Beggining Leathercrft

[DaCodaBuchan]

Hello,

I'm DaCoda. I found you guys a couple days ago. I've had an interest in leatherwork for a long time, but just recently been encouraged to ersue it. I am getting a beginners kit in the next few days and will begin working from it. I just wanted to introduce myself and ask a few questions.

Where can I find an online glossary for this hobby? I would like somewhere I could go for all the new terms I am encountering.

Is there a reputable site for free patterns. I am interested mainly in wallets and belts at this point, but I would love to learn how to do just about anything.

What books would you guys suggest?

When I have exhausted all the supplies of my kit what should I order first and from where. I am going to be working on wallets and belts mainly. I would like a thicker leather and a very thin leather. What would you guys suggest I look into. What suppliers would you suggest for someone in the North Alabama area?

Does the area of a cow that the leather comes from have any impact on thickness or quality? I can only assume it does, but can;t find a definitive answer.

Thanks for all of your help.

DaCoda

[DaCodaBuchan]

I just got Tandy's Ez beginers Kit, and ABCs of leathercrafting. Me and my brothers are practicing on the smaller products. I still am trying to figure out what would be the best very thin and economicaly sound leather to begin making small items like those included in the kit. I am also looking into tandy's blank belts. I plan to grab a few from Hobby Lobby and alphabet stamps so that I can make custom belts for family to get the hang of it. After which I will want to make them from scratch cutting leather strips and everything myself.

[abn]

Hi, DaCoda:

Welcome to Leatherworker.net. It sounds like you're off to a good start with your beginning tool kit. Tandy will be a good place to get your leather, too. Belt blanks are an easy way to start building belts, and double shoulders will give you good-quality leather to create wallet backs, etc. If you have the option, it's always best to shop for leather in person so you know what you're getting.

This site is a great place to ask questions and to search old threads for information. Virtually every topic has been touched upon at one time or another.

Good luck, and we look forward to seeing some of your projects posted here in the future!

[DaCodaBuchan]

Thanks for your encouragement.

I have already completed half of the projects. I am not allowing things to sit for as long as think I should. I was eager to finish something so that I could find more questions that needed answering.

From what I've done so far I need to learn more about stitching leather together, and about dying leather. I have used the basic eco-flo fudge brown that came with it, but my results are splotchy and I think that may have something to do with the leather still being wet deep inside from having recently done my stamping. I am going to wet the key fob tonight, let it sit overnight in a plastic bag to get it uniform and then start early with stamping it. I plan to wait until it is fully dry before dying it. After which I will be using acrylic paint on it to see what the results would be. I would like to try using a wash on it the same way I would a sculpture. I will also be doing the kit coin purse and will be stitching it with several strands of red thread instead of the boring brown that the kit comes with. Pictures of the whole Tandy Ez kit will come in the next few days.

Thanks Again

DaCoda

[C E W]

Email meFor starter hi!

and for your question sometimes, yes,yes and yes.

If there is a glossary for leatherworking I dont know. I've have gotten a lot of my information from friends, they worked at a tandy leather store which is one of the places that you can go to for all of your needs. If the store employee isn't a tandy drone but someone that knows how to do leatherwork and not just sell product, than your in luck, because they have classes that you can take there.

Theres a lot of places to go for tools leather and everything else online. It's more of what prices can you get, what quality are you looking for, and how soon do you need it. As it's know there is a mark up on every thing we buy. Even in leather world some places my have good prices on leather and not on tools for an example I posted about a matting tool someone told me were they got there which I was very happy because this tool was no longer made. Six months later, I found them for a lot less than what I got them for.

Patterns.... well if your talking about different wallet and belt sizes and shapes, yes and no. There's a lot of patterns out there and online but they can all look the same after a while. Before you start on that kit, go and get some flexible cutting matts from a dollar store and trace the leather patterns out on them. Trace with the grain side down thats the side that you tool on, it's good to have a copy of any of the pattern that you do that way if it no longer made you got a pattern of it.

