hammerstone Report post Posted September 26, 2010 Hi im Joe Trino from cottondale Florida im going to get started here soon leather working looks fun i have never tried it yet but looking foward to learning if ebays good to me this week i wana get a starter kit soon ok ty just wanted to say hi Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King's X Report post Posted September 27, 2010 If I can make a suggestion? I would hold off on the beginner kit. I never purchased one, but learned everything I know from books, speaking with other craftspeople and my local Tandy store. I would suggest that you make contact with the local Tandy store and see if they have a list of clasees that you can get involved with. I know that our local TLF store has a class every Saturday from 930 to 1030 for free and usually the customer takes something small home that they worked on. They have a list of basic knowledge classes and start from beginning to end. These classes usually repeat themselves like every 6 weeks. Once you get a chance to feel and play with the leather (in public only....ok). Then start reading some of the volumes of books at the store. You can always find some good deals on books, video and manuals from this site, eBay or even your local Craiglist. I have found many things. Once you have a basic understanding of leather craft, I would consider a kit or if you live dangerously maybe purchase a bag of scrap the store and some tools and go to town! I know for me, I believe I would have been very discouraged with my kit projects without first learning some basic knowledge. I would have considered that to be a waste of money! Soon you will find out that funds will be low as you progress in this craft!! Eitherway, have fun, progress and happy carving! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Julius Report post Posted October 6, 2010 King's X has some very good advice. The way I did it though was a tad on the impulsive side. I wanted to get my hands dirty ASAP. I am fortunate to have a Tandy store close to me, so I drove that day and bought one of the kits. They mentioned they offered free classes, but you had to have your own tools which conveniently were all in the kit that I purchased that day. The kit however wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be. I learned that I am not too much into the design/tooling aspect of leatherworking, so the kit was essentially a bust. What I did enjoy was cutting and creating items like belts etc. I bought all the tools I needed to make belts, and it's been a blast since then. Figure out what you enjoy first as cheaply as possible and roll with it. Good luck and enjoy! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BattleGuide Report post Posted October 9, 2010 This is great advise for Newbs, but the closes Tandy location is 2 hours away from me. I tried to google Leatherworking in PA and Leather Companies in PA, but had no luck finding anything like this. Is there another search I could do that would help me find places I can take these classes? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
