David Fields

I was laid off from my job as a graphic designer and realized that now would be the perfect time to try making a living doing leathercraft. Before, I never had the spare time to pursue my hobby but now I have all the time in the world. I've only done a few pieces from kits but have discovered that I'm pretty darn good at tooling florals and really enjoy doing leathercraft. I'd like to start making my own pieces but don't know where to begin. What items sell the best and how do you get started doing this for a living? Where can I sell my finished pieces? How do you learn to make something that you have never made before, is it just trial and error? I simply don't know where to begin! Any help would be appreciated! David

My "shop" is actually a spare bedroom that I use for all of my various hobbies. I use to be a record collector and collected vinyl records so the room has thousands of old LP and 45RPM records. I also use to be into shortwave radio so that equipment is also in the room as well as being my computer room. I'm an artist/graphic designer by trade so the room has a drawing table which is where I do my leatherwork. Needless to say the room is VERY cluttered and not worthy of a photo. Some of use guys have very nice shops and I'm envious!

I'm in Louisville, Kentucky. Was born here, lived here my entire life and will most likely live here for the rest of my life. I'm about two miles from Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby.

RAM First thing I thought when I saw it...it looks like a rams head.

I like your design. Welcome to the forum Froghunter.

Do they have a web site and a catalog? How do I get one?

Beautiful work, Paul! I'd like to see a close up to see more of the detail. Thanks for posting them.

I'm a rum man myself, but not much of a drinker. The flask looks really good, nice job on the type!

WOW...I'm speechless!

Those look really nice. Very well crafted, you must work well under stress considering your time limitations.

Hi Mike, welcome to Leatherworker.net. I'm also new to this site having joined a couple weeks ago. I love this place because there are so many talented and generous folk willing to offer their expert advise. Hope you like it here.

Bruce, thanks for posting this. I knew there had to be a way to eliminate the streching but never thought about clear packing tape. Do you put on one layer or more? It's funny the different places where you find leathercrafting supplies. Now I can add Office Depot to my list of other suppliers like Harbor Freight and Lowes.

Thank you Johanna and Kate for all your hard work and dedication at getting us online again! You guys are fantastic!!!!!!

Thanks for confirming my suspicions. I've been learning from Al Stohlman books and his various books seem to vary as to the order of tooling too. So as you say...there is really no correct order.

That's an interesting process! Doesn't the back of the leather become sticky after removing the film?

Thanks Bruce for the heads up! I'll be looking forward to it.

Thanks for the reply Ben. I'm happy to hear they are still around and we will be able to order online when they come back.

I'm fairly new to leathercraft so I'm still learning. Does putting tape on the back of the leather keep it from streaching out of shape while tooling? What kind of tape? Seems like the moist leather would keep the tape from sticking.

Is that the correct order of tooling, I'm always confused about which tools to use in what order. I usually start with the beveler (after the swivel knife) around the outside of leaves and scrolls. Then pear shader, camo, veiner, seeder and then bevel the inner areas of leaf and scrolls followed by background.

I find myself using the filigree blade more than the straight blade because I find it easier to see what I'm doing. Whereas the straight blade is so wide it covers my view of the leather somewhat. I think the straight blade cuts a wider path.

I noticed that HideCrafters web site is outdated and the online catalog expired in April 2007! I heard somewhere that they were bought out by someone. Has their name changed and do they have a different web site? I hope they are still around, they were a great supplier.

Looks good Grunt, is that hand sewn or machine?

That's purdy rdb...nice job!

Thanks for everybodys input, it's much appreciated. I've been reading and checking out all the various areas of the forum but still have a lot to read. I must say there are a lot of talented folks on here. beezachoppa - thanks for the input. At the time I didn't know what I was doing (still don't :biggrin: ) and didn't know about burnishing the edges. I'm still learning the different tools and what they are used for. Thankfully I found a book called "Leathercraft Tools" by Al Stohlman that has helped identify some of the tools I have. Luke Hatley - thank you for your input. I tried and tried to do a double cardivan lacing on the key case and got so frustrated I gave up and ended up with what you see here. I need lots of practice on my lacing. I have a billfold kit that I will be doing this winter sometime and definately want double cardivan lacing on that. Again, thanks to everyone for your inputs. I will be spending a lot of time on here I think. Dave

Howdy, I just discovered this site through a link posted on the Homesteading Today web site. I've been interested in leather craft since I was a kid back in the 1950's but had never attempted to make anything until last year when I bought a large amount of leather crafting tools on ebay. The first piece I tooled was on a scrape of leather I had. The second was a cell phone case kit I got at Tandy and the third was a key case also from Tandy. Please give me a critique of my 3 pieces so far and any suggestions for improvement. I know the one thing I have trouble with is my lacing abilities. So glad I found this site, I hope it will motivate me to do more leather craft. Dave