Now if your talking about tooling patterns, there are places to get them but they are just about the same all over the place. All of the craftsman on this site and every were else will tell you to use tracing film. It looks like wax paper and it works if you can trace it, you can tool it

Books- there's a lot of books out there. I would suggest "Lacing & Stitching for Leathercraft" its a good book to have as a begginer. I would look online for books. There are some that aren't published any more and those have techniques that have been lost over time.

Now when you exhaust your kits you can do one of two things- by another kit or use the suggestion of the cutting matts for a pattern. You can also get a strap cutter. Then you can make as many belts and wallets that you like, infact you can by belt blanks and than you wouldn't need a strap cutter for a while. It all depends on what you want to try next. If you can find a tandy store in your state they do sale scrap veg tan by the pound. These are actually bits and pieces left over from their kits. They are really good peices for you to practice on.

Cowhide-

Let me start by saying that with all that I' ve wrote here for this reply is my own opinion and I will catch some flack about it, but this is where everyone has the own preference.

allright we use all of the cow from the top of the neck to the back of the tail and down to the hoof. Leather is sold by weight and thickness or what is call oz 1 oz is 1/64 of a inch. you can buy leather form 1 to 12oz and there is 8 different ways to buy it. But to make e-z I'll just say order a tandy catalog and open up to page 4 or look on there web site it give the brake down of how,what, where and why. but for now I would say go with shoulder, back, and rears.

Quality

Quality is based on the cow and the tannery. If a cow gets a cut or a scratches even a mosquitoe bite it will show up in the end. It all depends on what the hide is like before tanning. Tanning the hide is done in different ways. Some ways aren't done any more and some are just hard to find. I have some veg tan that was tanned with pecans and I can say that this was the nicest tooling leather at I have ever used. Leather is like buying a toolboxes (bear with me here ) you want a toolbox so you go to the store and they have 4 different brand name toolboxes C,S,H, and M they look a little diffroint from each other but there all made by the same factory. There is only a few tanneries out there and maybe some smaller ones to. So when you go buy leather and the salesman tells you that this compony makes the high quality leather, it's mainly because they started with a good hide and handled it in the proper way. I've seen piece of good leather go bad form poor shipping. So most hides are veg tan, than they are graded A B C D so on and so forth the high grade the cleaner the price is the lower the more imperfections there are. The price runs accordingly too. When a store tells you that it's a high A grade piece it's not we will never see a piece like that in veg tan there turned into upholstery leather, lining leather, embossed leather, saddle tack leather and stoned oils. Mainly because the cleaner a peice of these four mentioned leather types are, the higher the price.

P.s once you start in the world of leathercrafting, you'll look at thinga a lot differently.

[DaCodaBuchan]

Wow, thanks CEW.

I have purchased another book and a stamp that I wanted and couldn't find at hobby lobby from Tandy's website. I hope to see those and thier catalogue arriving in the next few days. I will look to purchase more leather in about two weeks.

One thing I have noticed is the poor quality of this Ez kit. I guess it only makes sense that they leather no one wants would go into the beginner kit, but even the cut is off slightly, The wallet does not lay exactly flat due to the slight stretching of every piece that came out of that box. Some were too small or too big and when stitched together this made the whole thing bow slightly. I can't wait to be cutting from my own hides instead of this precut stuff. I will also grab a basic tool set soon. Swivel cutter, and a few more stamps.

Edit:

What can I expect from Tandy's

Economy Sueded Splits Asst Colors

I would assume there would be remnants of Split Suede. Could someone explain what "split" means. The only time I've every used suede was on an upholstery project a while back. I will go google, but your help would be appreciated. What is the quality on this lot? has anyone purchased this stuff recently from Tandy?I think for the price it would be fun to play with.

Edited January 5, 2010 by DaCoda Buchan

[C E W]

http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/

http://www.knightsof...quaretable.net/

A suggestion on the swivel knife and basic tools.

buy theme seperatley the knife that comes with the basic is ok but you'll out grow it and if you got big hands like me that littel knife will not last long. There are two adjustable knife that are more the the basic but less than the al stohlmans.

