zuludog

Yes, I must admit it didn't ocurr to me, but it's quite obvious now you've mentioned it. The blade doesn't look like it has been properly shaped/sharpened/prepared. The tip of the awl should be a very small, rounded chisel shape. And as has been mentioned before on this forum, sharp enough so that it goes about halfway through your finger before you notice. You can find that in any decent leathercraft book, or search YouTube for 'sharpening an awl'. It needs more than 'just a quick polish'.

don't you think it would have been a bit more helpful to give us a few more details - like which country you're in for a start

You can make leatherworking knives from various odds 'n' ends and some imagination I have a small cooks/vegetable knife in carbon steel, and no longer use it in the kitchen, so I now use it as a general purpose - cum - clicker knife Old hacksaw blades make good knives, but you will have to do the initial shaping and sharpening on a bench grinder as the steel is so hard. After that you can sharpen & maintain them by hand like any other knife Besides the common 10mm wide blades, see if you can get the wider industrial blades Japanese style knives like a kiridashi are simple styles, you should be able to make your own copy The key to good leatherwork is to get your tools absolutely sharp, whether home made or purchased. Oil-, water-, or diamond- stones; wet & dry paper is cheaper; and you should be able to make your own strop. There is loads of information on sharpening on this forum and YouTube Be careful though as this can get addictive. You might find yourself hoarding all sorts of bits of steel, rusty old tools, broken kitchen utensils, worn out files and so on.

The (usually) brass clamp that holds interchangeable blades in an awl is called a chuck or a collet. Personally I have not found them much good as they never seem to grip tightly enough, and the blades keep slipping. No doubt others will tell you that theirs are wonderful. and they have no such trouble. They tend to be expensive. Interchangeable blades sound good, but you usually find you need to stop just when you've got a smooth rythm of work going, to fiddle about changing blades A solution is to have two or more such awls, which rather defeats the purpose Fixed blade awls are cheaper, cheap enough to have almost as many as you want permanently set up with blades. In Britain you can get an awl handle for about £3, say $4-50 I have a couple of those in different styles. I also got my local woodcarving & woodturning club to make a couple of awl handles to my size & design. The strengthening band around the narrow part where the blade is attached is called a ferrule. I use copper central heating pipe, with an outside diameter of 15mm Drill a narrow hole into the awl handle, narrower than the blade, Mount the blade in a vice, and tap on the handle. Use two copper coins to prevent the blade being scratched by the steel of the vice jaws For a sewing awl you will almost certainly have to go to a commercial supplier, but you can make a scratch/round awl blade from almost anything - a very stiff piece of wire; a thick needle; an old dart head. Have a browse round your house, garage, or workshop, you're bound to find something. My first scratch awl used the axle from one of my son's broken toy cars; it was surprisingly strong and good. Just sharpen the point however you can - bench grinder, files, oilstone, and so on Having said that, you can buy a scratch awl fairly cheaply, about £5 in Britain I made my skiving knife from an old decorator's filling knife, but a good one with a forged blade. Cleaned it up, shaped & sharpened, and it works well. I had a cheap & nasty block plane which was fiddly to adjust, and I never used it, so I dumped it, but kept the blade, which was quite good. One day I might get round to making a Japanese style leather knife out of it. You can use those knives for cutting on the push stroke, the pull stroke, and for skiving I have thought now and again that if you got an old 1"/25mm wood chisel from a seconhand stall and fitted a palm or hand use handle to it, that would make a reasonable skiving knife Hope this gives you some ideas. Surf YouTube, and use your imagination

This method looks good & interesting I have a John James awl that is yet to be mounted & sharpened; when I do, I'll try this method I have watched Paul Sellers videos on sharpening woodworking tools. I notice that he uses window cleaning spray as a lubricant on diamond stones and wet & dry paper I have an assorted pack of wet & dry paper, with 5 grades covering the range P 600 to P 2000. I think I'll make up some semi - permanent blocks, like small sharpening stones, by gluing or pinning the paper to wooden blocks

2 looks like an early adjustable spanner 4 could be a soldering iron, the type that is heated in a flame. Check that the tip is made from copper

The first book I got on leatherwork was 'Leatherwork: A Practical Guide' by Chris Taylor In it he states that the stitching line should be set back from an edge by the same distance as the thickness of the leather, even if several layers are used For example; I make knife sheaths from 3,5mm veg tan leather. A sheath has a front, a back, and a welt, so the total thickness is 10,5mm. But the stitching is still set back 3,5mm

You could check out an auto parts store and look at soft faced hammers The best are made by Thor. The heads can be all one material or have interchangeable faces - copper, aluminium, hide, nylon, plastc and so on They are similar prices to, or slightly cheaper than Tandy polyhead mallet, and much better quality; they are certainly cheaper than Al Stohlman mauls. I can testify, and so can many mechanics & engineers, that a Thor hammer will last a lifetime - certainly for leatherwork http://www.thorhammer.com US distributors are http://www.angloamericantools.com Hmmm..... Prices in USA are a bit more than I expected. Still, it doesn't cost anything to look

Have a look at this video on YouTube 'Make your own Messenger Bag, Part One' by Nigel Armitage In fact anything by Nigel Armitage is worth watching. And also Leodis Leather/Ian Atkinson, if you haven't yet heard of them.

