New member in the UK

[IanO]

Hi all

Thanks for letting me into your community.

I am a novice at leathercraft and always looking for ideas.  I started leatherwork mainly to make decent covers for my growing collection of greenwood working tools, for which covers are pretty expensive.  Given the number of *essential* tools I have managed to buy over the last three months to help me in my leatherwork endeavours, I am beginning to see why.

Beyond wood and leather, I also brew beer.

I appreciate that this might give you the impression of some aged, bearded, old man - ploughing his trade in some remote woodland location but  whilst I am Scottish and from the country, I now live in London and work in the Finance sector - escapism, I guess!

Anyhoo - advice always welcome and my mantra is "all the gear and no idea" so please bear in mind that I am a novice, when I am asking daft questions on how to work some new tool I just picked up off ebay!

Ian

[fredk]

Welcome to the nut-hatch, er the forum

The only daft question is the one not asked. You'll find plenty of help on here. And there are several hunderd pages of   'How do I . . . '.     I'm still making my way through them

Have to get you off that beer, ale is better, and even better is wine

Ever thought of keeping bees? A friend of mine*  lives in Londinium and keeps bees in the top floor of his house. Gets about 100 -150 pounds of honey every season. Honey is very useful for making wine and mead. Goes nice on toast as well

*lost contact with him several years ago

[toxo]

Welcome neighbour from Chatham, Kent. There are a few of us on here though not many.

Ask away Ian, that's what forums are for.

[PastorBob]

Welcome from SW Missouri, USA.  Great group of folks here more than willing to answer any question you may have.

[TomE]

Welcome.  I recommend videos from JH Leather and Harry Rogers for basic construction methods.  She uses the traditional tools and methods.  Abbey England is a quality source.

[IanO]

Thanks all - for checking in and look forward to interacting in time.

@fredk the beer i make is generally Scotch Ale in the winter, c.7% ABV and Belgian Ale in the summer c.7%ABV.  Occasionally I make hoppy ales in the Brewdog fashion but only really if I have pals over who fancy making beer.

Ian

 

 

[zuludog]

Hello IanO and welcome to the fun! As you can see, I also live in the UK, in Lancashire

The problem with all crafts & hobbies is that there is an initial outlay & expense, and you need almost as much kit to make one item as you do to make dozens, whether that's model planes, leatherwork, sculpting or painting. Still, that gives you plenty of opportunity for retail therapy and buying new toys

There is a lot of advice about leather work on this Forum, and on YouTube. These channels are good, but there are many others - JH Leather, Geordie's Workshop, Corter Leather, Ian Atkinson aka Leodis Leather, Leathercraft Masterclass

Here are some suppliers - Identity Leathercraft; Artisan Leather; Metropolitan Leather, George Barnsley and sons

There are many YT videos about making knife sheaths, axe covers, belts, pouches, and bags; also techniques such as saddle stitch, edge finishing, sharpening awls & edge bevelers. And you will quickly realise that the same sort of techniques are used to make most leather items.

These shows might interest you - The Bushcraft Show, 27/29 May '23 and The Wilderness Gathering 17/20 August '23

Edited March 23, 2023 by zuludog