eandrese

I noticed that Springfield Leather has some veg sides for $25 that is advertised on their site. I have not purchased any leather beyond a bag of scraps for fear of purchasing the wrong thing and because I dont have any tools yet. Hoping Santa brings some in his sleigh this year. Anyway I have a few beginner projects in mind I could use some leather for but I wanted to see if anyone has purchased this and has any opinion. Is it awful to work with or a good deal? I dont want to make a purchase to save a few bucks just to be frustrated on my first project, but I bet I could afford to make a few mistakes with this stuff and still get a few nice coasters or mouse pads out of a side. Thoughts?

What a great way to honor a grandparent! This is awesome.

Thanks Rohn

I started watching YouTube videos of leathercraft several weeks ago and I just love the idea of working with leather. I have not even made a "Project" yet but I did pick up a bag of remnants at the loca Hobby Lobby and a basketweave stamp and thought I would share my first practice run. Nothing special here but it was my first real attempt to do anything beyond cutting a strip of leather for a bookmark. I cased this with hot water out of my Keurig, that seems to work pretty well and then stamped the angle weave onto the leather. Once done I put some leather conditioner on it and it didn't seem too embarrassing but was far from great. I have a lot of tools on my wishlist for Christmas and plan to keep picking stuff up over time. So far since I am over three hours from a Tandy Amazon seems to be about the best source for tools beyond the items I can repurpose from the harbor freight. Are there books that show various stamping techniques and patterns that you all recommend or find to just be the best? Thanks for being there guys. I learn so much from reading your posts. Eric

This is clearly what makes this such a fantastic forum. It is amazing to have such experienced folks so willing to help us newbies. Thank goodness!!

I love the lettering. I can imagine how nervous one may get about halfway in knowing any error will be a show stopper. Are there any good threads in lettering I can search for that others know about? What process was used for this lettering? Beautiful work!

Ha would have never thought about considering the first aid kit a leatherworking tool but no worries I have one of them too! The knife I used this weekend was a basic utility razor knife, the kind that uses a keystone shaped blade, but all of that advise is good for sure. I was considering adding a roller knife, but maybe not, sounds like their utility is pretty limited. I will try stropping a new blade next time. I have seen a lot of Ian's videos already but have not seen any of Nigel's videos yet. Going to go look for them. I am off to go find Chiefs videos right now! Thanks guys.

I am not exactly sure how it happened, but I have really caught the leatherworking bug. Certainly my love for leather goods started years ago but recently I sort of stumbled across the hobby of leather working. Initially, I started watching videos on YouTube, and I have watched I think what amounts of many hours of instructional video there now. Then I started to look for websites and thought I would really like to learn more about it. My memory of kits includes a lot of junk as a kid that included plastic laces etc. I certainly am no looking for that I know. My background is in IT, I am a techy nerd type now in my late 40's with five grandkids and looking for something to keep me busy when I am not taking college courses as an empty nester. Really the idea of making leather goods as gifts is pretty attractive, but I see leather craft as a craft, something you learn over a long period of time and make investments in tools over a long period of time. It also is a great opportunity for the kids who never quite know what to buy me, it seems that there is a long list of punches that could give them ideas fo years to come; and also i love to learn new things, this seems like a hobby that one can never learn all facets of, like there will be a lot to learn for a long time. All of that said I also have recognized that this might not be real mainstream. I looked at several bookstores and found nothing. Also I have no Tandy near me. I am somewhere between Chicago and Des Moines about mid-way in the "Quad Cities" and no local craft or hobby stores seem to have much. They might have a few products, but it is very sparse. I did find a pretty limited selection of stuff at the local hobby lobby. My initial purchase was a bag of scraps from Silver Creek Leather, a modeling spoon with a transfer tool on the rother end and I purchased some cotton thread and a few needles looking forward to a time when I get some other tools like a groover and a rolling spacer. My expectations are pretty low for now. I want to learn enough to say make a belt, a few coasters may be padded with some urethane fill of some type and wet formed to give it a nice edge, maybe some nice leather mouse pads, or writing pads, and sa a journal cover. All of these seem like good starter projects to me. This past weekend I got out some of the scraps and a craft mat we have for a roller knife and a metal straightedge and thought I would try my hand at cutting; JUST cutting a few straight pieces. It was a real struggle for me. Might be I need to get some different kind of knife. I used a utility knife. I did wet (Case?) the leather first and allowed it to return to just less than wet before cutting, but maybe my knife was of poor quality or maybe it is just a lot harder than it looks. Honestly I questioned if the stuff I got at Hobby Lobby was even real leather and wondered if it is even harder with what really is good quality veg tan. Anyway I wanted to introduce myself and just share where I am in the hobby today. There seem to be a ton of really smart and talented people here. I will take any advice I can get. Let me know if I seem to be walking down the right path. Thanks in advance for all of the wisdom you can impart. Best, Eric Andresen Davenport, Iowa