zuludog

Yes! What an excellent video and tip! Now I know why my stitching was erratic sometimes. I'll stay with 'left up' & 'right down' the next time I do some stitching. Thanks

Like many traditional crafts, leatherwork has developed its own way of doing things, but it is straightforward enough once it has been explained Measuring & describing the thickness of leather in the Imperial system, ie in inches, uses the fact that for a fixed area of anything, as it becomes thicker, so it becomes heavier. Thus weight can be used to indicate thickness. Think of stacking up some dinner plates (of the same type); as you add a plate or two the stack becomes taller or thicker, but it also becomes heavier With leather the fixed area is one square foot, and it is assumed that one square foot of leather 1/64th inch thick weighs one ounce. Thus 4 ounce leather is 4/64" thick or 1/16"; 8 ounce leather is 8/64" or 1/8"; and so on. In practice there is no need to work out the actual thickness as you very quickly get used to using just the weights The other system is to measure the thickness directly, in millimetres, and shouldn't need any further explanation. Most countries now use the metric system for measuring leather. Britain and some of its old Commonwealth countries have only recently changed, and the Imperial system lingers on here & there. You will see that most suppliers of leather, tools, and materials quote both systems, but the metric system is gradually becoming more usual. USA is now the only country in the world that has not officially adopted the metric system, and because it dominates the leatherwork business, leather still continues to be measured in the Imperial system I was brought up to use both Imperial & Metric, but now I use Metric to measure leather thickness I would buy rulers with dual scales, or one of each type On the homepage of Tandy's website, down at the bottom there is a link to conversion or comparison charts

By chance, soon after I became interested in leatherwork I met a retired cobbler in a pub - what a fortunate meeting! His opinion was that "them green mats" were as good as anything he'd ever used for cutting leather on For skiving I use a glass oven door off an old cooker I use a stitching chisel with an ordinary plastic kitchen chopping board underneath the leather I don't do any stamping or tooling, but you might want to look at these hammers. They have various heads, some models are interchangeable, with hide, copper, nylon, and so on. http://www.thorhammer.com Their distributor in USA is http://www.angloamericantools.com Speaking of hammers, here's a chance to learn a bit of British slang Birmingham is one of the main engineering cities of Britain, but in the local dialect this is corrupted, and Birmingham is pronounced 'brummajem' Thus a hammer, especially the ball pein engineer's type is known as a 'brummajem screwdriver'.

Thanks for the links. I know of Abbey, and other suppliers, but I'd temporarily forgotten them as I have been dealing mostly with The Identity Store. I'll have a look through these websites.

I have a Tandy edge beveller, but I would like something better so I have been looking at Goods Japan. I'm interested in three makes - Craft Sha deluxe; Kyoshin Elle deluxe; and Seiwa deluxe. They are all $30-99 and include a sharpening kit. Is there anything to choose between them? They also have 'standard' Craft Sha & Seiwa models at around $19. Is there any difference between the actual bevellers and the deluxe models, or are you just paying $11 for a bit of wet & dry paper? I know there are some good American tools, but the problem is that by the time you've added shipping costs to UK they become quite expensive. Goods Japan prices include international airmail

I have a Tandy edge beveller, but I would like something better so I have been looking at Goods Japan. I'm interested in three makes - Craft Sha deluxe; Kyoshin Elle deluxe; and Seiwa deluxe. They are all $30-99 and include a sharpening kit. Is there anything to choose between them? They also have 'standard' Craft Sha & Seiwa models at around $19. Is there any difference between the actual bevellers and the deluxe models, or are you just paying $11 for a bit of wet & dry paper? I know there are some good American tools, but the problem is that by the time you've added shipping costs to UK they become quite expensive. Goods Japan prices include international airmail

I use a Tandy Craftool Edge Beveller number 3 on mostly 3 to 3,5mm veg tan leather. If I was using thinner leather more often I would probably get a No 1 or No 2. This is how I sharpen it Strop the outside curve on my strop used for all my knives & tools. I use a home made strop and Veritas Green compound, O5M08.01 Then I fix the beveller at a suitable angle in a bench vice with soft jaws ; load about 18"/45cm of my normal sewing thread - 18/3 linen - with the same honing compound, and pull the loaded thread through the beveller 3 or 4 times - from the handle towards the tip. Then clean up the end of the tool with a thin cloth This is more or less the same as the method shown in this video - www.how to sharpen an edge beveller by scarou 022. It's in French but simple enough to follow this is good - www.sharpening an edge beveller by AK Workshops If you use an edge beveller that has a groove or guide on the undersurface, ie the outside curve, this video is good - www.how to sharpen an edge beveller by lb custom knives Besides these there are several other related videos; the more you watch, the more you learn. So far I've only used my beveller on dry leather, but on the strength of this thread I'll try dampened leather in future

I can't offer any advice on that type of leather work, but if you're going to set up a workshop try to find a space for a desk and a chair. Somewhere to keep paperwork; like records, a day book or diary, and so on. It will also be somewhere to think and have a cup of tea; or to keep the bottle of Scotch. What sort of woodworking do you do? I suspect most of it will be by hand. If you don't know of him already, search YouTube for Paul Sellers

