Tools Of The Trade

[WWSD]

I am just starting off along the road of leatherwork and I have no tools what so ever. I am impressed with the tutorials on the forum and I am now at the point of " OK, lets make a start".

I want to learn the basics and how to use the tools. I want to have a go at a belt eventually, so I am looking into what tools I will need.

Thanks for any help and info.

[Northmount]

I am just starting off along the road of leatherwork and I have no tools what so ever. I am impressed with the tutorials on the forum and I am now at the point of " OK, lets make a start".

I want to learn the basics and how to use the tools. I want to have a go at a belt eventually, so I am looking into what tools I will need.

Thanks for any help and info.

Here are a couple threads to take a look at. Also try out the search function. It can be your new best friend. Search for something like tools and beginner!

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=40290&st=0&p=250566&fromsearch=1entry250566

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=42981&hl=

Note also that the tools in the Tandy beginner kits are cheap and not the best quality. A lot of people are unhappy with the stamps as they are even lower grade than their regular line. Having said that, a starter kit still may be fine for you to give you a taste or what is there and some practice without spending a pile of money.

Tom

[leatherjunkie]

the basic set from tandy will get you started. the tools are just that basic and not the greatest. also pickup a basket weave stamp, its not hard to run and will make a good belt pattern.

when you decide you want to spend money and get good tools check out barry king tools for stamping. leather wranglers for the swivel knife.

go to leather wranglers and watch the video on sharping the swivel knife. it will help you on the tandy swivel knife 100%. the tandy swivel knife is very dull.

[reddevil76]

I started with Tandy then upgraded like everyone else. But when it's time to sell off the Tandy tools, I found that they are worthless.

That said, it'll be tough to start off with high end stuff.

I suggest that you take a look at www.goodsjapan.jp

Their tools aren't so much more than Tandy and yet are so much more better made. It should get you started.

A maul from Barry King. Pricking irons & edge beveler from Goodsjapan. Thread, needles, leather and hardware from Springfield leather is sufficient to do alot of projects.

[lightningad]

i too started with the Tandy kit, and quickly found i was hooked!.

Its surprising how little you need to get started....essentially you will be cutting out shapes, possibly stamping patterns, marking stitch holes and then stitching pieces together.

The Tandy kit will give you some of the basics (their leather pieces are pre-cut and pre-punched, so they dont give you a knife or awl/stitch markers).

Heres what i would suggest as well as the tandy beginners kit:-

a good knife - keep it extremely sharp, and learn how to maintain a polished cutting edge.

engineers dividers - these can be picked up at tool shops for very small amounts. They are ideal for marking stitch lines, and for marking up parallel lines (such as for belts).

Stitch markers - pricking iron or overstitch wheel - the choice is yours depending upon how you want your stitching to look. A virtually free alternative i have heard of is to use a fork to mark the stitch holes!

Awl - a diamond awl is perfect for making stitch holes you will need to sharpen it when first bought so it makes clean holes easily.....it can also be used to mark the leather if you want a fine scratch mark for cutting (but be careful not to damage the tip.)

Needles - I use John James No2 Harness needles - pack of 25 is a couple of quid.

You may also want to use glues - i find evostick impact works best for the things i make...just make sure you have plenty of ventilation.

Once you get a few projects under your belt, you will have a better idea of how you want to develop and the tools you will need to achieve that.

Its so easy to get sucked into the mindset that you need to get new tools for every little task - you don't! I bet all of us leather crafters have boxes full of tools that hardly ever get used, but we bought them because we thought they would be indispensible.

Most important thing is to have fun, and learn how to get the most from the tools you do have.

adam

[immiketoo]

Buy a round knife. Lightning said a good knife, but the best all around knife I have is a round knife. They are ESSENTIAL to leatherwork, and I was given bad advice at the beginning and told to use a box knife. I can't tell you the time, aggravation and wrecked leather I have saved since I got mine. Paul at http://www.leatherwranglers.com can set you up with a nice one. IF funds are tight, call Bruce Johnson and see if he can get you an older Gomph or Osborne.

[lightningad]

Agreed - Round Knives are brilliant! I just decided not to mention one yet as they can be costly.

i noticed you're in the UK, also. I got my round knife from leprevo.co.uk - i think it cost around £24 - and whilst the site gives no specifics, when it arrived the blade is etched with the George Barnsley name (which has a rather good reputation!) It needs quite a bit of sharpening and honing, just like all new knives, but its a great tool.

In fact, i get most of my stuff from leprevo, and if you need advice before buying your leather (assuming you can't actually get to a supplier to see your purchase) they are really helpful if you ring and speak to them.

[WWSD]

Thanks for the info, sound advice and links.

I will try and get on the forum a little bit more as at the moment I am busy with work. I cant wait to get started.

