zuludog

I haven't bought anything from goodsjapan myself, but I read a review somewhere, possibly on britishblades. Apparently they're reliable, well packed, good quality, and delivery is 2 - 3 weeks. But there was a warning, though not a problem with goodsjapan themselves. If you order anything, order one item at a time, with a gap of 3 weeks to a month or so inbetween; that way it's classed as personal use If you order several items together , HM Customs will hit you with import duty When I started to make things I hadn't realised how involved leatherwork would be if you wanted to do the job properly You will make mistakes; it's called gaining experience, and is all part of the fun. Think of that pencil case you're going to make! What is an expert? Someone who's made more mistakes than you!

So you've made a start? CONGRATULATIONS! The burnisher is obviously made to a price. You could improve it by getting it as smooth as possible with fine sandpaper, especially in the grooves. Then treat & polish it with linseed oil, or furniture polish, or leather treatment grease like Nikwax. Fondle it in your hands! It's not unpleasant and the warmth will help the polish etc to soak in. Do not use vegetable oil as this tends to dry sticky Do not use mineral oil, eg engine oil, as this can damage wood and leather It will get better the more you use it Here is a method for edge finishing; I'm sure other people will have different techniques Go round the belt with a sharp knife to trim any bumps or ragged edges. If it's pre - cut you should be OK, but it's worth checking Bevel the edges, ie the corners of the cut edge. I suggest a size 2 or 3 edge beveller Round off and smooth the edges as much as possible with medium abrasive paper. Cutting exposes the inside of the leather, which is porous, so you need to seal it, usually with gum tragacanth. Some suppliers have their own concoctions, but gum tragacanth is the most common, and is good enough. It takes a few minutes to dry Burnish the edge. Apply edge dye. Ordinary leather dye is too thin for that, you must use a special edge dye. Get black; it will suit your belt and be OK for most of your projects in the future Finish off the whole belt with polish or leather grease; you'll soon find out what you like You can get special applicators called daubers, but I manage well enough with cotton buds. Yes, the dye & gum are more things to buy, but once you have them, they'll last you for many projects Warning! Be careful with the jars of gum & dye; they'll make a helluva mess if you spill them! I very much recommend that you practice on scrap leather. I've looked up your source, and at 50" you should be able to cut off 2 or 3" and practice on that For your interest, visit http://www.goodsjapan.com Towards the top left corner of the homepage under Categories you'll see ' Leather Craft Items' Have a browse, you'll see the range of things available, and some are a bit different to Tandy et al.

I read somewhere that good quality belts should have their edges/perimeters sewn as leather stretches, and the stitching prevents this

stu925 I make knife sheaths. By the time you've got front + back + welt in 3 to 4 mm leather that adds up to quite a thickness. I use a drill with the following technique Make the stitching line with an edge groover, Tack all the pieces into position with a few dabs of general purpose glue Mark the position of the stitching holes with a stitch pricker Transfer the sheath to a bench vice fitted with padded jaws, Clean the vice up first so you don't get the sheath dirty. Even with soft jaws only close the jaws just enough to hold the sheath Drill the stitching holes. I use a small hand drill that's something of a family heirloom. You could get a small modern hand drill, but may as well get a miniature drill like a Dremel. I use a 1.5 mm drill. Transfer the sheath to a sewing pony and sew in the usual way, using an awl to open up the drill holes It sounds a bit cumbersome, but once you've got a bit of practice you can go fairly well. Obviously it's slower than using just an awl on thinner leather, but keep telling yourself it's a hobby, you don't have to earn your living from it. In fact, once you accept that it's going to be slow, you can concentrate on neatness.

Similarly in Britain I have seen books and tools marked 'wartime standard' or 'wartime finish'.

