New To Leather. Questions On Tools

[dpixel8]

Fantastic forum you have here. Was pointed this way by a few fellow leatherworkers who have given me a little info. I would like to know the basic tools I need to get started. I put together a list of what I THINK I needed on Tandy, and it came out to about $300 with a few pieces of leather. But I'm just not sure, so I wanted to ask the pros. The work I'd like to do SEEMS fairly simple and easy to get started in. I don't want to really do any stamping/branding. I'm more into modernish styles in my life, so I'd like to just start out at least, with some stuff like these examples. I'm a big watch collector too, and I really like this guy's work (I actually know him, which is why I'm posting his work. He's too busy to really give me TOO much advice and I don't want to bother him) Any guidance you could give me would be GREATLY appreciated.

Here we go:

Edited July 25, 2012 by dpixel8

[Northmount]

Welcome to this great addiction.

If you post your list, I think people will reply with comments adding or subtracting items from the list. Else there are some lists of tools suggested for various types of work already posted here. Try a few searches to see if you can find them.

CTG

[dpixel8]

Appreciate that, northmount. I did do a search, however I'm not really sure what kind of leatherwork that I'm looking at here (watch straps and simple money clips/wallets). Is it "non-tooling"?

Also I watched this gentleman's video and it SEEMS as though I had most of these tools in my cart. However I want to make sure that 1) I am not missing something and 2) maybe I have stuff in there that I DON'T need. For instance, I'm not really sure what size bevelers I am going to need. Or which finishing "materials".

Here's my list:

Waxed Thread 25 yds. (22.9 m) Natural

Tandy Pure Neatsfoot Oil Quart

Fiebing's Acrylic Resolene 4 oz

Tanners Bond Craftsman Contact Cement 8 oz.

Eco-Flo Gum Tragacanth 4 oz.

Eco-Flo Leather Dye Assortment Pack

Replacement Blades 10/pk

Mini Leather Punch Set

Super Skiver

Craftool Oblong Punch 3/4" (1.9 cm)

Protecto Board 12" x 12"

Craftool E-Z Adjust Stitching Groover

Craftool Edge Beveler Sz 2

Craftool Edge Beveler Sz 4

Craftool Overstitch Wheel System

Multi-Size Wood Slicker

Tooling Leather Remnants

Economy Single Shoulder 4-5 oz

[Chief31794]

Appreciate that, northmount. I did do a search, however I'm not really sure what kind of leatherwork that I'm looking at here (watch straps and simple money clips/wallets). Is it "non-tooling"?

Also I watched this gentleman's video and it SEEMS as though I had most of these tools in my cart. However I want to make sure that 1) I am not missing something and 2) maybe I have stuff in there that I DON'T need. For instance, I'm not really sure what size bevelers I am going to need. Or which finishing "materials".

Here's my list:

Waxed Thread 25 yds. (22.9 m) Natural

Tandy Pure Neatsfoot Oil Quart

Fiebing's Acrylic Resolene 4 oz

Tanners Bond Craftsman Contact Cement 8 oz.

Eco-Flo Gum Tragacanth 4 oz.

Eco-Flo Leather Dye Assortment Pack

Replacement Blades 10/pk

Mini Leather Punch Set

Super Skiver

Craftool Oblong Punch 3/4" (1.9 cm)

Protecto Board 12" x 12"

Craftool E-Z Adjust Stitching Groover

Craftool Edge Beveler Sz 2

Craftool Edge Beveler Sz 4

Craftool Overstitch Wheel System

Multi-Size Wood Slicker

Tooling Leather Remnants

Economy Single Shoulder 4-5 oz

Couple of suggestions:

I would opt for the safety beveler as opposed to the Super Skiver, the super skiver is a nasty tool that is hard to control, while it works the safety beveler is a lot cheaper and works better to do the same job.

Didn't see any stitch awls or needles. If you're going to hand stitch you will need needles and either a stitch awl (difficult to use and the preferred method for hand stitch purists, or a couple of stitching chisels for creating diamond shapes stitch holes at the proper spacing.)

I didn't see a marble or granite slab, I would buy the largest one I could afford and buy the poundo board the same size so that it supports the slab.

Last note: You might want to start with a 4oz bottle of neatsfoot oil, you use it very sparingly and a little goes a very long way.