SOUTHERN CROSS - I Googled for 'brass bar USA' and found these suppliers. No doubt there are others, so get Surfing http://www.onlinemetals.com http://www.metalsdepot.com Another method would be to shape & sharpen an old hacksaw blade, then fit a handle around it But it has to be a single thickness blade, not bimetal

They look similar to wood carving knives, except that the handles are brass instead of wood. But that means you could 'fine shape' the wooden handles easier to suit yourself I started a thread about this a few months ago, with some references to suppliers Small Clicker Knife by zuludog 11th November 2015 Leather Tools section

Got my sums wrong. £1 = about $1,50

I make knife sheaths from 3,5mm veg tanned leather, and I use a craft knife with disposeable blades. In Britain this knife is often known by the brand name 'Stanley', even if they're not actually made by that company. I believe they are usually known as 'box cutters' in USA But I re - sharpen the disposeable blades which removes the shoulder of the bevel on the blade, and makes them slide through the leather even easier than a new blade For resharpening I use a few grades of finer & finer stones followed by stropping In fact I got my stanley knife for £1, about 80 cents, from a car boot sale. I cleaned it up, including the rusty old blades that came with it; resharpened them, and I'm still using it I make one fine or shallow pass followed by 3 or 4 stronger passes to cut completely I once got talking to a retired cobbler, in a pub, where else? He said that if you were not an expert with a round knife, a Stanley knife would be as good as anything for an amateur. He also said that ''them green mats'' were as good as anything he'd ever used You will need two knives The first will be a stanley knife as described, used for cutting leather The second can be anything you like. Use it for sharpening pencils, cutting cord, opening boxes, and all the other little cutting jobs you do. It's purpose is to make sure you keep the first knife razor sharp, and use it exclusively for cutting leather.

As a beginner you may well buy tools from Tandy Their 4-in-1 awl is expensive, and not wery good You'd be better getting a separate scratch awl & saddler's awl with fixed blades, which would be better, and almost half the price 4-in-1 awl 3209 - 00 £33-69 Scratch awl 3217 - 00 £4-20 Stitching awl with blade 31218 - 01 £14-35

It all depends on what you call a bevel and how much mateial you want to remove. Basically, for any manufacturer, the higher the number, the more you will remove I make mostly knife sheaths from 3 to 4mm leather, and use a Tandy #3 beveller. This is perhaps a bit big for 3mm leather so I have to be careful/gentle but it does mean I can handle thicker leather, say 4 to 4,5mm. If I only used 3mm leather a #2 would be OK If you were doing mostly wallets and similar thinner leather you would want something smaller, say a # 1. And obviously for thicker leather, a higher number beveller As I do this as a hobby I only have one beveller, Tandy #3. If I was more serious I would probably get a couple of different sized bevellers Tandy are not considered the very best tools, but for the work that I do they are good enough, and the one size, #3 does the job However, I make a serious attempt to get my beveller as sharp and as polished as I can. That means I can trim thin leather with a #3 by pushing gently, and bevel thicker leather still with a #3 beveller So whatever thickness leather I can use a #3, but the supreme sharpness means I have the control to manage a range of thicknesses from say 2mm to 4mm. I just apply the varying pressure to the beveller By getting the beveller as sharp as possible I can bevel a range of leather thicknesses from 2 to 4 mm. If the beveller was relatively blunt I would ony be able to manage thicker leather as I would have to apply more pressure See youTube video by lb custom knives 'how to sharpen an edge beveller'

Well, it's not leatherwork, but I've been doing some sewing Good News - I finally got round to fixing a strap that had torn off my rucsac; a real fiddly job that I'd been putting off for weeks Bad News - I dropped a needle inside, and lost it; I expect I'll find it the hard way in a couple of months time.

I have only sewn fabric by machine so far. As I only make small items in leather, hand sewing has suited me; I also like it as it is relaxing or satisfying You mention the comparison of hand - and machine - made furniture. I don't make furniture, but I found Paul Sellers on YouTube. His videos are relaxing to watch, the sheer pleasure of watching an expert craftsman at work So, to make it clear, search for 'Paul Sellers' on YouTube.

