coat and finish. On some things, like floral carvings, it is not unusual for the maker to actually dye the backgrounded/matted areas that are visually behind the floral components. .

I posted a wallet 'guide' a while back....This...and you should check out KK's tutorials on wallet binding and wallet guts. After that, it's kind of up to your imagination, isn't it? As you're searching the forum, also use the term 'billfold'. There's a few threads that use that term instead of 'wallet'.

If you haven't done so, please take the time to read Bob Park's tutorial on finishing edges. It can be found here. He tells and shows how to do it at a master level.

You can also gouge the inside of the fold with a 'v' gouge. The removes leather on the inside of the fold, which means the outside of it doesn't have to stretch as much.

Save up some money and buy a machine from one of the dealers that has and ad at the top of the page. With any of them, you can tell them what you want to do with it, and the machine will pretty much come to you ready to assemble and sew. This is not the same as buying a machine head off of Ebay, and then having to get everything 'just so'. The machines from our dealers are modified (motor and reducers) to specifically sew leather. When you order one, they will be 'sewn off' before leaving the dealer. That means that the basic tension settings will be made (according to the thread type and intended thicknesses you'll be sewing), and all adjustments made so that when you unpack it, bolt it together, and plug it in, you'll be good to go. You will of course have to check the tensions for sewing the particular pieces you use, but that's true with any sewing machine. You WON'T have to try and modify the machine, buy a new motor, add another balance wheel, grind off some metal to increase the presser foot height, etc. Don't just look at the websites, CALL and speak to the dealers in person and explain what you'll be doing. This gives them the info they need to best serve you. Unless you are an experienced tinkerer with lots of tools and time, -or- an experienced sewing machine mechanic, you'll do a LOT better for yourself by getting the right machine at the start. Not trying to be mean about it, just trying to convey the answer to a question that is often asked. Here is a link to a thread in our sewing machine sub-forum: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=25239. This should help you decide on the type of machine to get.

I do a combination of hand and machine stitching.....but I don't think I qualify for "old hand". At least not compared to the folks on here.

You might try conditioning the leather, then applying Leather Balm w/ Atom wax. It isn't as waterproof as sno-seal, and you need to apply it with a cloth/rag quickly to avoid spotting, but it gives a very nice mellow finish. Just about any of the finishes that penetrate the leather run the risk of darkening the leather somewhat. My experiences w/ neat-lac are that it doesn't darken it much, but it's easy to get too thick of a coating unless you work it in as you go. Re: the plastic feel.....You might try resolene through an airbrush, in several coats, and rubbing it in/down between the coats. It's one of the few things that will pretty well seal the leather on a permanent basis.

I, too, think you need your name on the business card. It conveys a sense of dealing with a person instead of a business entity.

I get pretty close to that with Fiebing's British Tan, airbrushed on, with a little sun tanning to bring out the natural tones. When using the AB, you can vary the saturation of the color pretty easily, and slowly build up to the tint you want. The sun tanning part.....experience and taking notes on tanning times.

rolling back and forth is a good way to get off track by just a smidge, and have a doubled line.

Very well stated, Bill. I'd like to add that there are no rules that say that once a carving is bent or wrapped to it's final position, that the maker/user can't grab a modeling tool and dress the carvings a bit in their new position- i.e. tool it, bend it, then press the tooling lines back into place once the leather has been distorted.

A cylinder arm would be close to perfect for that type work. If you might need to use it for heavy duty sewing, go ahead and look at one of the 441 clones (Artisan, Cobra, Cowboy). If it will be strictly for lighter weight material, then something like a Consew 227 would work well. Techsew has a few, as does Tacsew, for a pretty decent price. But, do yourself a huge favor and if you would ever need to sew heavier material....get more machine at the start. If you need some really long reach, you might even consider calling CobraSteve and taking a look at the Cobra 4-25.... 2 feet under the arm. Or....You might check out the Singer 29 (and multitude of clones), which is a patch machine. it will get in really small spaces with the tiny arm, and the 'head' rotates so you can change sewing directions without moving the material. Applications are limited, but it can do what no other machine can..

Run a stitch groover on one side to cut them, then a gum eraser on the other side to pull them. It may not get them all, but it'll definitely speed you up.

Very nice work!