Greetings Form Dorset - England...

[MartSim73]

Good morning to all from Dorset, England...

I'm a 'Newbie' to the forum and interested in starting leatherwork as a hobby. I have recently volunteered locally at the Ancient Technology Center in Dorset and am keen on helping preserve some of the 'old' crafts. I could see my practical skills as a Design & Technology Teacher & my thirst to learn new skills being useful to help people be more aware that these traditional 'skills' still continue in their local communities.

I'm on a tight budget for tooling, but would be keen to learn which starter tools are best for the beginner! I would love to be able to offer leatherworking (as a hobby) at school as an extra curricular activity, during my activities week at the end of our summer term. That gives me nine months of practice... LOL!!!

I'm all ears and eyes to learn from you... I've seen some outstanding examples of work on here already - Excellent! I must be in the right place. I am now your student!

Martin

Edited September 11, 2010 by MartSim73

[ferret]

Hi and welcome to the forum. This is the best place to learn the craft and there are lots of freindly people willing to offer advice. Take a few days to read through the posts and you can learn how to avoid all the mistakes the rest of us made when starting out

[AndyBates]

Good morning to all from Dorset, England...

I'm a 'Newbie' to the forum and interested in starting leatherwork as a hobby. I have recently volunteered locally at the Ancient Technology Center in Dorset and am keen on helping preserve some of the 'old' crafts. I could see my practical skills as a Design & Technology Teacher & my thirst to learn new skills being useful to help people be more aware that these traditional 'skills' still continue in their local communities.

I'm on a tight budget for tooling, but would be keen to learn which starter tools are best for the beginner! I would love to be able to offer leatherworking (as a hobby) at school as an extra curricular activity, during my activities week at the end of our summer term. That gives me nine months of practice... LOL!!!

I'm all ears and eyes to learn from you... I've seen some outstanding examples of work on here already - Excellent! I must be in the right place. I am now your student!

Martin

Hi Martin,

welcome to leatherwork! I'm in Hexham in the UK and if I can be of any help at all get in touch any time through my website http://www.andy-bates.co.uk .

All the best,

Andy

[joquarter]

Hi Martin ,

another one from europ , glad to see you here.

I also started with a starter set .

But on the way , find out what tools I'm missing , buy every time a little bit more .

[MartSim73]

Thank you for your warm welcome...

I'm sorry my reply has taken so long, but I had issues mith my 'grey matter' (could not remember my password)! So much to do... ah well, I'm still here. Andy thanks for your post. It's nice to know there are people interested in leather over here too... it seems quite hard to find 'local' groups or information. So yes, if you don't mind I will head over to your site a little later and maybe drop you a line, once I get started. Ferret and Joquarter, cheers for your welcome. I hope we can all soon share ideas and progress. Now I have the job of browsing through the forum, to see what I can pick up and learn.

Best wishes to you all.

[OdinUK]

Welcome to the forum Martin.

Where about in Dorset are you? Im going to Poole next weekend.

Ive been interested in leatherworking for about 18 months but got really stuck in about 12 months ago. I look forward to seeing some of your work.

Paul

[MartSim73]

Welcome to the forum Martin.

Where about in Dorset are you? Im going to Poole next weekend.

Ive been interested in leatherworking for about 18 months but got really stuck in about 12 months ago. I look forward to seeing some of your work.

Paul

Hi there Paul,

I'm just up the road from Poole in Wimborne. About 15 mins away by car. As yet I've not started leatherwork. I need to source some basic items such as bradle, punch, needles and then some scraps of leather and thread. LOL I need to start with the basics.... then I'll get more adventurous!

Martin

[OutBackP]

Hi Martin,

Good to see another member from Dorset, I'm in Bridport the other end of the county. If you ever need any hands on advice and in the area your welcome to pop over and have a play in my small workshop.

Tony

[scottishshoemaker]

Hi and Welcome to the forum, any help just shout..

[UKRay]

Hi Martin,

Welcome to the forum. I'm sure you will enjoy your time here - especially if you take a few minutes to really 'get to grips' with the search engine. If there is anything I can do to help just drop me an email or give me a call.

Best wishes,

Ray