And here away for you to tall if the saleman knows there stuff ask theme about polised blades and if you should straup the blade or see if they even know what a strap is.

for qusetioned e-mail me leatherinventedcreations@live.com

split is the lower inner or flesh side it's the back side of leather theres no tooling side it is used as a filler

Edited January 5, 2010 by C E W

[DaCodaBuchan]

That may not be a bad thing. For what I had in mind split suede might work. I hadn't planned on tooling it. The color would draw enough attention. Thanks for all your help.

[Hilly]

Hi DaKota. Welcome to L.W.!

I'd like to suggest a couple of books that are indispensible to me: "The Art of Hand Sewing Leather" by Al Stohlman, and "Leathercraft Tools How to Use Them How to Sharpen Them" also by Al Stohlman. Stohlman also has books of ideas and patterns you might want to peruse on your next trip to Tandy.

I does make a difference what part of the cow you use! Belly leather stretches and stretches and stretches! It might be okay for practice, or for very small things such as key fobs or hair barrettes, but not much else. The belt blanks from Tandy are a good idea to start out with.

Just hang around here for a while, and ask questions. There's a lot of people here who love to help. Most of all, enjoy the learning experience, and post some photos of your projects.

[Luke Hatley]

welcome..........to add what books Hilly mention one that will help on tooling is

"CRAFT TOOLS TECH TIPS". sold at TANDY

[celticleather]

Hi DaCoda

Welcome to the Forum!

There's about a fortnight's reading to be found at http://www.kingsmerecrafts.com/. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, and click on the 'Contents' link. There are several glossaries here, of leather types, tools, methods, etc, but you'll need some patience to read it all!

There are also some useful tutorials at http://www.bowstock..../tutorials.html, which are quite useful for folk who are starting out in leathercraft.

Happy reading!

Terry

[DaCodaBuchan]

Thanks everyone for your help. My new stamp and book have shipped. I have finished several of the beginning projects and am beginning to understand how this stuff works. I will start reading this stuff tonight.

[jbird]

also keep your eyes glued to this site LOL

Josh

[DaCodaBuchan]

I'm stamping and adding studs to some blank bracelets tonight. I know I keep saying photos are coming, but I have to restitch something that broke, and I'd like to finish these. Busy tonight. Photos tomorrow morning.

[DaCodaBuchan]

So, studs are not fun. I need more tools before they will work right. I'm still having stamping trouble. Ghost marks from my stamp bouncing. Weak impressions from my main stamp. Difficulty lining and centering things/ Just beginner's mistakes. My main complaint is that the star stamp that comes with the Ez kit is not leaving a good impression. I think it may be a problem with how I case the leather. I dunk the entire piece in a saucepan of cold water. I wait for bubbles but pull it out before the bubbles stop. Then I wait for it to be about half ready to stamp and I dunk it again. This time the bubbles are immediate which tells me to start working. I then wait several moments and begin stamping on a flat piece of wood. Am I doing something wrong?

[Hilly]

So, studs are not fun. I need more tools before they will work right. I'm still having stamping trouble. Ghost marks from my stamp bouncing. Weak impressions from my main stamp. Difficulty lining and centering things/ Just beginner's mistakes. My main complaint is that the star stamp that comes with the Ez kit is not leaving a good impression. I think it may be a problem with how I case the leather. I dunk the entire piece in a saucepan of cold water. I wait for bubbles but pull it out before the bubbles stop. Then I wait for it to be about half ready to stamp and I dunk it again. This time the bubbles are immediate which tells me to start working. I then wait several moments and begin stamping on a flat piece of wood. Am I doing something wrong?

Sounds as if you are not "casing" your leather properly, and trying to work it waaay to wet. Try letting the leather return to a mostly dry color, then just when it reaches that color, put it inside a plastic bag for several hours, so the moisture can even out all through the leather. Try your stamps again, and see if you have better impressions. It might also help you if you do a search on "casing", and see what others do. If you ask 10 different people their method, you might get 10 different answers. The old timers will almost always tell you to case as I have described. Eventually you will find what works best for you.

