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I'm getting in to covering old boxes in leather, but some of the boxes are very damaged so I need to find somewhere to buy wooden boxes. Does anyone know any good places to look?

Hello. I'm Sheila from Ticino, South Switzerland. I'm a beginner self-taught leather worker. I have a lot to learn, but I'm not afraid by mistakes. I hope to make some good courses as soon I can, for the moment here some of my works. I love to make bags: in the first picture the first one I made as gift for my mom. Now I'm working on my first prototype, almost finished. second picture: A small box and after some eyeglasses case I designed. At the end a keyring. all Giftes. All hand crafted, with the best veg tan leather from Tuscany. I made myself also my cardboard packaging. I hope you like them. Here my Instagram: http://www.Instagram.com/orikawa.atelier_leather

There have been a few threads about cutting costs or getting stuff cheap but they were by and for the US cousins so I thought I'd start one for the UK-ers I can't see anywhere else but here to run the thread 1. Granite chopping board. From Home Bargains = £4.99, exactly the same one sold by Argos is £9.99. Size is 40 x 30 x 1.3 cm. It may be thin but I've been stamping on it and it hasn't cracked yet. Certainly good enough for edge skiving if you don't want to chance the stamping on it 2. Next we visit the Poundland shop, so all these items cost.... ?? How much? anyone? Bueller? UHU glue. Look for the solid box. There is one with a window in the box, that tube is far smaller [half the contents afair]. Its a good contact glue, Easy to apply because it is a tube - and in my case you don't waste a load cos the rest of the glue in the tin has solidified. UHU is also available at some Home Bargains for... 99p a tube. Home Bargains sells a Bostick type glue in their own brand name; its good too, at £1 a tube. 3. Stainless steel roasting tin. I use these for dip dyeing. Holds enough dye and easy clean up 4. Compartment storage box, About 20 x 20 x 4cm. Divided up into twelve 5 x 5cm and one 10 x 10cm sections. Many of the partitions are removable making the areas longer [or wider, but not both ways]. Handy for keeping and segregating small things like small rivets, Chicago screws or Sam Browne buttons 5, Black box with lid.This one is just under the size of half of a folding crate. I throw scraps into a number of these, then sort out the stuff that can be used from the real waste. I make board games so any piece from which I can punch a 6mm disc is still good for me 6. Need to see better close up? I wear reading glasses. Available in powers from 1 D to 4 D. I have several in 2, 2.5, 3 and 3.5 powers for various tasks [not all leather work] They're cheap enough to have several pairs kicking around. My eye specialist [I can't spell her fancy title!] put a pair on one of her machines and she said the lenses were fine; almost as good as the ones she gets for customers. 7. A new style of reading glass on the block. With LED lights, one each side. I'm still checking these out. In low light they help but if you have bright working lights they don't seem to make much difference. These cost me £1.09 from China via ebay 8. Back home - to Home Bargains actually. A medium sized clear storage box, £1.69. I keep things that I use more frequently in these as I can see the contents better 9. At many discount stores; small spring clamps, usually about £1 to £1.50 for six or eight. Their jaws will mark leather so I use lolly sticks between the jaws and the leather, both sides. Not only does this prevent the leather from getting marked but it spreads the clamping force. And, yes occasionally the stick will leave a flat impression on the leather but it never looks bad. Normal lolly sticks at The Works; 50 for £1, or some craft stores 100 for £1, and wide sticks; 100 for about £1.50 Don't use the coloured sticks; the colour comes out and will stain the leather, it even stained some chrome tanned upholstery leather I have. 10 Another bargain. I'm currently 'remodeling' [ahem....clearing out, tidying, sorting the mess of, or as we say here 'redding it out' ] the room I do leather work in. I went to Homebase to look for another tool box and got this; £40, discounted from £160. It was a stock clearance sale. It pays just to keep yours eyes and ears open. I already had two drawer units [the top bit of this] from Halfords for my tools. Sometimes they discount the tool boxes too. Right, that's all from me for now. Over to youse.........

Hi everyone, I saw a book for sale online about making leather boxes. I think it was from the tandy site, but now I can't find it. Does anyone here make boxes? Could you post some pics please? Are there any tutorials available online? Thanks, Rob

Hey everyone, sorry for the radio silence but I've been running amok (as usual) and while I've had a few things in the works, I didn't have much finished related to leatherwork. I'm pretty sure I posted the first one of these I made, but I've made a few more since then. Gotta say, want to work on your saddle stitching starting and stopping? Make small boxes. >_< I've re-watched Nigel's video on making boxes a few times now and still pick up something new. I've found that saddle stitching only really works on the thicker leather, at least if you want butted ends. I suppose I could make an attempt to pull the stitching tight and have the ends flare outwards, but trimming it would be not so fun. I've also found the more flexible leathers are better off being cut from one piece and bent into shape, it gives a bit of extra support, although it does have a tendency to make a rounded bottom unless you whap it flat. Another discovery is that the mat board cutter is pretty snazzy for putting a 45 degree cut on stiff leather.