If you're going to get an instruction book there's no need to get the Tandy starter sewing kit, especially as I was quite surprised to see that it is now £121! Besides, the kit has a couple of disadvantages - The 4-in-1 awl isn't very good, and you have to sharpen it yourself. Bowstock offer a sharpened, mounted awl for about £8, and Osborne for £6 You can manage quite well without the rotary stitch groover/pounce wheel on small projects. An edge groover will give you the line of the stitching; then mark the stitching holes with a stitching pricker/chisel. This will give you deeper, more definite marks and so it will be easier to use the awl. It will be slower, but that's not so important on small projects; the two prong-er will be easier to use on curved projects That's the technique I use on my sheaths You can use a piece of board from an old kitchen cupboard, but it's easier to use a proper cutting mat as they're non - slip, and they're not expensive. most art & craft shops sell them. Might as well get the proper job from the start Bowstock sell various needles, cheapest is 4 for £1.25p, and other packs at about £2.40 There are all kinds of thread available, Surf The Net and see! You're on your own with that! However many people prefer linen to synthetic, and to wax their own thread. You could sew key fobs and small wallets in your hands to start with Here's my suggested starter kit, with some approximate prices. If you find something secondhand so much the better. Large cutting mat £7 Snap blade knife 1 Bowstock awl 8 Bowstock needles 2 Adjustable stitching groover 16 Size 2 edge beveller 13 2-prong, 3mm, diamond pattern stitching chisel 11 Beeswax 1 Thread, say 5 Total £64 Exchange rate is about £1 = $1.6 $102.40

Just had another idea. Put 'sam browne belt' into Google; these were the favourites of British army officers. The shoulder strap was designed to take the weight of, initially, a sword, then a pistol.

You can get portable gas heaters by people like Calor Gas. They're good, I had one in my garage for years. Of course, that's something else for you to buy, but you'll need one in winter Just put 'portable gas heaters' into Google

I've just put 'english leather belts' into Google It produced several references and manufacturers, in the classic simple but good quality english style

I make model aeroplanes, the plastic kits. It's quite common to make a base or frame of wood and set the bottle of liquid glue into it, to prevent that sort of thing

Ah well, you see; I was in a similar position to yourself a few years ago. You don't need to know the details, but with the help of friends & family I have managed to pull myself into a reasonable state now. A thought occurred to me. Probably like most of the people on this forum I have, since being a boy, pottered and tinkered, hoarded and collected. My Dad was a carpenter and I used to play with tools, then help him as I got older. I've always made the plastic model aeroplane kits, and then maintained my own cars, and decorated and maintained my house. Somehow I fancied knife making and so came to leatherwork to make the sheaths. Thus I've always had a feel for making & mending things, and built up a collection of tools & materials. Several of them can be turned to leatherworking - it was just a natural progression However I can see that if you come to this (or any similar practical hobby) 'cold', or completely from scratch it would be difficult. The gist of my advice is to read around the subject, as we were told at school & college, and start simple. For car mechanics I started by checking oil & water levels and the condition of the spark plugs; gradually progressing to things like changing a gearbox and rebuilding an engine You could try making a strop, you'll need one soon anyway, All you need for that is a scrap of wood, a knife, and some glue & scruffy leather. There are enough instructions in books & the Net. For a polishing compound I use Autosol, the car chrome polish An even simpler strop is to fix a strip of fine wet & dry abrasive paper to some stiff card with a few dabs of glue; but use it lying flat on the bench - the strop that is, not you. Then do a key fob; or two; or more Your interests include drawing and music. You could aim towards making a leather case or wallet for pencils; a larger case or cover for the paper & drawings ( stiff composition board covered in upholstery or garment leather?) A guitar strap if that's what you play, or make something for your friends & fellow musicians. Have a bottle of wine and use your imagination! I think you're now at the stage where you just have to go and do it Best Wishes Zuludog

Thank you awl(!) for your advice. You have to draw the line somewhere so I'll stay with the plan I've outlined at the start of this thread However if I need an awl in the future I'll try Osborne.

snubbyfan; I've just re - read your post. Well your profile actually. You might like this website & forum http://www.britishblades.com

Well, I do have the fid that comes with the Tandy awl. I might try that but for the moment I'll see how I go on with the stitching awl & round awl; I haven't even placed an order yet

You could start with a camping lantern and a headtorch, but a small generator is probably the best choice. The torches would still come in handy. On a brief search I've found http://www.thepowersite.co.uk http://www.machinemart.co.uk http://www.screwfix.com I'm sure a more extensive search would find other suppliers You will, of course, have to have a serious think about the installation, wiring, lighting, and so on, and generally find someone who knows what's what. You will almost certainly have to have the generator outside when it's running, or at least have it exhausting to the outside Find out what they do for caravans What are you going to do in the winter? You can't produce decent work if you're cold.

