Pan5N3

@Yukonrookie They're based in Saskatchewan; Saskatoon specifically I've tried, Wicket Craig, Seidel, Speici, SB Foot, Law Tannery (very thin feels great) , Arif & Sons, Horween and their own OA Original, One thing that I like is you don't always have to order a full side or full bend. I got started in leatherwork because I wanted to make a notebook cover. Didn't know if I would like leathercraft so I order 2 sq feet of 3/4oz black latigo by Wicket and Craig. No idea what it was but I thought it looked good. Also got one of their 'mystery' bundles. I was surprised by how much came in the bundle and how big some of the pieces were. Aside from visiting the local Tandy store, another Canadian store I've also ordered from is Hand and Sew (https://leathertools.ca/) They have some great exotics. You have to spend $250 before you get free shipping, but that's not hard to do. You might also want to check out the following post. There are a couple of links that don't work but overall it's great list. A lot of stores have free shipping if you spend a minimum amount. That varies, but it's not hard to meet most minimums.

One vendor you might want tot look at is OA Leather Supply. https://www.oaleathersupply.com/ I like them because a.) they are Canadian b.) Free shipping with $75 order in Canada ($250 US) c.) they have great customer service and d.) They post video descriptions of leather. Since you can't see and feel the leather yourself, the videos are a big help in understand what the leather is like. From a customer service standpoint, they answer quickly (especially about orders) and they have helped me figure out what I needed for products. One other thing is that they have 'auctions' where you can get some deals on products.

I use actual hockey pucks. They aren't heavy (6 oz) but you should be able to find them in sports stores for cheap. Prices have doubled during pandemic, but they are still cheap - $2.. There are 10oz pucks but they are not a common. Can find them in a lot of sports stores or on-line. Hockey pucks also make good punch blocks. Solid vulcanized rubber. Hard enough to hammer on but soft enough to not dull tools. Also useful for setting up decorative rivets. Easy to drill / carve out the shape you need. Hard enough to set the rivet but soft enough to not damage. Up here in Canada, hockey pucks are wonder tools. even used them for body work on cars :-)

My understanding is that Tokonole does not penetrate the same way water or gum trag do. As a result you can used it to burnish most chrome tanned leather because you polishing the Tokonole rather than burnishing the leather. I made a bag out of the OA split plank and could not burnish with gum trag or water but I was able to burnish with Tokonole. Below are a couple of videos that I found on burnishing Chrome with Tok https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGtVrUcUdYI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9TBhL0D7gI For my watch straps I either use a large clip that is designed for closing chip bags OR, I use a 2x4 that I've cut a slot into. Depends on my mood as to which I use. :-)