New To Leather. Questions On Tools

[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.

[Cyberthrasher]

Oh yeah, looking at your prices there, you haven't signed up for the wholesale membership yet. It's $35 for the year and will probably knock close to that if not a little more off your order (as it stands now)

[dpixel8]

Oh yeah, looking at your prices there, you haven't signed up for the wholesale membership yet. It's $35 for the year and will probably knock close to that if not a little more off your order (as it stands now)

nice! Much better than Tandy's membership cost.

Also what are awl blades for? Thought I only needed an awl for hand stitching? Sorry if that's a dumb question.

PM inbound.

[Cyberthrasher]

So, i was just adding up your list with the membership and that exact list comes out to $147.21. So, you just paid for your membership cost

While I was doing that, i noticed that awl you have has a fixed blade on it, so don't worry about that too much. You may find it useful to get one later that you can change the blade on, but I really don't know what the one that's on there is like, so I don't want to sway you either way on that.

oh yeah, I also noticed you had the Fiebing's regular dye selected. I don't have any experience with that. I know a lot of us here use the Fiebing's Pro Oil dye, but it's also not available in white. Just an FYI. I remember a thread somewhere on the differences, but didn't pay much attention to it at the time since I like the pro oil, though I may need to try some of that white in the future.

Edited July 27, 2012 by Cyberthrasher

[Glendon]

I have used Fiebing's regular spirit dyes. I'm quite happy with them. I will give you one word of warning on the USMC black. It's the best looking black out there, but it is particularly bad about dye rub off. It leaves a lot of particles on the leather when it dries. You will want to really buff those projects well before any serious handling.

[Cyberthrasher]

I'll add that I get EXCELLENT color out of the standard Pro Oil Black with little to no rub off. The trick is to put down a coat of something dark first (I prefer Dk. Brown) and then top it with black so you're not putting down so much of the black to cover a light color.