Yes, TwinOaks, thanks for your advice Both the John James and the Bowstock blades have the correct flattened diamond cross section and the elongated blade shape. I will use those for stitching I already have a home made scratch awl, but I have read (on the vergez-blanchard website and in a leatherworking book) that a round awl can be used to open up the holes when you backstitch to finish a line of saddle stitching, so that it does not cut the thread. I would like to have a dedicated round awl for this

I have the awl with interchangeable blades that came with a Tandy starter kit, but I don't like it. The haft is too small, I can't get the chuck/collett tight enough so the blades twist & slip, and I haven't managed to get the blade very sharp, though perhaps that's my fault I've been looking at possible replacements Vergez-blanchard are expensive and don'y have a British supplier I've heard of Bob Douglas but haven't been able to find out much, and there doesn't seem to be a British supplier Osborne have a British supplier, but I don't like the look of their hafts, and I hear the quality is not as good as it was Bowstock offer a sharpened & polished blade ready mounted in a haft, and have a decent reputation John James has a good reputation What I have decided is - 1) To buy the ready mounted Bowstock awl 2) To buy one of each type of Bowstock's hafts (3 in total). They are cheap enough to try, without worrying much about the cost, and seem big enough to modify the shape a bit if I need to 3) I've sharpened and polished Tandy's round awl blade and it seems OK. Surely there can't be much wrong with a round blade? I'll mount it in one of Bowstock's empty hafts 4) JohnJames have a good reputation. I'll get one of their awl blades and mount it in another empty Bowstock haft. 5) Bowstock hafts don't seem too bad, but are obviously made to a price, and seem to be varnished. I'll fettle them up, and possibly sand off the varnish then treat the wood with linseed oil. http://www.bowstock.co.uk John James are under their parent company http://www.entacolimited.com That should keep me going for the forseeable future. If I feel sufficiently motivated I might have another go at the Tandy blade and mount it in the remaining Bowstock haft I realise Bowstock & John James are British companies, but nevertheless I would be interested to have any comments "to fettle" = an northern English dialect word with its origins in the iron & steel industry, meaning to repair, or to clean up and generally improve something.

I don't understand why you can't find information - there's loads of it available for next to nothing. Here's a book list Leatherwork - a Manual of techniques by Geoffrey West Leatherwork - a practical guide by Chris Taylor Leatherworking Handbook: a practical illustrated sourcebook of techniques by Valerie Michael Leatherwork Tools by Al Stohlman Complete Leatherwork by Katherine Pogson The Art of Hand Sewing Leather by Al Stohlman I found these by - 1) Looking on Tandy's website and taking the list of titles I wanted to my library 2) Asking my library if they had any books on leathercraft or leatherwork. Ask yours, they might have other titles besides these 3) Searching Google for books on leather craft or leatherwork and taking a list to my library If your local library doesn't have the book in their district they can do an inter - library search of every library in Britain. There is a nominal fee for this, but you only pay it if they find the book I've just done a brief search of YouTube for leatherwork. There are about 10 pages each with about 20 videos Have you read every post, thread, reply, and blog on this forum? Or searched Google for similar websites & forums? Under the different categories there are pinned threads covering just about every aspect of leatherwork Note - Americans use 'pinned' for a permanent thread; in Britain we use 'sticky' http://www.britishblades.com is a forum for knifemaking; it has a section on sheaths & leatherwork. Yes, mostly sheaths, but they illustrate various techniques like stitching, wet forming, tooling, colouring, and there are some really outstanding examples of work. There are also other things like bags, belts, pouches, dog collars, and wallets. There are stickys on stitching, wet forming, carving a belt, and others As with this forum there are lots of examples to admire & inspire For tools, yes, there is Ebay, but there are local trading schemes as well, though I don't know much about them There are newspapers like Loot, and cards in newsagents and supermarkets. Don't just look & wait, put wanted ads in all of these - you don't get if you don't ask Visit the websites of leatherworking tool suppliers to see the sorts of things available, to get used to the jargon, and get a feel for the prices to help you assess secondhand items. Same sort of thing goes for the leather itself. Sometimes there are offers & sales I'm not that proficient with computer, but I know there is a lot of information available as downloads - perhaps someone would like to advise us? Tandy's website has a section on instructions, and Bowstock have some good tutorials on theirs On my travels around Cyberspace I saw someone who'd made a round/scratch awl by sharpening & polishing a nail and mounting it in a piece of broom handle Here's an example of Surfing The Net - I hadn't heard of vergez-blanchard till I got on this forum. They are French, and expensive. They don't have a British supplier, but their website has an English translation. On it I found some advice on using a round awl They offer a wooden edge creaser. I won't be buying one, but I might try making one sometime I think that's enough for the moment! Off you go and see what you can find! Zuludog

