Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without!

[carr52]

1. free boxes and envelopes through the usps website.

2. at comic shops on wednesday (shipment day) you can get larger boxes and packing material for free. some of the boxes are good to use for shipping, some are good for storage. also the dividers/protectors are fairly heavyweight can be used for templates that don't need to be folded.

3. need wood for something? hit up construction sites. they'll usually give you very usable scrap wood. I've got a lap table that also had my mini anvil mounted on it that was made from scrap wood.

4. keep all your scrap pieces of leather. sit down one day when you're tired of making your usual stuff, dig through and use your imagination to come up with something new. some of the stuff I've come up with just to use up scrap leather have been me biggest sellers and got added to the usual assortment.

5. find alternative places to get some things. places like harbor freight, the dollar store, etc. as an example I needed a new poly punch board. dollar store time! look in the kitchen area for 'em. the kitchen cutting board is the same material and loads cheaper and a bit more surface area. plus it has a handle so I can hang it up.

6. keep an eye out for places going out of business and think if they might have something you can use. mannequins, fixtures, or whatever can be gotten cheap sometimes. if it's an office place going out of business or closing up, file cabinets, folders, binders, lamps and other stuff can sometimes be... oh, what's that magic word? oh yeah! free!

7. (this one's showing my old punker roots) go dumpster diving on college campuses at christmas time and end of semester when the kids move out of the dorms. chairs, desks, shelves, clothes, tv's, vcr's, dvd players, stereos and all kinds of stuff gets tossed out because they got a new one or they just don't want pack it out.

8. keep an eye out while driving. you neverknow what you'll see on the side of the road. my dad has a LARGE collection of zippos because of that, we've both gotten several tools that way (love that old craftsman warrantee), and I even found a bag of about 20 bootleg movies that way. tossed the crappy movies and kept the cases.

9. after-holiday sales at craft/fabric stores. as an example I got a full roll of stretch vinyl that's normally 9 bucks a yard for 80 cents a yard. you can get some pretty snazzy prints and materials cheaply that way.

10. ask around! sometimes it's amazing where somebody gets something.

I worked at a major university and you'd be surprised what you can find at the end of the year when the students are moving out. They figure daddy will buy them new stuff when they come back next fall. I am sitting in one of the office chairs right now. My best find was a TV, in good shape.

Tom

[carr52]

Man there are some grear ideas here. I posted this somewhere before but I'll stick it in here again. Buckles, from flea market and yard sales. There are some really nice belts and shoes at them. Even if you dont like the item the buckle is still worth something. We all know the price of buckles. Just cut the buckle off and Viola, cheap buckle. I've gotten some really nice buckles, 10 and 12 dollar buckles for 50 cents to a dollar. Plus you can always find a use for the left over belt .

Tom

[cdthayer]

Let's have a thread about saving money in the leather working shop. There are lots of ways to recycle and/or substitute- what are your favorites? Post the obvious and the obscure.

My creations aren't very fancy, but they get the job done and I am recycling leather.

I had been using a cell phone belt case made out of a recycled leather purse, but it only lasted about 2 years before it got holes in it.

This time I made one out of a Justin Roper boot top.

The snap is the only thing included that wasn't part of the boot. As you can tell, I'm still learning how to guide my stitches on my Singer 29K70 boot patcher. The bottom seam was done on a Consew 225. My only concern is whether the vinyl pull strap will hold up since I more or less "perforated it" to attach it as a belt loop.

CD

[Elegant]

Scrap leather:

• Many folks use undyed vegtan scraps for bird chew toys.
  
• Itsy bitsy scraps...I toss them in a jar with a few drops of leather scented oil and make leather scented sachets
  
• Leather gift bows from scrap strips of soft leather!
  
• Keychain fobs or bookmarks as surprise freebies with orders.
  
• Donated unwanted scraps to elementary and middle school for crafts...and a tax deduction for you!
  

Pattern Paper

• Photographers backdrop paper is nice and stiff. They have long rolls of it and when a section gets dirty they tear it off and toss it (or they give it to me). I am also using it this year for wrapping presents in my little effort for a greener holiday.
  

Keep 'Em Sharp!

• Yes, Virginia..you can resharpen rotary blades.
  
