Most people start with vintage or Tandy. Buy what you need, try to innovate where you can. I love places like oaleathersupply, but lets be real. A Wuta tool to try a style and find out if you like it is just fine. Tandy has a range of quality for that same reason. Invest in what you know you need for most leather. Skive blade, prongs, thread, sewing or lacing kit (needles, thread/lace, wax, marking tools to get an even line, groover, awl/different sized flat needles with your choice of tools to help pull and push lace through, tape measure, thimble and or finger cots, edge skiver, sandpaper or more refined sanding tool), burnishing tools and wax, gum, or tokonole; craft or clipper's blade, heat source to finish synthetic stitches (and possibly explore pyrography). Beyond that is specialized. If you want to carve or stamp you need a whole tool set there. If you want to make purses the hardware range is quite extreme. Clocks? Combine with woodworking? Print on leather? Dolls and figurines? Book covers or books? Saddles? Shoes? Moccasins? Vests or other clothing? Belts? Guitar straps? Custom cases? There's one guy that 90 percent of his business seems to be leather covered clips.