What kind of surface are you stamping on? It works best if you can stamp on a piece of marble or a stone surface. Wood does not work as well. If your surface (or table) are bouncing, you might get bounce as you've described. Get one of those marble slabs that Tandy sells, or find a place that makes headstones, and ask if they have a scrap of stone you could have. You can also sometimes get sink cutouts from places that make stone counter tops.

The studs and measuring part is something you will just have to slow down and work with. One thing about leatherwork is that if you get in a hurry to do something, it's real easy to wreck a good piece of leather. Take your time and think things through before you do them. Enjoy the learning experience, and learn from your mistakes.

[DaCodaBuchan]

I'd love a nice slab, but don't have one yet. I move into a larger more craft friendly building soon and I will purchase one then.

Too wet? I will let it dry more. The best results I've had were on a piece I didn't have time to do and thus stored in a bag overnight. I guess I stumbled upon the right answer and didn't know it.

I don't susspect I'll do much more work untill my stuff gets in from Tandy. Then I'll have remnants to play with. Both Leather and Suede. I'm looking for the supplies to hand stitch, and a good set of sheers.

Then I will work on basic Fobs and whatnot until I get everything right. I'll purchse some tooling leather off of eBay in a few weeks. Probably not the best, but cheap enough that I can not feel bad when I mess it up. At this point I am just working on patterns for small things. Different shaped fobs, I'm almost done with my first wallet pattern. I cut them from those thin cheap cutting boards that are like a piece of paper thick. Then I store them in labeled envelopes. I think the design will be as important as the crafting. Being both the designer and the craftsman I'm trying to do what I can while my stuff is en route.

Thanks for all of your help and support everyone. You make developing a new skill fun.

[C E W]

I've found a leather glossary for you. If you haven't found one already

http://www.natanning.com/natcorpleather_glossary.htm

[sansun77]

I have not purchased a tooling stone yet. I am using a retaining wall top stone from Menards. I mixed up some 2 part epoxy and coated the top to level and seal the surface. Has worked fine so far. It wad $4.79 for the stone and $1.99 for the 2 part epoxy. I got the block with both sides angled and about 4 inches thick (9 inch at the back and about 16 inches at the front). They have them in the garden center.

[terrahyd]

GOOD FOR YOU MAN!!!!!FOR THE FIRST FEW YEARS I USED A STONE (LAZY SUE SON ???) SET IN MY LAP AND DID MY BEST...STILL HAVE IT.. NOW IT HAS A COASTER AND THE MAIN VESSEL (COFFEE CUP)ON IT....GOOD LUCK ....Doc....

[bluesman1951]

Wow do you ever have the bug . Barely got you feet wet and you have discovered things about quality and Tandy . LOL keep it simple and dont try for a Mona Lisa project first time out of the box . Basket weave is a good technique buy one good stamp and work with it for a bit . Maybe find a good border stamp as well those two will keep you plenty busy . Good Luck !!!!!

[dragonspit]

Wow, thanks CEW.

One thing I have noticed is the poor quality of this Ez kit.

I found out (and it was just discussed not long ago) that the Tandy beginner kits, have inferior stamps as well. the same type of stamp you get in the kit, is inferior to the one you will buy in the store. want proof. take a magnet up against the one in the kit, you will find no attraction, try it on the same part in one of the cubbies at the tandy store, will stick. its the metal. I bent the crud out of a couple of mine, they replaced them for free, with ones from the store, problem solved. I wouldnt give to much information here, as Im a fairly newbie to so dont want to steer in the wrong direction. but what I would say is, use up the kit, see what you like and dont like, and go from there. My first visit to tandy had me buys some very unnecessary things for a beginner, so I am hestitant to just buy anything when I go there , however, I met a different guy that works there, and he would tell me six ways to do anything, from cheap to expensive, my choice,,,,thats what you look for.

Bob