I once got chatting to a retired traditional cobbler & leatherworker - in a pub, where else!? He probably left school aged 14 or 15, and the retirement age in Britain is 65 ( though it has changed recently) That means he's got at least 50 years experience He said he used round knives and re-sharpened stanley knives, and that 'them green mats' were as good as anything he'd ever used I have been fortunate enough to watch professional leatherworkers using round knives on two or three occasions, and although I hadn't really thought about it till I saw this thread, I realise now that their cutting action was more along and not down. That is for cutting out leather; for skiving you would use a marble or glass slab, or similar

How small or fine do you want to go? I once visited a professional leatherworker and besides general leatherwork, luggage & shoe repairs to mearn the money, he specialised in, would you believe, wallets and bondage. He did some very tight & fine stitching. He made a sort of template or pricking iron from thin scrap sheet steel to have very small stitch spaces, and a homemade awl - and very careful measurement. The handle was turned by a friend who did woodturning and the awl blade was very narrow, probably only about just over 1 mm wide, and possibly made from an old darning needle Any work done by this method was quite slow, and rather expensive Mind you, he had years of experience If the leather was thin you could probably do something similar with glovers needles

Have a look at this thread, posted by myself on 01 Dec 15 in the 'Sewing Leather' forum Irons, Chisels And Holes

I wasn't going to post under this thread again, I think you;ve probably got enough advice & information to be going on with, but I thought I'd tell you this I've just come back from doing some shopping and my local general store had a display box of key fobs on the counter. They're not very good, I'm sure even a beginner could do better. The price was £ 3 - 50 each; that's about $ 5 - 60

HEATHJ - Welcome to the fun! As you progress you will find that a starter kit will have some things you hardly ever use and there will be some things you need that it doesn't have. But it will do for a start - hence the name! I have a friend who does stone carving, and she says the same about her hobby; that's just the way things go. You will need something for cutting. The green plastic cutting mats are reasonably cheap and easily available. Get the biggest you can manage There are several different kinds of knives, and the choices are discussed over & over again on this forum. But the easiest to start with is a cheap snap blade knife from your local discount store These are two books that are often recommended -- The Art of Hand Sewing Leather by Al Stohlman. I suspect you will have bought a Tandy starter kit; this book is usually included in the kit The Leatherworking Handbook - A Practical Illustrated Sourcebook of Techniques and Projects by Valerie Michael - This has tools, methods, and simple projects - something else for a Christmas present! I've just re - read your original post. Don't worry if you're not very good at art; neither am I, nor, I suspect are a lot of other members of this forum. At least in the early stages you won't have to draw anything from scratch or freehand There are patterns & templates available on this forum; in handbooks; and from catalogues and suppliers. I think Nigel Armitage has a set of patterns for his wallets; watch the video to check. Leatherwork is a mixture that is part art and part practicality - mechanics & techniques if you like. By starting simple you will gradually acquire skill & confidence, working at a level that is just demanding enough to hold your interest, but not so much that it becomes frustrating For example, you would not suggest that an ancient technophobe such as myself starts off with a high level (is that the right term?) computer game, or at least I hope not! You would choose a game & console suitable for beginners and progress from there. Same goes for leatherwork Projects like a simple wallet will show you the techniques, and are mostly straight lines anyway - oh yes, you'll need a decent steel ruler as well Best Wishes Zuludog

Rolls - Royce, Bentley, Jaguar, Range Rover and other up - market British cars are supplied with leather by Connolly. The farms that supply the cattle are contracted not to use barbed wire There is an apocryphal tale that a Texas millionaire bought a Rolls - Royce and was most upset to find that he'd paid a lot of money for a car that was trimmed in PVC. When he complained to the dealers, they had to explain that it was, in fact leather, some of the best in the world. Seems he had never seen leather that was completely free from blemishes & imperfections. Surf Google for 'Rolls Royce Leather' and 'Bently Leather', and 'Connolly Leather' there are several references & videos.

Well of course you can do it! BUT start with something simple. This will get you used to the tools, techniques and the jargon. It will also be less frustrating and give you confidence from actually making something. Start with a key fob for yourself and your wife, and don't throw them away! Even if you make something better in the future. They will be something to remind you of how you started. A key fob can show you - pattern making; cutting out; saddle stitching; stitch grooving; edge bevelling; staining; tooling, depending on how far you want to go There is loads of information & advice on this forum, just work your way through old threads, especially on Getting Started' and 'Tools' Likewise there are lots of videos on YouTube, just search for 'leatherwork' You will learn that the key to leatherwork is to keep your tools absolutely razor sharp. There are threads on this forum, and videos on YouTube. You should be able to make your own strop easily & cheaply enough. These two videos are good on simple projects that will still show you the techniques and give you something worthwhile at the end 'How to make a Simple hand made Leather Wallet' by Armitage Leather 'Coin and Card Wallets' by Leodis Leather In fact anything by Leodis or Armitage is worth watching

If you want to make the slab suppliers something, Google 'leather wrist support'. My dad was a bricklayer, and he liked to use one of those when he was doing a lot of heavy work Or a leather apron. But you might decide that would be too much to give for free Or some king of half - glove or palm protector Or just a simple wallet To smooth the edges of the slab by hand use a coarse file, something like an 8" or 10" first cut, and be willing to wear it out.