Once you put your mind to it, you can make and improvise several leatherwork tools. I have made A skiving knife from an old decorator's filling knife, a good one with a proper forged blade. It was 50p, about 75 cents, in a car boot sale; dirty & rusty, I cleaned it up, shaped & sharpened it A skiving knife from a piece of old industrial hacksaw blade, 40mm wide My clicker/trimming knife is a carbon steel vegetable knife that I no longer use in the kitchen. I've reshaped the tip and wrapped the handle in cord to give a better grip A Japanese style leather knife from the blade of a cheap & nasty block plane. The body was pressed steel with plastic fittings and difficult to adjust & use, but the blade was quite good. I shaped it on a bench grinder to give the asymmetric shape I've had a browse round a couple of second hand tool stalls, they sell old wood chisels quite cheaply. A 25mm/1" chisel would probably make a skiving knife, and I've also seen some wider chisels Sorry, but I don't know how to post pictures, I really must learn, or pin down a friend or two to help me These sort of things only work if you already have some sort of workshop & tools to do the making, plus a collection of suitable wood. If you had to buy the various files, hacksaws and so on you might just as well buy a decent tool in the first place. Finally, be careful, this sort of thing can get quite addictive. You might find yourself hoarding assorted bits of steel; rusty old tools; broken kitchen utensils, and all sorts of other stuff that might be useful one day

I'm not going to comment on the actual stitching, others have gone that well enough, but I thought you might like a comment about your stitching chisel I have a couple of the Tandy Craftool chisels, with 4mm spacing, and I have improved them by carefully polishing the prongs with a needle file and fine abrasive paper. I use 600 grit paper glued to a sliver of wood - actually an old lollipop stick The exact grade is not too important, and neither is having a needle file, just work your way down from about 200 to 1,000 grit in a few steps. Search & Surf, you can buy pack of assorted fine grades

Well, I have made a skiving knife from a piece of industrial hacksaw blade, about 40mm wide. And at the moment I'm making a Japanese style leather knife from an old plane blade. Perhaps I'll eventually get round to a round knife. I'm a bit of a technophobe, but I hope get a friend to help me post some pictures in the near future. Tandy's shop in Manchester has a drop - in session one afternoon a week. I think I'll go there and try a round knife. Certainly I have seen a couple of professional leatherworkers using their round knives and they can make them sing & dance; I wonder how long it takes to get to that stage? I have a few old Stanley knife blades that fit well without wobbling. I re-sharpen these on a fine stone and a strop; they seem to work better than new. I think this is because I have reduced the shoulders of the bevel, and the blade is also highly polished

You could try making a soft face for your lump hammer by gluing on a couple of thicknesses of thick leather; or a piece of polypropylene chopping board, about 10mm thick; or a piece of wood

I use 3mm veg tan to make knife sheaths Scroll down to the bottom of Tandy's homepage and click on 'Leather Buying Guide'. It has a conversion chart between the various measurements for leather thickness. And a diagram showing the choice of thicknesses for different items - wallets, sheaths, holsters and so on. A veg tan belly is cheap and will give you a fair amount of leather to practice on and make small items.

These posts & responses are coming so quickly at the moment I think I'm getting a bit confused; sorry I got my local woodcarving & woodturning club to make me some awl hafts just how I wanted them. This was meat & drink to them, they were happy to do it. But in return I made some leather slip on covers or protectors for their woodturning chisels

CAPT QUIRK Why can't you just file a flat on your existing awl?

Years ago a friend joined The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, commonly referred to as REME, which is the British army's engineering division. He remembers the sergeant instructor giving him some advice - 'Don't force it lad, get a bigger 'ammer!'

Thanks, I'll give the Al Stohlman round knife a miss. In fact I don't think I'll get a round knife at all, I'll just carry on with what I know - a Stanley knife that's been fettled to hold the blades firmly. Then the blades are resharpened on a fine stone & a strop, to be very sharp & polished

If you need to pull a needle through a hole then - Either; the hole is too small; or the needle is too big; or the thread is too thick, which makes the needle & folded thread too big at the eye; or any combination of these But neither should the needle be completely loose in the hole. There should be a slight resistance or drag. You should be able to pull the needle through the hole 95 to 100% of the time. The exception is on the backstitch, when the hole is already occupied by two thicknesses of thread. Before using pliers, try enlarging or teasing out the hole with a round awl If you do have to use engineering pliers, hold them at right angles to the needle, so that it lies along the grooves and they do not make serrations along the needle I have heard of people asking st their dentist for old dental pliers as these are smooth on the inner faces When using pliers do not twist the needle or rock it from side to side as you can easily break the eye; a straight pull with moderate force should be all you need. If you have to really struggle, then there's something wrong in the first place

