New Member Crispy

[Crispy]

Hi

Just wanted to introduce myself. Im Chris Poole (Chris P - Crispy get it and Im from Scotland. Im a model and prop-maker just about to graduate and have alway wanted to take up leatherwork (one more string to the bow can never hurt).

Ive been looking around you're forum with my jaw permanently dropped. Ive never really had any experience at anything along these lines and am still learning what half the tools I need are so will be asking many questions that I'm sure most of you will face palm out of disbelief over (please bare with me).

If anyone could give me a list of first step kit (absolute must buy's) that I need that would be a great help.

[JustKate]

Hi Chris, nice to have you aboard. Do you have any idea what types of items you're thinking of making to start off? That might help us narrow things down a bit for you.

[Crispy]

Cheers. I ran through you'r gallery and would love to do something along the lines of you'r oak leaf or book cover. I just bought a bulk of stamping tools (pear shader's etc.) and am running through the Tandy website for leather, swivel knife and hole punches.

[JustKate]

Sounds like you've got stamping covered. Do you have a knife to cut out your leather parts?

If you want to color the leather, consider some dyes (for coloring specific areas of the leather) or antique/stains (for coloring the entire piece and giving the leather a nice patina) - lots of different ones, but an antique paste or gel will be enough to get you started.

Some kind of sealing finish to protect your leather and seal the antique, such as any of the "shene" finishes, or resolene.

If you want to stitch pieces of leather together, get a tool to mark stitching holes, like a pricking iron, diamond hole punch, or stitching wheel. A stitching awl, and learn how to get it really sharp. Some thread and needles.

Edit: If you're lacing rather than stitching, then you'll want to punch holes with a lacing punch.

If you want to polish the edges, a swatch of stiff, heavy fabric like cotton duck and some saddle soap.

That should be the bare minimum to complete a project.

Edited March 10, 2013 by JustKate

[Crispy]

With the stitching I assume I would use the stitching wheel followed by the awl to make the holes or would it be this fork-like chisel I've seen so many of. (Did I mention I don't really know what Im doing ).

Also (not sure if this is a travesty or not) Ive dyed shammy leather with wood stain before for a quick prop helmet I made that turned out very uneven but this added character. Is wood dye a big no no (also never sealed it but seems fine).

[JustKate]

With the stitching I assume I would use the stitching wheel followed by the awl to make the holes or would it be this fork-like chisel I've seen so many of.

You can use either the stitching wheel or one of the fork-like chisels - either a diamond hole punch or pricking iron. They look almost the same but the points have different shapes. One advantage of a diamond hole punch is that it creates marks that slant at 45 degrees to make it easier to judge the angle to punch the hole with your awl. An advantage of a stitching wheel is, it's quite a bit faster to use. Up to you which you prefer.

Also (not sure if this is a travesty or not) Ive dyed shammy leather with wood stain before for a quick prop helmet I made that turned out very uneven but this added character. Is wood dye a big no no (also never sealed it but seems fine).

Heheh! No travesty there, you may discover quite a few of us have also experimented with wood stains on leather. If you like it, keep using it. And there may be enough lacquer or something in it that it may not require a sealer. I would suggest trying one or two of the other products just to see how they compare in your eyes.