LetterT

Tricky indeed. A lot of people sharing their free patterns I have seen on YouTube are specific that any products you make using the pattern can not be sold commercially. On another hand how many different designs of a wallet can you invent, 20-25-30? Another thing to notice is that after a certain period of time publications become public domain.. Currently that year is 1924 and earlier. More detailed explanation here https://copyright.cornell.edu/publicdomain In short, if you ever find a pattern of any kind in a book published in 1924 or earlier you are free to use it as you wish. Here is one example https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.126006/mode/2up

There is a tutorial posted by Stetson912 here on the forum http:// https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/82352-inkscape-and-pattern-making-1911-holster-tutorial/ He is using Inkspace (which is free) to create a pattern for a gun holster. It will give you some idea how that works. There was also a link somewhere here for a online course on digital pattern making, I believe it was in the range of $35, but for the love of God I can not find it.

If you have a bit of time on your hands you could make your own, I found a YouTube video showing off how to make them starting from measuring your own size (at least you will know they are perfect fit).

That very much depends on what you would like to build. Making a knife sheet is not the same as making an attache briefcase, nor is a horse saddle. If you have a specific thing in mind - that would help decide what tools you need at a minimum and you can always expand from there. One advice I can give is try not to buy the cheapest tools, they will serve you poorly and they can actually ruin the experience so you would never want to work with leather again. I am not saying to get the most expensive tools out there but try to get a good tool that can actually help you in your work. If you discover you don't like leather work or you don't have the time any more a good tool can be sold while the cheapest tools will end up in a bin. So, what would you like to make?

I salute the good effort and especially the fact you didn't take you picture in the toilet. Sometimes I wonder how far have we gone as a society when women try to be attractive by taking pictures in the toilet?!?

Hah, I have one of those you were inspired by coming Monday by post from eBay. It looks almost exactly the same. I can let you know if it is any good.

Isn't that a raised concho button? I understand the bottom picture is the back side. These days concho buttons mostly come as screwed in buttons (they come hollow with a crew) so there is no need to make anything fancy on the backside. The principle is the same, raised button with thread on the other side to wrap around the button.

You guys are just not appreciative of the high level of craftsmanship required to make such objects of art

As much as the specifics can be elusive surely there are some basic guidelines or rules of thumb that are to be followed. They may be as simple and as broad as "In hand tooling we use only veg tan leather" but they are still there.

Hahahah... so true. I think I have invested about 500$ in tools (if I count in the work desk it is even more) and I am not even there to making a wallet I am fully satisfied with.

For starters that sawing machine is no good for leather, especially that thick. If you are not planning to make a lot of it (I mean multiple pieces) I would skip the idea of using a sawing machine. It's just not worth it. I would also advise to try and shop in person, when starting out you need to see the tools and leather with your own eyes to heave a better idea of what to expect. Maybe someone from Indiana can suggest a shop closer to you. Look for some tutorials on YouTube how people make belts, make note of the tools they use and consider if you need them all (there is some preference for fancy tools that are not essential when just starting out). What you have on the photo are belts in essence, even the one with firefighting emblem is one wide belt wrapped around another belt. Also, strongly advise you to make one without all the fancy tooling like letters and emblems. Basic belt making skills are what you need to master first before taking anything else.

Looking at Tandy this is what I fond to be as close as possible: https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/craftool-pro-stamp-border-d2160 You could look elsewhere, of course, and another option would be to even order a custom made stamp for you. It all depends how far you want to look for it.

I noticed Wuta has a set of "old" and a set of "new" irons. I have no idea what is the difference but in 3mm size they only have 2+5 and I am sure working with just 5 is trouble. I ordered "new" set of 3.38 as it is the smallest of the 2+8 sizes.

I think he is using a sharp chisel to scrape the surface of the leather to make it rough for better glue adhesion. If he is using some kind of oiled leather it makes sense to scrape the surface oils.

I took the adventure of ordering from TaoBao a few days ago for the first time. My Chinese is absolute zero, even after watching all those HK kung-fu movies in my youth. After plenty of struggle I ordered my first set of Wuta irons. What made you look for another set and could you share a link? Does the shop you bought from ship overseas, I think I have read not all sellers are interested in shipping outside of China.