• I save all the fingernail files my daughter and I use for fine sharpening of tools
  

Freecycle.org

• Ask for stuff you think someone might have and keep an eye on things people are getting rid of. I have gotten marble slabs, sewing trim, a photographers screen, manequin heads etc etc
  

[SmokinP]

Great stuff here.

I made some very large round punches from stainless pipe. i have access to a lathe but a machine shop would probably do you a favor maybe in trade for some leather work. Simple job to bevel the edge and stainless holds pretty good edge.

Gotta haves lots of Q-tips. Good for edges and small area dyeing.

35mm film containers are great for holding screws, stitching needles and other small stuff. (Remember 35mm cameras?)

File a flat on all round handled tools so they don't roll of the bench. Saves a bunch of rebuying.

[Vikti]

Hit the local flea markets, you may be surprised as to what you'll find

Get some of the steel bandings that lumber yards use to hold wood together for shipping for clicker cutter blades or for general stiffening of your work. Usually, they'll point to where they keep them at and say have at it.

Someone moved out of my apartment complex a few days ago and maintenance threw out the tenants old dart board, I snagged myself a good, solid metal dart (about an $8 dart) pulled the fins off and now I have a good scratch awl.

A modified arbor press works pretty good for letter stamping

Stropping X-acto blades work good in a pinch if you forgot to pick up scalpel blades yesterday while you were near Hidecrafters

Occasionally asking for paper bags at the grocery store will give you some pattern paper

Damon

[esantoro]

Coffee, jelly, and peanut butter jars come in handy for dyes and glues. I tape the outside with masking tape to keep as much light out as possible.

The lids to these are also very useful for holding miniclips with felt for dying and beads of glue for when I just need to dab a bit of glue into tight places with a toothpick.

[Kani]

I like to go to Harbor Freight for some things.

got a magnetic bowl for around $1.99 to put screws and other tools in. Sure beats having to search for them.

You can also get some letter stamps there. Smaller ones.

I got a nice knife set there that wasn't expensive.

[tashabear]

File a flat on all round handled tools so they don't roll of the bench. Saves a bunch of rebuying.

These might help, for those of us who are too lazy to take a file to the tools: http://www.amazon.com/Maxi-Aids-Triangular..._bxgy_hpc_img_b

[Suze]

What do I always say Cuz?

There is a "second use" for EVERYTHING

you just have to find it....(And I think I was the one who sent her to the newspaper office in the first place)

While I don't "do" leather - I do craft (dollhouse minis) so I have been on the "lookout" for "things to make other things" for a long time.

(and that is why the house is FULL)

[MADMAX22]

Well I didnt have the extra money for a slicker right now (the glass piece for slicking down your leather before you carve it) so when I was at lowes I saw some of the counter top edge tiles, the ones that look like a L shape but long about 6" long. Well these things work pretty darn good just gotta pick thru and find a good one. Picked it up for $.25

[SouthPaw]

i have used several of the wife's old medicine bottles for storing my lacing needles & snaps in

[KWT]

I use the boxes that cans of sodas (12 and 24 count) come in for templates and to glue leather projects to in order to keep them from stretching when I am stamping them.

[twinklestarchild]

This may seem too obvious for mentioning, but CRAIGSLIST!!! There is always so much free stuff in our local area, or a short drive away. Sometimes free leather couches, screws, tools (haven't found leather specific, but definitely general use), or the hot tub to soak in after a long day of tooling. By the by, while the availability of leather stuff for free may be somewhat limited, you can definitely find stuff on the cheap, especially if you put out an ad describing exactly what you are looking for. For example, when I decided that I wanted to get into working leather I put up an ad that I was looking for old tooling and garment leather, tools, books, etc... There was this really nice guy that responded and said that his dad had been a leather worker for 20 years, and that his mom had worked for Tandy from the 70's until the 90's. His folks had since passed away, and he had been holding on to this stuff since. I got the impression that the guy himself was of an artistic bent, but that leather just hadn't been his thing. Anyway he says that he has all of his dad's studio stuff, and that he would be willing to sell it to me for a very reasonable price. Over the next couple of weeks we sent several e-mails back and forth, including pictures of the stuff all laid out on a table. I was blown! Hundreds of stamping tools (I am still figuring out how to organize them!), every kind of wood-handled awl and bevel tool, 20 or so swivel knives, punch boards, border cutting attachments, extra blades, 8 mallets (nice ones), six boxes of books and patterns, hardware, and more stuff than I could possibly list. I told him that I am of limited means (very true), and that I could not probably afford what would be a fair asking price for all of this stuff. He says, "well, how about $400 bucks?". Again, blown. So, when I had the $400 I drove up to see the guy, and in addition there are 5 big black trash bags full of leather sides, scraps, half-finished projects, whole buckskins, and another trash bags worth of tandy wallet and purse kits. I again checked that the guy was sure that he wanted to part with this stuff at this price. He said definitely, and that he would just be glad to know that it would go to good use. I assured him that would be the case, expressed my gratitude again, and then proceeded to pack the van to the roof with all of this stuff. I am still in the process of organizing all of the stuff that I got, and I have to say that my education in leatherworking has been greatly benefited by this man's generosity. It may seem clicheor cheesey, but when I am working in my shop surrounded by the tools and patterns of a lifelong student of the leather arts, I kind of feel his presence guiding me. A posthumous "Each one teach one" has been my education. Thank you craigslist!

