New To Leather. Questions On Tools

[dpixel8]

You guys are extremely helpful (and nice about it). I've encountered too many forums where the noobs get shunned off or just told "do a search" (when there usually isn't the specific answers they need/want to hear). I will absolutely use my Dremel a bit as well. Great idea.

Regarding the contact cement versus rubber cement, is the rubber cement going to come apart AFTER I get the stitching completed? Only reason I ask is because I wouldn't want any sort of de-lamination (say on a watch strap)

Hopefully my questions help someone else out on here who is new. Trying to cover all my bases, and when I start working on this stuff, I'll post my projects in here first so I'm not creating new threads all the time.

Thanks again guys. Anything you want to add, feel free.

Oh I know another question. I do some kydex work for a holster maker on the side. I have an arbor press. Assuming I could get some dies for that for doing the eyelet/rivet work?

[Northmount]

1343302344[/url]' post='258008']

You guys are extremely helpful (and nice about it). I've encountered too many forums where the noobs get shunned off or just told "do a search" (when there usually isn't the specific answers they need/want to hear). I will absolutely use my Dremel a bit as well. Great idea.

Try this link

Tools

CTG

[dpixel8]

Thanks Northmount. Saw that thread too.

So is Tandy going to be the least expensive place to get this stuff? And what's their shipping like? I think there's one about an hour from here.

Also, any idea (you can just guess) what thickness of leather's the straps and items I showed are?

[Glendon]

If you are sewing properly, your pieces won't come apart on either side of the stitching. The problem with contact cement is that it has no working time. It's bonded pretty much as soon as two pieces touch. When you're first starting out, it takes some time to learn how to get nice clean cuts and align your parts correctly. To start out, it's best to give yourself a little fudging time to get everything aligned.

Tandy will not be the cheapest. They are the most well known, but they are more geared to the weekend hobbiest who wants to do one or two paint by numbers projects. They still make their money on the hardcore guys, but they mark up a fair bit. Great alternatives are stecksstore.com, springfieldleather.com, and zackwhite.com. Personally, I do a lot of business with Springfield Leather Co. Awesome people, really helpful.

Do expect to pay $10 - $15 in shipping each order no matter who you go with. This is all fairly heavy stuff. You're not going to find $5 shipping like in consumer stuff.

As for weights, it looks like most of what you want to do is going to be 3oz - 6oz leather. The first leather you will want to get to develop a feel for the work is the scrap bag, leather by the pound, whatever the supplier you go with calls their scrap bin sales. Either pick up a set of calipers or go here http://www.blackriverlaser.com/leather-craft-tools/ and pick up "Handy" for eight bucks. You'll want some type of leather thickness gauge. It's hard to get weights into your head until you've handled them.

[shtoink]

So is Tandy going to be the least expensive place to get this stuff? And what's their shipping like? I think there's one about an hour from here.

Also, any idea (you can just guess) what thickness of leather's the straps and items I showed are?

Tandy probably won't be the least expensive place to shop. What I did was make use of their membership program which gives you some discount on the pricing and access to the mailing list for coupons and such. Then I get to use those coupons for bigger discounts on the tools I need/want. I also will hit their big sale days, like the Black Friday sale or 4th of July sale. I also troll their bargain boxes for things that are cheap, too.

As for the thickness of leather, Tandy has a page that describes the thickness of leather in ounces and a conversion to an actual length/thickness measurement. I think this only half answers your question, so I must apologize in advance if it isn't the information that you wanted.

[dpixel8]

You guys are awesome. Very cool. I appreciate it yet again. That's extremely helpful and I'll start pricing things out and figure out the best route to go.

[dpixel8]

Wow, Springfield is a LOT less expensive than Tandy. Holy crap.

I do wish they had a sampler of dye's though. I might have to pick something up for that. I'd like to take and have smaller samplers and then have a piece of leather for each one so I know what I've got. Anyone know the best place to get something like that?

And I do want "tooling leather", correct? For the stuff I want to make I mean...

[Cyberthrasher]

I've just been buying all of the Fiebing's pro-oil dye as I need it. I started with saddle tan, brown, and black and have added as I go. The 4 oz bottles from Springfield last a decent amount of time. Look into Springfield's wholesale club too. I bought it right away and saved more than the membership fee on my first order. Since then I've probably saved several hundred and haven't had it for a year yet. They also honor Tandy's wholesale pricing as well.

If you want a color swab of the different colors, I have a lot of the primary shades available that I could swab onto a piece of scrap and send your way for reference.

Black, Dark Brown, Walnut, Light Brown, Saddle Tan, Red, Green, Yellow. That will get you most colors. I have blue on order.

I use tooling leather for everything, but I also tool most of it too. I think you can use some of the other stuff too for your goals. Call up Springfield and tell them what you want to do and they'll definitely get you headed in the right direction.

One more thing, I just saw they have a multi-beveler for edges now. I'm ordering one with my next order so I'll be able to report back on it if needed.

http://springfieldleather.com/34063/5-in-1-Standard-Edger-Set/

[Glendon]

If you want to do your own dying, then yes you will want "tooling leather", otherwise known as vegetable tanned leather. The other major types of leather you will find are chrome tanned. What people call oil tanned, boot leather, upholstery leather, are chrome tanned. Those have a finish already applied. You won't be changing that. Veg-tanned leather is best to start out with. You'll be able to do the most with it.

The great thing about Springfield is that it was a Tandy store back in the day. Then Kevin who was the then manager, bought the place when Tandy was going to close it. So they carry 85% of what Tandy does. It's just usually at a better price, and you're supporting a small business. Plus the icing is that everyone there is a treat to work with. Most of my orders with them I just do over the website, but if you have product questions, or need help deciding on a leather, or whatever, CALL THEM! Tell them what you want to do, and not only will they recommend the best options, they will put a note on your order and pick the best specific piece of leather for your needs they have in stock.

If you have product questions but aren't planning to buy right away, an email to them will usually get your question answered, and Kevin responds to a good number of those himself.

Yah, they don't carry the the dye sample packs. You would have to go to Tandy for those. One thing you will find with dyes is that no one uses them full strength. They're usually just too thick and too dark. Browns especially have to thin or they look nearly black. You have to kind of play with that and find what concentrations work for you.

[Cyberthrasher]

Yah, they don't carry the the dye sample packs. You would have to go to Tandy for those. One thing you will find with dyes is that no one uses them full strength. They're usually just too thick and too dark. Browns especially have to thin or they look nearly black. You have to kind of play with that and find what concentrations work for you.

I have a color sample card sitting there with both full strength and 50/50 samples - just for that reason.

Do you ever order directly through email? That's my favorite way since I get the exact shipping quote and not the estimated. I started realizing I had in-store credit's on my packing slips due to the shipping being cheaper then what was charged. So, now I have Emma on speed email. I should really send some donuts that way or something.....