New Bee

[Syd]

Hi,

Im new to the forum as you know and i would like to say a big hello to all the forum members.

Also i have never tried any kind of leather work,but im waiting on a kit i bought from Tandy to see how i get on with the kit,and i hope to progress but i dont think i would ever get to the stage of art that you guys are putting out.

Ive been looking through the photo's of the work you have been putting up on the forum,and im amazed at the work of arts that ive seen,i didnt think that sort of stuff could be put on to leather.

Im hoping to progress to leather stuff for motorcycle,so i thought i would buy some leather for my new start,i was wondering what would the minimum thickness of leather be to cut out design and tool on.

Well hope to get to know you all through time.

Syd

[ericluther]

Welcome Syd, I'm new as well so I cant answer your question, but would love to know the answer as well!!!

Eric

[Don101]

Welcome Syd to the forum, we are glad you found us, there are plenty of folks here that are realy friendly and are willing to help out so dont be afraid to ask questions, and please do show pics of any work you do, don

[TomSwede]

Hi and welcome to the forum Syd!

Everybody here is very friendly and helpful so don't hesitate to ask about anything.

Posting photos is very appreciated here.

There's not really a minimum thickness for tooling but you need veg. tanned leather for tooling and stamping.

Thinner leather off course doesn't give very deep impressions but are sometimes required when making an item.

For thin leather one can work with techniques that'll fool the eye to think the desing is deeper than it is (shading and inverted tooling for example).

I'm no good with this but I've seen those that can master this art, some are here.

I work mostly with veg. tan leather around 1/8" (3mm) because I like the flexibilty. Not to stiff ot to thin and wobbly and it takes tooling well.

I just got a marbletabletop and realized what a huge differnce there was compared to the old piece of garden stone I used as workingsurface under the leather when tooling so try to find an underlay as hard and flat as possible.

Good luck on your journey in the leatherlands!

Tom

Oh almost forgot, DON'T eat the donuts here, I think someones dog been doing something with them;-)

Edited January 19, 2008 by TomSwede

[Beaverslayer]

Syd, welcome to the forum, glad you found us. Everyone here is very friendly and always willing to help out.

If your wanting to do bike seats, you are probably going to want to use 5/7 oz Veg Tan leather. This will give you a good thickness for tooling and carving, but not too much that the seat will be hard as rock. Some people use a heavier leather, and you'll most likely get a few different answers. The best thing is, you can try them all, and see what works best for you.

Have fun, and remember to take pictures.

Ken

[Syd]

Hi,

Thanks for all the welcome notes and i have noted the tips and ideas also.

Thanks Again for your help.

Syd

N,Ireland

[Randyc]

Syd,

Welcome to the forum. Theres several people here to assist you with biker type leather projects.

Randy

[wolvenstien]

Welcome!

[SCOUTER]

Welcome Syd,

The Swede is right on, You need veg tanned leather for best results with tooling or stamping. For practice you can buy a veg tanned "belly" quite cheap and have lots of fun! As you get better you will want to move up to a better cut of leather. If you never had any experience with Leatherwork instructional videos are a wonderful way to learn! Smartflix even rents some! Good luck!

[Spider]

Yo SYD!!! Welcome. You are in for a great ride with leather. I have had a blast learning this art. Even when I f'up I learn a great new things from it. I have made a few things for my bike and for a friend as well. Good luck and happy tooling.

[Syd]

Thanks all for warm welcome to the forum,just cant wait to get my hands on that Tandy kit.

I need every bit of information i can get my hands on at the moment so thanks all.

Cheers

Again

Syd

[lightningad]

Hey Syd,

i'm new to this whole thing too - and got into it with the Tandy starter kit. I found it to be a great way to learn some basics, and within a few days i had ordered some more stuff from Tandy.

What i would recommend doing is looking through the Tandy website for "Veg-bellies...special purchase" - I bought two of these at under £7 each (I have just noticed they are now £18 each) but its a large piece of leather - mine are around 3 mm thick, and both are long enough to get a few belts out of plus have plenty left over to make some knife pouches etc, and its probably the cheapest way to get loads of practice leather. Its not a wide piece but then its a fraction of the cost of decent hide, its cheap and its still very useful!

Cutting with the swivel knife is the thing i found most difficult, but a few practice goes - most importantly taking my time and concentrating on each cut, its amazing how quickly your ability will improve.

good luck

adam