My main interest in leatherwork is to make sheaths for knives Once, I made up a pattern for an unusually shaped knife from plain paper; then transferred it to leather and made it up. Found out that the resulting sheath was left handed, or a mirror image, or however you want to describe it. Now if I make a pattern I make sure I use patterned 'one sided' paper or mark which is to be the grain or the flesh side. An expert is someone who has made more mistakes than you have

I've thought of a couple of changes Instead of making a wooden template they can make one from stiff paper or card, folded over; cut both layers so the fold will be inside the keyring. That will be quicker and easier than making a wooden one, and serve as both a trial/prototype and a pattern. It also means the two halves will be the same shape & size I'll get a belly instead of a bag of remnants. Using remnants would take time picking & fiddling, and it would be disappointing if we didn't have enough decent pieces. Bellies are cheap enough, about £13, and I've seen them in Tandy's Manchester shop on offer at £11. As I will be going to the shop to buy the other items I'll see if they have anything else on offer

The glue will be OK, they already use it for other projects like felt work, and they keep it in stock so I wouldn't meed to buy it especially. It is only to hold the leather in place while it is sewn Both myself and the centre's staff wanted to do something that could be made and taken home after one session, to keep up interest. After that we could consider other projects, and practising techniques That's why there is nothing like dyeing, stamping, or applique for this first session, which would also mean buying tools & materials. Like most local authorities they are strapped for cash, and many of those attending are quite hard up, being long term unemployed, or have other problems, like young offenders, or suffering from depression. So we wanted something quick, cheap, and easy at first to generate a bit of interest and enthusiasm. Who knows, it might just inspire someone to become a professional leatherworker or saddler.

I've been approached by my local community centre to give an introduction to leatherwork to a class of 10 to 12 people. Class duration is 3 hours My idea is to keep it very simple, mainly because I know that these sort of things very easily run over time. So it would be a key fob, as follows - Draw out the pattern with a wooden template, an elongated figure of 8 shape, then cut it out Pass through keyring, fold over, and check the shape Tack together with general purpose glue Make holes with a 2 prong 4mm stitching chisel Sew with saddle stitch Trim & bevel edges Burnish edges with beeswax & a small piece of folded leather Treat with leather grease The centre doesn't have any specific leatherworking tools, but they have cutting boards, craft knives, contact glue, and the usual odds 'n' ends for other crafts They don't have much money to spare, so I thought to keep the costs and the time down I wouldn't bother with stitch grooving I'm also hoping that if I take my edge beveller that would do for all of them if they got a move on I'll take my stitching chisel & mallet, but they will have to buy another one or two stitching chisels themselves as I think just one between 10 would be too slow. They already have hammers & mallets. This would be small enough to sew on the bench without a sewing clamp. I'd get a pack of keyrings from Tandy; either their bag of remnants or a cheap belly; a couple of packs of needles I have loads of thread myself, waxed & unwaxed, they can use that. I'll also take an awl or two in case the stitching chisel holes need a bit of extra work The centre does fretwork. They can make their own templates as part of this project Any comments? I'm sure I've forgotten something

At the moment Tandy are offering their Al Stohlman Round Knife # 35014 - 00 at a reduced price. In Britain it is currently £35-90 compared to the usual full price of £71-87 Is it worth getting?

A stitching pony or sewing pony is a wooden clamp to hold the leather while you sew it. The usual method is to place it on a chair then sit on it so that the workpiece is in front of you. Those with a built in seat are called sewing/stitching horses. For larger pieces of work you use taller freestanding clamps called saddler's clamps It's not too difficult to make your own, and to build it onto an old wooden chair if you wish, and make a sewing horse. There are threads on this forum, and videos on YT. If you're going to buy one, consider the work you might do; saddler's clamps are expensive, but what will do a lot will do a little. I only make small items so far, like sheaths & wallets, so I use a home - made pony. It's not exactly an outstanding example of the cabinet maker's art, but it does the job I often think that a stitching pony is a bit pricey for what you get, but it's one of those things where nothing much else will do. You can manage small items without one, but a pony makes it so much easier As you can get to Manchester I suggest that before you do much else you visit Tandy's shop in Openshaw. The staff are pleasant & helpful, and on Wednesday afternoons they have an open session where you can try out different tools & materials. You can read & watch all you want, but there's nothing quite like seeing things in the flesh as it were, and talking to people face to face. I f you do go, would you like to meet up there? I can bring some of my home - made tools. PM me. If you decide to buy a stitching pony, and no doubt in the near future there will be other things as well, consider joining Tandy's discount scheme. And/or get on their contact list, then you will get early notice of sales & offers

The problem with any kind of restoration is how far do you go? Some people want to preserve some sort of character, others (like myself) will want to get things as clean and as new as possible. Hmmm.... one man's patina is another man's dirt. My attitude is forget sentimentality, these things are meant to be used, so get it cleaned up. Thus the whole thing becomes much easier. Scrape the handle with a knife blade, and then clean it all up with varying grades of abrasive paper, and polish the ferrule with metal polish Sharpening would be simpler too - varying grades of sharpening stone followed by a strop When that's done make a sheath or cover from leather, both to protect the blade from damage, and to protect other things, like your fingers, from the blade