Small Tricks For The Leatherworker

[Ajlopez81]

This thread is awesome. I just started working with leather and discovered this site. The things I have learned just from here is great. I don't have any correct tools yet but some of the tricks here are great. Thank you guys. Once I discover some tricks I'll have to add them.

[BAD HIDE]

Great tips, I didn't see it anywhere but one of my things is I buy large rolls of 24" wide butcher paper (brown craft) from the home improvement stores, I roll out enough to cover the width of my dye bench, then I dye on it on both sides front and back by turning it over and spinning it around. 1 piece normally lasts over a week and I'm pretty busy in the shop, then dyes, glues, etc get on the paper and not on the bench itself and when I get too much dye or glue on both sides, I simply fold it up, put it in the trash and roll out a new piece. Keeps the dye table much less messy.

Chief

I do pretty much the same thing. I have a 36" roll of red rosin (left over from a building project) that I've been using for almost a year now, and the best thing is it's only like $12.

I took all my dyes, put them in clear 8 & 16oz squeeze bottles, and diluted them down. So now I just twist the cap, put the tip in a scrap of rag, fill 'er up, and rub it on, much less mess.

And here's one thing I just started doing. Making a dozen or so card holders? Why cut them apart until you have to? Lay out a bunch of parts - enough so you have all the pieces for 6 of them in one section, then cut that square from the hide. Much easier and more uniform to dye and finish a single big piece of leather than as 12 or more individual parts all over the bench. I even do mild stamping and put my makers mark on parts while like this.

[Toolingaround]

Great tips everyone!

Here is one from me, if you only have a teensy weensy work space like I do, I save the liners from cereal and cracker boxes to cover my stone when I am dyeing things. Free, wipes clean with alcohol and waterproof.

I am now the proud owner of some angelus dye which I love!!! I discovered that the plastic "drawer organizer 12 in X 4 in X 3 in" from the dollar store exactly fits 10 boxes of Angelus dye to I can store them on my shelf with ease or bring the whole lot to the work bench to play with.

Cheers, Toolingaround

[WScott]

This is one of my favourite threads

Great tips everyone!!

[Feraud]

I work in NYC and there are two free daily newspapers available. When I'm going to dye a piece I save the newspapers and line my table with it.

The paper is free and disposable and ends up being more useful than the news stories!

[humperdingle]

I work in NYC and there are two free daily newspapers available. When I'm going to dye a piece I save the newspapers and line my table with it.

The paper is free and disposable and ends up being more useful than the news stories!

My workplace gets stuff delivered on pallets. Very often, layers of stock are separated by thin card/thick paper sheets of 4ft x 3ft. Ideal for the same reasons you use the newspapers.

I have rolls of the stuff :D

[Bob Blea]

I've got another I can add. I recently was in a class and didn't have a weight to hold my leather down. I found out that the silicon case on my iPod touch did an excellent job holding the small piece of leather I was tooling in place. It wasn't that it was heavy (it isn't) but the silicon did such a good job sticking to both my tooling stone and my leather that it didn't move. It was better than the small shot bag I normally use.

[wanabe]

A few things I picked up that helps me. I hope you find them useful.

I had a Dremel tool which was getting a little worn so I bought a new one. While I was at it, I bought a Dremel 220 workstation (sort of like a miniature drill press for the tool). I have sharpened a skiver, a couple of groovers, an awl and fabricated a couple of small tools I needed. After marking stitching, I chucked a very small drill bit (slightly larger than a needle) and drilled very small holes where needed. Makes things a lot faster and easier.

I also bought some soft carbon pencils. I can lightly mark leather and see the marks well but the white drafting pencil erasure removes every hint of the marks. Being extremely soft the drafting erasure does not mark the leather.

One last thing. I made a strop for my cutting tools with a 2 1/2" X 18" piece of leather. I worked fine automotive rubbing compound into the rough side and it works well.

Hope this helps a little

A few things I picked up that helps me. I hope you find them useful.

I had a Dremel tool which was getting a little worn so I bought a new one. While I was at it, I bought a Dremel 220 workstation (sort of like a miniature drill press for the tool). I have sharpened a skiver, a couple of groovers, an awl and fabricated a couple of small tools I needed. After marking stitching, I chucked a very small drill bit (slightly larger than a needle) and drilled very small holes where needed. Makes things a lot faster and easier.

I also bought some soft carbon pencils. I can lightly mark leather and see the marks well but the white drafting pencil erasure removes every hint of the marks. Being extremely soft the drafting erasure does not mark the leather.

One last thing. I made a strop for my cutting tools with a 2 1/2" X 18" piece of leather. I worked fine automotive rubbing compound into the rough side and it works well.

Hope this helps a little

[Nukjoc]

I needed a lightweight free/cheap portable stamp holder for at least eight stamps that would keep things clean and protected. I didn't want to use a roll-up tool holder, though I may make one in the future. So I saved the plastic French's Original French Fried Onions 6 Oz Can from our annual Thanksgiving green bean casserole. I had some leftover pieces of 3" thick soft foam -- memory foam type stuff from a dog bed project, I think.

I cut a hunk of foam about 3x2x4" and trimmed corners so it would fit in the French's container. The foam was soft enough that I could squish it down and punch eight holes through it using the largest punch on my rotary punch.

So far so good, except that the foam was so soft it squished down too much when I tried to insert stamps. And the lid on the container was too easy to lose. Duct tape fixed all that. I used strips of duct tape to cover all of the foam piece except the top end of the punched holes, using sticky side out for the first layer over the bottom end of the holes and being very careful not to compress the foam. I also used several layers of white duct tape to make a hinge for the lid.

Now stamps can be inserted and removed easily and there's a bit of space left at one end where I could fit other small items - for now I just have a filler piece of taped foam in there. It's solid enough to turn upside down and shake without having anything shift, but to be extra safe I'm going to tape a thin piece of foam inside the top of the lid (as soon as I find where a relative put the double-sided tape!).

It's not fancy and would have been easier to make with stiffer foam and a squarer container with a better lid...but it works great. And I didn't have to spend a cent!

[club49]

I love that suction handle idea. I am going to try one on my 6 foot ruler that I use to make my first stright cut on a side.Thanks for all the great tips.

Jim