Aha Jazzman, we meet again! Tandy UK are reliable and have a reasonably fast turnround. They are efficient and businesslike; they take your order, and your money of course, and send the goods, but that's about it I asked them once if they had a bit of scrap leather to make a strop, and the reply was along the lines that the Northampton site was simply a warehouse, they didn't actually do any leatherwork there. On reflection, helping me to make my own strop would obviously affect the sale of their own item They charge p&p, but I haven't been able to find out how they calculate it. The Identity Store are agents for Tandy so sell everything that Tandy does, and also a business in their own right and have some of their own goods as well. I have found them more approachable and willing to give advice and help over the phone. I have started dealing with them instead of Tandy UK They have their own workshop so might be able to sell you smaller, and therefore cheaper, pieces of leather, and to advise you, as a beginner, on what to choose They also charge for p&p www.theidentitystore.co.uk You might also look at www.bostock.co.uk though I haven't had any dealings with them So you've decided to go ahead with leatherwork? Good . Remember that as with any hobby there will be times when you buy something you find out later you don't like or need, or or miss a good offer, only to find it cheaper a few days later. Such is life. Keep an eye out for old bags & belts, they will be useful for practicing or small items

Both the knife and the sheath are good. Have you tried this forum? http://www.britishblades.com

I've just been playing around with Google and came up with these www. leatherhidesuppliersusa leatherhideswholesaletexas texasleathergoods.com southtexassaddlery.com kellylarsonsales.com waterhouseleather.com rojeleather.com --- seems to deal with exotics leatherhidestore.com macphersonleather.com theleatherguy.org brettunsvillage.com theleathercollection.us Some of them are wholesale, but they might be willing or even glad to get rid of their small pieces & oddments. You don't get if you don't ask. Some of them sell tools as well I'm sure there will be more suppliers if you do a more extensive search; and there's always Tandy If you search for 'leather' you tend to get finished goods; for leather to work with, search for 'hide' Over to you!

Alright, Bigsmile, I couldn't resist that I'm sure if you asked for help under Resources, Suppliers, or Getting Started, then you would get several suggestions Do you have a saddlers or craft shop near you? Perhaps they will let you have some small pieces or point you in the right direction

Bigsmile If you can't find leather in Texas, God help you!

There are some American companies that specialise in purchasing goods in the USA on your behalf and then exporting them to your chosen destination. I've heard of a few people who have done that with backpacking gear. I think these two specialise in exporting to the UK, but perhaps if you contact them they will be able to suggest a company who can export to Australia www.reship.co.uk www.myusa.com This company advertises that it exports from USA to Australia www.priceusa.com.au You will have to read their websites & reviews and decide about them for yourself, but I know reship has been around for a few years

Not on leather, but I think this comment I heard years ago is relevant If you steal the ideas of one author, that's plagiarism; if you steal the ideas of several authors, that's bona fide research