Hi All

[ElNino]

Hi All,

I am at the beginning of a lifelong ambition to become a leatherworker, as of the moment I am not sure which direction I will take as I learn more I guess I'll figure that out I am living on the south cost of Spain so I don't think leather is going to be too difficult to source. What I would really appreciate is some help in where to buy tools used or new. I have discovered TandyLeather, but for example a friend sent me a swivel knife as a gift, UPS shipping was almost $40 and on this end duties were $5 and the UPS "brokerage" fee was $25 so my first question to the list is "where can I go to get decent prices on good quality tools and how can I ship them without paying more than the tool costs in duties and shipping?"

Cheers,

Chris

[Regis]

Chris,

Welcome to leatherworker.net. There are several members here from European countries and at least one from Spain that can probably help you with tool sources. I would think that regular postal mail would be a lot less than UPS. I don't know what that brokerage fee is and if it just applies to UPS. Or, perhaps the cost would be nearly the same if a few hundred dollars in tools were in package.

Lots of great folk here and I'm sure you'll get better answers.

[rdb]

I haven't heard if it's open yet, but this is the Press Release...

"Tandy Leather Factory Inc announced that it intends to open a Tandy Leather Factory store in the United Kingdom in the 1st quarter of 2008. The Company is in the final stages of lease negotiations for a 10,000 square foot building located in Northampton.

John McNiven, President of the Company's Canadian operation, has agreed to oversee the store opening and business development for the first year. This first store will operate as a combination wholesale and retail store. Once it is established and profitable, the Company intends to open several traditional Tandy Leather retail stores throughout the country.

The Company cited several reasons for establishing a local presence in the UK as follows:

• Sales into the UK and Europe by the Company is approximately $600,000 annually, even though the Company doesn't advertise internationally. Management believes that sales could increase significantly with a store located there and an advertising campaign directed toward the population.

• The Company believes the timing is good given that the UK economy is strong and growing. Economic indicators suggest Retail Sales for the third quarter to be 6.2% and GDP, after second quarter growth of 0.8%, is expected to be 3.3% for the third quarter.

• The Company has a highly-qualified employee in John McNiven who has agreed to oversee the UK endeavor. Mr. McNiven has 40+ years of experience in the leathercraft industry and has a proven track record establishing Leather Factory and Tandy Leather retail stores outside of the U.S."

[Jordan]

Just remember to go with the flow, and enjoy working with leather. You will just kind of wakeup one day and have found your niche.

[ElNino]

Back Again,

I would like to thank everybody on the forum for doing such a great job. I spent a good part of the weekend scouring the site and I am in awe and mightily impressed with the incredible artistry, skills and work that is out there. This is the beginning of my learning curve and I am very happy to have found this list so early in the game. Work wise I expect to be lurking for a while, I have ordered a few books and will slowly start building up the tools I need. My reading here this weekend has already saved me from some bad decisions in tooling and the budget is tight.

So thank you all again, I look forward to hopefully not too far in the future being able to produce some work to share with you.

Cheers,

Chris

[Syd]

Hi,

Here's a link to a website in Uk,they supply all Tandy stuff if you contact them they will send you out a Tandy Supply book.

Hope this helps.

Syd

http://www.theidentitystore.co.uk/cat/index.htm#bymail