Tommykay98

Thanks for the great replies all! Sorry I'm not much of a Cajun chef, lol. My tools do need some fondling and attention for sure. They get lonely, haha.

Hello crafters, I am a total newb and on a tight budget. I bought a $50 starter set from a craft store and used it for a couple weeks. Now I cruise eBay and bid on tools and I have won several. I just paid the credit card bill for this recent period and I am shocked its up to $300! and I want more. I hardly have any leather just some scrap pieces. I'm in deep trouble, financially as well as romantically at home. What you think? I got the leather work bug in me!

Great thread!

Hi, I'm very new to this myself. My first tool set was from Hobby Lobby and it was cheesy. Then I purchased a Barry King knife, one he recommended to me after I emailed him with some questions. He was very helpful and responded on a Sunday. Needless to say I was impressed. I then started buying vintage Craft tool stamps on eBay with great success. As far as leather to practice on it was suggested here to find a local saddle maker. Well I could only find one in my state, Louisiana, and he was great. We met on a highway exit where he gassed up and gave me about six pieces of nice leather. He even showed me some drawing tips. Real nice guy. Good luck to you! Oh, and I returned the set to Hobby Lobby and will put that towards more stamps or a book. Also, Weaver does put out some nice looking kits to get started. Check'em out. You also asked about a maul or hammer. I'm stuck on this myself. Don't know which way to go. I have a bad shoulder and I think a tapered one is best for me. My thinking is it can keep my shoulder/elbow lower. (?) Then I need to decide round or hammer style. I'm tempted to go cheap, with eBay to try it out but I love the look and apparent quality of the Barry King and Bear mauls.

Latest update: The saddle maker has called me and has turned out to be a very friendly and helpful person. We had a great conversation. He gave recommendation's on tools and books and may even let me visit his shop for a few pointers. I feel extremely blessed to have such a great opportunity.

I'll give it a try, thanks Avion.

Thank you Robert. And thank you Jim. I was able to find 1 saddle maker and 1 saddle repair and tack maker. I've sent them emails and one has replied. So I'll see where this goes. Thanks again for the great idea. Heck, wish I lived in Texas or California, seem to be many a saddle maker in those parts.

Hi, my name is Tom and I'm a wanna be. I wanna be a leather crafter but I'm a long way off from that. I recently started in this addictive hobby and I am hoping to get good enough to earn a little income with it. Just a little. I am really amazed at the craftsmanship visible on these pages. I have been practicing some and hope to post a few pics soon. I have learned its not a cheap thing to get into, I cringe thinking about the $16.00 worth of leather from eBay (3 small pcs.) that I mangled up already. But, it's fun, challenging and taking over my mind! Thank you all for being here.