New To Leather. Questions On Tools

[Glendon]

And I bet you thought the limits of leather went from soft jacket up to a stiff belt. Not quite.

[dpixel8]

And I bet you thought the limits of leather went from soft jacket up to a stiff belt. Not quite.

The more I read and see, the more amazed I am.

[bluesman1951]

Every one has covered the whole gamut of things . For my two cents all I can say is thread ,thread ,thats the icing on a finished product !!!! Texas threads bonded white tr350 in one pound spools .Pay the extra 5.00 for the small order fee and spend the 16.00 for the spool . This thread is all I'll ever need or use cant say enough good things about it . Take a trip to your local plastics house for cutting boards ,straight edges , and inserts to case your leather . These plastics take the place of a cell phone when shaping your case . Better than wood or metal . Invest in a 60 mm Olfa cutter .

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:

[dpixel8]

Springfield doesn't appear to have one of the Protecto Boards. Or am I missing something? Is that not needed? Otherwise everything is ready.

[Glendon]

You just need to know the terminology. You will also see them called poundo boards. http://springfieldle...Poundo%2C12x24/

If you aren't going to be stamping, one shouldn't strictly be needed. What I use for punching holes is HDPE (High-density polyethylene), the white plastic cutting board material. For cutting, I use one of those soft plastic gridded cutting mats you can find in office supply stores. I do have a piece of poundo board under my granite to deaden some of the sound from stamping, but if you have a good punching and cutting surface already then the poundo board is just another option.

If you look at my avatar picture, you will see my stamping stone on the left side. That black line under it is poundo board.

Edited July 30, 2012 by Glendon

[dpixel8]

You just need to know the terminology. You will also see them called poundo boards. http://springfieldle...Poundo%2C12x24/

If you aren't going to be stamping, one shouldn't strictly be needed. What I use for punching holes is HDPE (High-density polyethylene), the white plastic cutting board material. For cutting, I use one of those soft plastic gridded cutting mats you can find in office supply stores. I do have a piece of poundo board under my granite to deaden some of the sound from stamping, but if you have a good punching and cutting surface already then the poundo board is just another option.

If you look at my avatar picture, you will see my stamping stone on the left side. That black line under it is poundo board.

Ok, that's what I was wondering. I saw that poundo board, but it looked a LOT thinner than the one on Tandy. And I won't be stamping probably at all (except if I have a logo done for myself). But I will be using punches....suppose I could use one of those green plastic boards? I'm guessing that's the same type of cutting mat you're talking of. That's cool then if I don't need to spend that extra money.

[Glendon]

The cutting mats are fine for cutting leather, but I wouldn't use them for hole punches. They are very thin. A knife wont cut in too far, but a punch could go right through them. You do need something. If you have one of those green cutting mats usually used for paper, that will work great for cutting. No need to buy something else. For punching, just pick this up http://springfieldleather.com/32228/Cutting-Board%2CPoly%2C6%22x6%22/ No need to pay for one of the rubber boards in your case.

[dpixel8]

The cutting mats are fine for cutting leather, but I wouldn't use them for hole punches. They are very thin. A knife wont cut in too far, but a punch could go right through them. You do need something. If you have one of those green cutting mats usually used for paper, that will work great for cutting. No need to buy something else. For punching, just pick this up http://springfieldle...ly%2C6%22x6%22/ No need to pay for one of the rubber boards in your case.

:highfive:

Thanks man

[dpixel8]

Well, got everything ordered! Really excited to get started on some stuff. Have so many ideas in my head and things that I've seen. Hopefully it comes fairly easily to me. Found a few good sites, including this one:

http://highonglue.com/leatherwork-tutorial-how-to-make-a-leather-iphone-flip-wallet/

Should give me a little head start to start emulating some things to learn, and then come up with my own ideas. Want to thank you all again, hopefully this place becomes a second home to me and I'll learn more and more. Again (I sound like a broken record, I'm sure) I thank you all so much. Couldn't have, nor wouldn't have pulled the trigger, without all of your help.

[Glendon]

Good luck with your fist projects! Try to do one at a time at first. It's real tempting to jump right in at first. Trust me, you will be a lot happier getting a couple projects done and off the bench then having a number of them on the go.

Thanks for the link. Those look like great tutorials. The designs are a bit too hipster for me, but look easily adapted to my more Victorian style. Always something new out there.