New To Forum And Leather

[JDMcCall]

Hello, I am thinking about getting into leather working but have no idea where to stay. Where can I go to look at leather in the upstate of SC. Also have no clue as what tools and where to get them. Interests will be belts, slings, phone Cases, holsters, and knife sheaths. My brother had started making knives as a hobby so looking to make the sheaths for him. Thanks for any help in where to start!

[jkwparrott]

I see there is a Tandy store in West Columbia, not too far, but that would be a good place to start looking. What type of tools you'll need depends on what you want to do to the leather. Knives, stamps, edge bevelers, there's just a whole lot to choose from. Personally, I fell away from the art many years ago and recently got interested again. I ordered a Deluxe Leathercraft Kit from Tandy to get back into the hobby. You get basic tools and several kits to get some practice.

[IngleGunLeather]

Welcome. I see that there is a Tandy store in West Columbia, SC. Not sure how far away that is for you though. I'd look at purchasing one of Tandy's kits to get you started. The tool collection will evolve over time as you progress. But here's some of my most used tools:

-round head knife

-utility knife

-edgers in various sizes 0-5

-various dyes and finishes to include applicators

-hand stitching? then you'll need needles and thread

-lace and stitching pony will come in handy

But you'll more than likely aquire your tools along the way as most of us do. You'll get started on a project and find out you need a special tool for it. At least that's way I've aquired most of mine. For example, lest's say you want want make a belt. Depends on if you're making a single layer or double layer. On a single layer, you won't need needle and thread. For a double layer you will, plus some glue. If you're not doing carving or stamping on said belt, you won't need those tools. But a couple common tools/hardware for either single/double or stamped/nonstamped will be neccessary. Like rivets, snaps, or chicago crews and a buckle.

Knife Sheath kit This kit for example, lists all additional items needed to complete the project. More than likely, you'd need a basket stamp if you want to stamp as pictured.

So, I'd have to recommend these or similar kits to get started. Other than that it's pretty much a lot of research, books, and videos. Youtube is a decent source of how-tos. The Tandy website has a video library and most of the books can be downloaded to your PC.

Smartflix is also a source for instructional material. I haven't used it yet, but I have seen several people recommend it.

On this forum, there are a bunch of how-tos pinned. For example, there's articles on how to finish edges, stitching, lacing, making holsters, belts, etc.

One last thing, check out the chat room. Several of us holster and strap makers stop in routinely.

Edited January 2, 2013 by CountryTrash

[immiketoo]

Country covered that pretty well, especially the chat! So, another suggestion is to find a local leather guild and attend one of their meetings. You will meet leather people and get to see what people have and learn from their experiences.

[King's X]

Welcome to the forum!

[David8386]

Welcome to the forum. One thing that helped me on some things like sewing or lacing was to get a book on it from Tandy and then get a kit from them like a knife sheath or a phone holster etc.. They have the needles and lace or thread in the kit and the holes are punched for you. Read the book and practice on these kits and when you screw up just pull the lace out figure out what you have done wrong and start over. There are also some good you tube videos out there as well the things listed in the other posts. Good luck

David

[Steve75]

Best piece of advice I received from the guys on this forum was to invest in some of Stohlman's books. I have How to Make Holsters, Belts Galore, and How to Hand Sew. These books are loaded with great detail on the procedures and also outline exactly what you need in the way of tools and supplies. The other piece of advice was to buy the tools as you need them for your projects. This will help you save money to buy leather to work. I have not regretted following any of this advice. If you are interested in doing the fancy carving Stohlman has also covered that area. Visit the Tandy website, or even Springfield Leather Company, which Katsass recommended to me. SLC has much lower prices on the tools than Tandy in most cases.