GerryAttrick

I was talking to an elderley single female co-worker the other day about my interest in working with leather. She told me her now deceased father was a leather-worker and she invited me around to look at some "stamps he used in his work". Today I visited her and she showed me the attached box of stamps. They must be at least 20 years old as her father died that long ago. They appear to be from Tandy and seem to be plastic. I assume he would have stamped the designs in to the leather and then carved to pattern. She showed me a leather ladies wallet he made for her mothewr which had some of the patterns carved in to it. It was lined with a very thin leather and the hand stitching was very neat to my eye. She also had his old Singer Treadle machine which he had fitted with an electric motor. During our conversation she mentioned that her brother still had all her fathers old tools and patterns which she thought he might consider selling and I have been offered first refusal if he does want to sell. As I was leaving she mentioned that her father was also a wallpaperer and wanted to show me his old wallpaper equipment and I felt obliged to look although not that interested in them really. It turns out they were in an old gramophone case which he had converted to a storage box and as she pulled things out what should appear but his original head knife (sorry no pix of this one yet) it was slightly rusty but still scarey sharp and in a leather pouch that he made for it. There was also a scraper and a funny object like a plane but with a round cutting wheel and what appeared to be a fence and I assume it was for cutting strips of leather. I did not manage to get a photo but she was going to ask Mrs Google what it might be ;-) I will look in the Stohlman books to see if it appears there. To cap it off what did she have in the garage (her car sat in the driveway outside!)...a 1964 Thunderbird 2 door coupe. In totally original and unrestored condition. I turns out that it is hers which she "bought a couple of years ago as an investment". As Whangamata is the home to Beach Hop, New Zealands largest meet for classic (mainly American) modern and classic cars and hot rods ( https://beachhop.co.nz/ ), it is an appropriate place for it to be but she does not enter it into Beach Hop All in all a day to remember!

Thanks for your replies guys. I have not heard anything from local leatherworkers yet but NZ has a nationwide State of Emergency as we have been hit by one of our biggest storms ever. Its pretty understandable that they have other things of more importance ATM. Our town is totally cutoff from the rest of the North Island and Auckland,our biggest city, has massive floods and slips with one volunteer fireman lost when a slip hit the house he and a colleague were in. The other fireman was rescued but is in hospital in a critical condition. @Tugadude - you sure would not want to be here currently. One of our main roads in to town (Whangamata) has totally gone in one part and is still slipping. Some engineers have suggested it may take between one and two years for it to be reinstated. There is only one other route out of town and that is currently blocked by several slips. We lost about one metre of seafront last night.

Thanks @Hags I will keep that idea in mind.

I am just getting interested in trying some leather work. It started when I wanted to replace a buckle on a much loved leather belt (riveted). This led to me now wanting to sort another buckle but this time on a stitched belt...and so down the rabbit hole I went!! I am already thinking of making a couple of other belts similar to ones I already have but which are showing their age. I suspect one may have been made from Chrome Tanned leather as it has stretched a bit...I totally deny that my waistline has contributed to the stretching as the belt fits perfectly My interest at this stage is belts, wallets (billfolds) I have a couple of the Stohlman books already and the Val Mitchell one is in the mail. In the meantime I have been reading all the great info about various tools that I "cant live without" and watching YouTube videos. Unfortunately I subscribe to the school of buying good(expensive) rather than adequate( usually cheap) so I am progressing very slowly. I have almost finished making a stitching pony...just have to locate some scrap leather to cover it with. I was told that old leather handbags at the local Opportunity shops are worth looking at. My biggest issue is obtaining leather and it seems that other than one supplier I may have to consider importing so that will probably mean a check with NZ Biosecurity to see if that is likely to be a problem. I will also be contacting some of our tanneries to see if they can supply some. The other problem is freight. I did look at getting some tools from USA but the freight cost on a US$15 tool was over $US60. Yesterday a lady I work with part-time told me her (now deceased) father was a professional leather-worker and she has some of his stamps and her brother hase all of his old tools which are lying unused. I have asked for first refusal if they come up for sale I know there are other Kiwis on here and wonder if they would like to chime in with advice. Sources of supply they use especially welcome. Alan