Picked Up My First Kit Today

[caaront]

I went to Tandy Leather in FT Worth today and picked up this kit:

http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/55510-00.aspx

I think that for $65 dollars this kit is a bargain.

I plan on making the individual pieces as late Christmas gifts, so I plan on taking my time with each piece and doing the best I can.

I also got a free $10 gift card to watch the Pay to view tutorials.

I am remodeling my home so it may be a while before I have a photo to post.

Thank you for any advice.

[mlapaglia]

Welcome to the best Leather workers board on the internet. Use the search, ask questions and practice practice practice.

Take your time and learn how to case your leather, This means getting the right amount of water in the leather in order to tool it. read this tutorial by Bob Parks He explains all about it. Thats the first thing you should learn. If the leather is not cased correctly the swivel knife wont cut correctly, the stamps wont leave the right depth in the leather. It's a good thing to learn as a start.

Michael

[caaront]

Thanks

[Leatherman5900]

Congratulations! Just remember to practice on scrap leather prior to making your cuts on the real thing. Rounders are a good choice when it comes to practicing.....the swivel knife takes a little while to master but once it is....Katie bar the door! Have fun and be patient....patient....patient.....when frustrated (and you will) get up walk away and then come back!

Merry Christmas!

Jeff

[caaront]

I've used both rounders thus far and think I may get the hang of it.

I tried a rose pattern and did okay on the cutting and some of the tooling, but I have a hard time with the tiny background tool, I guess it will take a lot of practice.

I need to order a lot of rounders, LOL.

Thanks.

[Leatherman5900]

I've used both rounders thus far and think I may get the hang of it.

I tried a rose pattern and did okay on the cutting and some of the tooling, but I have a hard time with the tiny background tool, I guess it will take a lot of practice.

I need to order a lot of rounders, LOL.

Thanks.

Yep the background tool is a little difficult at first.....keeping the same amount of pressure constant is tough...but the key is to rotate the tool in your fingers while striking the tool so as to vary the pattern....also try getting a bigger background tool to cover large areas while using the tool such as A104 from Tandy to get into the small places....I have approximately 25 different background tools from various suppliers....and I use every one of them.

[electrathon]

My suggestions:

Make patterns off of your kits. You can buy leather cheaper than the kits, and the leather used in the kits is the worts of the worst.

In your tooling, work half way through the thickness of the leather. Cuts are half way, tooling is up to half way. Most beginners chicken scratch.

Replace the tools as soon as you decide you like to tool. The ones in the kits are also the worst of the worst. You likely have seen a lot on here about how bad Tandy tools are, the kit tools are a far step below the ones most feel are junk.

Aaron

[caaront]

Thanks

[caaront]

Last night I cased the key fob just right, it tooled very nicely, except I went too deep with the seeder once and almost cut clean through, I stained it and it looks good.

Gave it to a cousin.

[Sylvia]

Last night I cased the key fob just right, it tooled very nicely, except I went too deep with the seeder once and almost cut clean through, I stained it and it looks good.

Gave it to a cousin.

Ha! When I did that... I got out the Bedazzeler and put a stud in it. :D

[caaront]

lol