[tashabear]

i have used several of the wife's old medicine bottles for storing my lacing needles & snaps in

My mom is diabetic, and her blood testing strips come in containers very much like film canisters, but with better seals. She's going to save them for me from now on. I'm going to ask her for old meds bottles, as well -- goodness knows they get enough scripts.

[esantoro]

extra straws from fast-food restaurants work well as stir sticks for edge finishes..... oops... I think that goes under another thread for "Things to steal."

[sdkid]

Well, I'll add my .02.

Check the farm and ranch store for scalpels and blades. I have a better chance of finding the farm store than a craft store in my area.

Snag a free keyring anywhere you can. I can't see buying a bag of rings for my projects.

I wanted a tracing box. What I found was a kids version at walmart. It was spideman or something. about $20. I saw them again at kmart the other day with Hannah Montana.

And again, 2nd hand, thrift, slavation army type stores. You never know what you will find.

[Elegant]

extra straws from fast-food restaurants work well as stir sticks for edge finishes..... oops... I think that goes under another thread for "Things to steal."

That is horrible. I cannot believe this..almost like using the plastic condiment cups for mixing paints...er....umm..or so I hear.

[Ian]

Don't know if this fits the topic, but I have an annual new years ritual of buying all new socks and underwear. The old ones become shop rags. Socks are great for applying finish and conditioner. It's a little embarrassing having dirty, dye stained underwear lying around the shop, but.....

This may seem a little wasteful since some of the socks and underwear still have some use in them, however the joy of having a drawer full of new matching white socks and underwear is unmatched. And, since my party days ended many, many years ago, my new whites cost less than one night of new years eve partying.

New socks are a beautiful thing!

[Timd]

Wow, Ian. And I thought MY life had become tame! LOL

[Ian]

Wow, Ian. And I thought MY life had become tame! LOL

It's called age, brother. When slipping on a pair of brand new socks becomes better than.....well, you know what....is there much left?

[Denise]

We use old "glue socks". (We skip using old underwear.) Old cotton socks are the best things for wiping up the glue we use. Rags from shirts, etc. just don't do the job near the same. And there are always holey socks around.

[Crystal]

It's called age, brother. When slipping on a pair of brand new socks becomes better than.....well, you know what....is there much left?

Ian - I totally get that! Nothing better than new socks. Some people want to win the lottery and buy big houses and jewelry - I'd never wear the same pair of socks twice.

Crystal

[twinklestarchild]

It's called age, brother. When slipping on a pair of brand new socks becomes better than.....well, you know what....is there much left?

Age maybe for you, but I'm 26 and I still think that there are few things that rival the joy and comfort of a pair of "freshies".

Just my copper.

[MADMAX22]

Well while we were on the topic of clothes used in leather craft, I dont know if it has been mentioned but I use the old levis (any denim really) pants that have finally bit the big one. Personally I use them to burnish edges with. They work really well generally when your doing it by hand, kind of like the guys that use canvas.

Another thing I have done is wrapped them around the little rubber adaptors on your dremel tool (the ones that hold the sand paper rounds) and drop a dap of glue on the end after Ive wrapped it several times, put a stitch on each side (gotta make them slightly larger) and dont forget to wind them in the proper direction. This works for me for doing the power slicking on the edges. Atleast until I get moved into the house with a garage and stuff.