magsie

I'm new to the whole leather working world and decided to buy the deluxe kit from Tandy because I knew that aside from whatever little projects took my fancy, I wanted to be able to do minor tack repairs on my own stuff, easily punch new holes in stirrup leathers, make some fancy browbands and dog collars, maybe try making myself some chaps, and incorporate more leather work into other fabric pieces that I make - the tooling side wasn't as important to me (although now that I've tried it, it is pretty fun and I'm getting more into that too!). I should also add that I live a good two hours away from any leather shops and Tandy is the only one that lets me order online, ship it or pick up in the store, or just go into the store to purchase - oh, and I qualify for the wholesale discount which helped a bit with the initial cost of everything. It ended up being cheaper for me to get the kit with a few things that I didn't think I would need, but I've ended up having fun learning how to use, than getting all of the tools and accessories that I knew I would need individually and not really being sure if I was getting the right things. The pieces that came with my kit may be different than come in the the others, but I've actually been really pleased with how easily everything cuts, punches, sets etc. Any problems I've had with the stamps have been more down to operator error than anything else and the leather I've bought has been fine too, but my standards are probably pretty low when compared to a lot of you guys!! The only thing that I've really found frustrating is the dyes and stains. And I've found the videos and tutorials that they have really useful since I can't go to any classes and don't learn well from books. I suppose I'm just echoing what pretty much everyone else has said, Tandy serves a particular purpose for a particular market and anyone who really gets into leather working will eventually move away from Tandy, but without Tandy I wouldn't have even tried leather work and I wouldn't have eventually found this site which has been really helpful and encouraging to me.

This is one for a Mexican Braid, which is what yours looks like, except that the back on yours looks like it was laid down in one direction and then braided back up. (I haven't tried posting a video here before so hopefully this works!) <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gplKln4aA8k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

There are some really good youtube videos out there - but you need to know what you're searching for for that to work! Bruce Grant's "How to Make Cowboy Horse Gear" is a really good book. I've got a couple of other good ones, but can't remember the titles or authors right now and I'm not at home so can't look it up. I'll let you know once I find them!

That video was really helpful. And, holy cow was that other guy fast! I can see that edges on my stamp aren't as crisp as the ones in the tutorials so it'll probably be worth the investment for a better one, I would just hate to spend the money on a really good tool when my skills aren't up to par yet! Oh well, I see basketweave coasters and napkin rings in my whole family's Christmas stockings this year.

Basketweave stamping is quickly becomeing my new nemesis. I just can't seem to 1) stay on a straight line with it or 2) space the stamps properly. I've been watching the Tandy tutorials and always make a guideline and work back and forth on either side of it, but my technique does not seem to be improving. Does anyone have any other helpful hints or suggestions?

What grit would you recommend using?

I've seen a few of Nigel Armitage's videos with the stump and am definitely thinking about making one. The biggest problem I'm facing is getting good lighting for my space - gonna have to make the treck out to Ikea sometime.

That sounds brilliant. I don't have a proper work bench set up yet, but I'll definitely think about adding something like that to it.

I hadn't even thought of using pipe, thanks!!

So if you have a small piece that is full thickness and you don't have a splitter, what's the best way to smooth the back? Skiving, sanding? I'm asking as a total newb who doesn't have a lot of tools yet and who is trying to use every scrap of leather that I currently have for practicing.

I'm making some napkin rings as quick and easy practice pieces and I want to use rivets to close them, but I don't like how much the rings get "squashed" when setting the rivets, so I'm thinking about making a thing (I have no idea what the correct term would be) to help keep the rings shape while I set the rivets. What I have in mind would be a piece of broom stick or something similar with two sides planed flat and maybe a notch cut into the bottom face for the leather to sit in so that the whole piece can keep it's shape a bit better when setting the rivets. Just wondering if this is something that other people do or if anyone has any ideas, thoughts, suggestions, etc. Thanks! (also I'm not sure how to add tags to the post)