Welcome aboard,

Ken

Edited July 25, 2012 by Chief31794

[dpixel8]

Couple of suggestions:

I would opt for the safety beveler as opposed to the Super Skiver, the super skiver is a nasty tool that is hard to control, while it works the safety beveler is a lot cheaper and works better to do the same job.

Didn't see any stitch awls or needles. If you're going to hand stitch you will need needles and either a stitch awl (difficult to use and the preferred method for hand stitch purists, or a couple of stitching chisels for creating diamond shapes stitch holes at the proper spacing.)

I didn't see a marble or granite slab, I would buy the largest one I could afford and buy the poundo board the same size so that it supports the slab.

Last note: You might want to start with a 4oz bottle of neatsfoot oil, you use it very sparingly and a little goes a very long way.

Welcome aboard,

Ken

Ken,

Thank you!! (my wife will thank you too when she sees I've saved some money...)

I was looking at a more traditional beveler like the safety, and wasn't sure how difficult they are to use. But MUCH less expensive, so I'll give it a shot. Also forgot to put needles and stitch awl, as I wasn't sure sizes or which awl to use. And I DO want to use the manual awl. I plan to use a wheel for marking, and then will punch holes by hand. I think it looks much more handmade, rather than using the diagonal-style punches.

I didn't see anywhere a granite/marble slab. Can I just use any? And what is it for exactly? Just to support the poundo board rather than my workbench? Sorry if that's a dumb question...

You guys are really helping me out a lot! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

[Chief31794]

Ken,

Thank you!! (my wife will thank you too when she sees I've saved some money...)

I was looking at a more traditional beveler like the safety, and wasn't sure how difficult they are to use. But MUCH less expensive, so I'll give it a shot. Also forgot to put needles and stitch awl, as I wasn't sure sizes or which awl to use. And I DO want to use the manual awl. I plan to use a wheel for marking, and then will punch holes by hand. I think it looks much more handmade, rather than using the diagonal-style punches.

I didn't see anywhere a granite/marble slab. Can I just use any? And what is it for exactly? Just to support the poundo board rather than my workbench? Sorry if that's a dumb question...

You guys are really helping me out a lot! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

Tandy sells granite slabs in several sizes. They are used for tooling, setting snaps, setting rivets, etc. The poundo board cushions the slab and reduces noise it more or less supports the granite slab. You can find them on Tandy at: http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/search/site+search+results.aspx?sectionpath=3&processor=content&p_keyword=granite

The safety beveler (it's actually a skiver) is a great tool for skiving straps for belts, watch bands, etc. Does the same job as the super skiver. Practice with it, it's easy to use.

Ken

Edited July 25, 2012 by Chief31794

[dpixel8]

Tandy sells granite slabs in several sizes. They are used for tooling, setting snaps, setting rivets, etc. The poundo board cushions the slab and reduces noise it more or less supports the granite slab. You can find them on Tandy at: http://www.tandyleat...keyword=granite

The safety beveler (it's actually a skiver) is a great tool for skiving straps for belts, watch bands, etc. Does the same job as the super skiver. Practice with it, it's easy to use.

Ken

you rock man. Thank you so much.

And this is something sort of what I would like to make too. Seems not TOO difficult.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbvplFLjDmM&feature=plcp

[shtoink]

I would like to add that if you already have a Dremel tool, the sanding drums that come with it work very well for skiving, too. Especially if you are trying to get paper thin in some places. The downside is it that it creates a ton of fleshy dust. They aren't ideal for big jobs, but can hold you over on small projects until your next allowance day.

Also, don't forget to look around for places that do granite/marble counter tops or headstones for super cheap to free off cuts and scraps.

[Glendon]

I would drop the contact cement and get rubber cement. Contact cement is permanent. Rubber cement can be removed and adjusted. You want something to hold just long enough to do your sewing.

You only need one edge beveler to start out. If you're doing a larger project, you can always run it over the edge twice to get a larger bevel.

Other then that, your list looks good to start out. Be prepared to be buying rivet / eyelet / grommet setters in the next few months. You can accomplish the same things by sewing, but that gets old pretty fast.

[shtoink]

Be prepared to be buying rivet / eyelet / grommet setters in the next few months. You can accomplish the same things by sewing, but that gets old pretty fast.

Phssshhh... Yeah it does...

[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.....

[Glendon]

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.....

I've never thought to do an e-mail order. I may have to give that a try. I probobly do have a pretty good store credit sitting there. For me the credit usually only gets applied when I have a specific leather request that I wanted to talk to them about.

I usually have like a $100 order worth of smalls when I finally place an order with Springfield, dye, hardware, needles and the like. I don't want to sit there and rattle off stock numbers unless I have a question that actually needs a person when the website works just fine.

Edited July 27, 2012 by Glendon

[dpixel8]

I'm actually speechless as to how helpful you guys are. I'm a co-founder of a firearms forum with ~500 members, and we LIKE to consider ourselves helpful to people who have questions. However you guys are beyond helpful. Doing a search and reading this forum, I've learned more from this specific thread than in most other threads. I'd like to sincerely thank you for the help. Plus you're making it so I actually understand stuff and my WIFE listens to me as to why I "need" to get into this hobby

Cyberthrasher, if you would be willing to do that, let me know what I could pay you to have you do that. I'd be willing to throw some bucks your way for it.

And here is the updated list as to what I have at Springfield, if I end up ordering this stuff. Let me know if this list looks good as to what I need to get started.

Thanks again!

[Glendon]

Alright, lets see here. I should be able to save you some money.

You can drop the strap end punch. The end punches are faster for sure, but you can do the same job with a template and a knife. You can use a paper template or go to blackriverlaser.com and get an acrylic template set that covers 8 sizes for standard and english strap ends for less then $20 shipped.

You can drop the plastic slicker. It takes a little practice, but your bone folder can be used for burnishing until you know you are going to stick with this and invest in a proper wood or glass slicker.

The overstitcher set you can probobly drop and just get a no. 5 overstitcher. You can figure out if you want to do tighter stitches later on.

I think you would get more out of this scrap bag http://springfieldle...ng%2C2-lbs-Bag/ then a cut of leather, especially something as thin as 2/3oz. One square foot is of course 12" x 12". A lot of the items you want to do can be done with scrap. Buying a specific cut is probobly best saved for your second order.

EDIT: One other thing. Here is a great tutorial on finishing edges: http://leatherworker.net/bob-park/FinishingEdges-2-15-11.pdf If they are easier for you to get hold of, you can use saddle soap or beeswax instead of gum trag to slick edges. I know it's what Ian uses in his videos, there are other cheaper options if you live in a part of the country that saddle soap is regularly used or you can get beeswax. Really water will do in a pinch as well. You just need to understand what you're actually trying to accomplish.

Edited July 27, 2012 by Glendon

[dpixel8]

Glendon, thank you very much. Always helps to spend less at the start. I am hoping I'll enjoy doing this. Need something to get away and relax after spending so much time with a one-year-old.

That's great on the end-punch too. I actually thought about that, just cutting by hand or by template, because I couldn't really figure out what size I needed. Some of my straps aren't QUITE 1", so I was just guessing. Better to try it out, figure out what I need and maybe just stick with doing it by hand. There's some more craftsmanship there as well, which is part of the reason I'm doing this. I'm a designer by trade, and part of this is getting away from the computer and creating something that you can hold in your hand.

And good idea on the scrap bag. I didn't really know if that would suffice, but I can actually get 2 of those for less than the cost of one cut. So that will help.

Probably going to pull the trigger and buy this stuff sometime today. So if I have more questions, I'll keep this thread alive. Hopefully it can help someone else who's in my shoes.

Think I'll be subscribing to this forum if you guys have financial subscriptions. Want to support what I see as a great source of information and fantastic group of people. And again, Cyberthrasher, If you are really willing to do that and make some swatches for me, let me know what your time and materials are worth and I'll PayPal Gift you.

[Cyberthrasher]

I don't see any awl blades on your list. I'm not sure what size is best since I don't really do any stitching, but I know it's better to use diamond awl blades. I grabbed some from ebay when I was first starting, so I haven't looked at what Springfield has. I can vouch for that 2lb bag of tooling leather. it has a pretty wide range of weights to help you get started and figure out what you want to do. You'll figure out which weights work best for different things and then store the rest for later. I'd recommend 2 or 3 of those to get you started, and I'm pretty sure they have the 2/3 oz in them at about a rough 8" x 8". I still go back to my scrap bags that I bought instead of cutting off the good sides I have for little things.

I'll get a swatch made up for you this afternoon and see if I can get it sent out. Send me your address in a PM.