[St8LineGunsmith]

I see that you are in the UK so I am not sure if it would save you any money buying from the USA so I cannot make any suggestions as to where to buy however the basics to start with would include a utility knife with replacable blades, a straight edge a cheap set of wing dividers, a empty ball point pin for tracing patterns to leather, A strap cutter is not absolutley necessiary but it sure makes for a lot faster and neater strap making.

a swivel knife a few stamps like a basket stamp and border stamps. you will also need some rivets and rivet setters for fastening buckles to your belts you will also need a rotary punch or a set of hole punches.

you will also need to pick up a kit like this for sewing http://springfieldleather.com/29838/Kit%2CHandsewing/

these are the bare essentials to get you started

[Macca]

I wouldn't recommend Tandy tools

quite frankly, they are garbage

You could perhaps forgive them if they were cheap, but they aren't

have a look at goods japan instead, they do a few different kits & have tools you will actually continue to use if you decide this is the hobby for you (you will bin the tandy stuff very quickly)

http://www.goodsjapan.jp/item/leather-craft-items-leathercra/kyoshin-elle-leathercraft-kit-/lid=29748449

not the cheapest but that contains a very decent groover, good awls & nice punches etc

[WScott]

I wouldn't recommend Tandy tools

quite frankly, they are garbage

You could perhaps forgive them if they were cheap, but they aren't

have a look at goods japan instead, they do a few different kits & have tools you will actually continue to use if you decide this is the hobby for you (you will bin the tandy stuff very quickly)

http://www.goodsjapa...t-/lid=29748449

not the cheapest but that contains a very decent groover, good awls & nice punches etc

Good advice for Goods japan b/c you are in UK

But, if in Can or USA I would agree with others that say get a Tandy kit to start and see if you even like leather work

before you blow your wad on more expensive tools.

JMHO

[St8LineGunsmith]

I wouldn't recommend Tandy tools

quite frankly, they are garbage

You could perhaps forgive them if they were cheap, but they aren't

I do not agree the Crafttools from TLF are garbage, overpriced? absolutely but the tools are still very usable tools

I simply do not buy tools from tandy at the regular price I wait for the tools I am looking to buy to go on sale for example they currently have the small Al Stohlman round knife on sale for $14.99 which regularly sells for 60 bucks.however

I usually buy from springfield with my gold club membership I can get my tools at SLC regular wholesale price for half of TLC regular gold club price which is a big savings as another example the crafttool pro rotary punch from tandy cost 48.00 for gold club members the same punch is $36.00 from SLC which is resonable and is a good punch.

you just have to shop around for the best pricing

[WScott]

Good point St8...wait for the sales!!!!

[Macca]

I do not agree the Crafttools from TLF are garbage, overpriced? absolutely but the tools are still very usable tools

I simply do not buy tools from tandy at the regular price I wait for the tools I am looking to buy to go on sale for example they currently have the small Al Stohlman round knife on sale for $14.99 which regularly sells for 60 bucks.however

I usually buy from springfield with my gold club membership I can get my tools at SLC regular wholesale price for half of TLC regular gold club price which is a big savings as another example the crafttool pro rotary punch from tandy cost 48.00 for gold club members the same punch is $36.00 from SLC which is resonable and is a good punch.

you just have to shop around for the best pricing

US pricing is perhaps a bit more favourable than Euro/UK pricing

take the Stolhman knife you mention, its 65 dollars normally in the US, but over 100 in Europe, the punch you mention, same again, almost 100 bucks in Europe. pretty much everything is 50% more expensive over here compared to the US pricing, changing the ship to country bumps up the pricing massively. I guess that pricing sets an expected quality level in my mind that they do not match

I bought edge bevelers, a V groover and some other stuff from there when I first started and was pretty shocked at the poor quality of the tools, I expected new tools to be sharp & well assembled, they weren't.

So definately for the Euros, I would always recommend Goods Japan, far higher quality for equivalent prices.

[St8LineGunsmith]

wow that is quite a jump in cost

I do agree that the Japanese tools are higher quality tools for just a little more than the tandy tools

the pro sheridan stamps from SLC are stainless from japan with a gunmetal finish and are really nice which I can get from 15.00 to 19.00 a piece which I try to buy at least one stamp per month

and any time I need awls, edge bevelers gouges and tools of that sort I always try to purchase CS osborne tool

I completely agree that there is far higher quality leathercraft tools than the Tandy crafttool brand.

I think that tandy is shooting themselves in the foot by offering cut rate tools at a premium price I think the corporate greed will eventually catch up to them

Edited August 9, 2013 by St8LineGunsmith

[Macca]

Agreed, seems they are trying to charge premium pricing for stuff that is on a par with Ivan tools (Taiwan)

Us Euros are used to getting screwed over on price when buying US stuff, but I think Tandy take it a little too far.

Even the goodsjapan pricing is hugely marked up from what the retail prices are in Japan, but I can forgive them that as its so much easier to buy through them. If you can find another retailer the jap stuff is even cheaper than Tandy etc. I'm a convert to the Japanese style knives.

Next time you are in SLC tell them us Euros want them over here

Sorry to the op for going so off topic.

For a UK buyer I would recommend the following stores.

http://www.leprevo.co.uk/

http://www.abbeyengland.com/

http://www.josephdixon.co.uk/products.asp

http://www.goodsjapan.jp/

[Mjolnir131]

I generally have to agree on the tandy comments however their ergo swivel knife with the black rubberized handle is a good swivel knife, but you have to go to their store and spin each knife to find the best one.

[lightningad]

as was mentioned way back at the start of the thread - if you want to try leathercraft before you decide to spend a heap on tools - The Tandy Basic kit is a good way to try it out....and its currently on Sale for £36.99 . <---(this is also a link to the tandy uk webpage) in fact i just noticed its a clearance sale with only a few left.

The quality may be debateable, but as a cost effective way into the hobby its pretty good.

You get a few stamping tools, stitching tools, glue, dyes and a range of projects to make, along with a basic instruction book.

It was enough for me to get totally hooked, even though as a total beginner you quickly become aware of the kits quality threshold. Its not intended as the basis of your tool collection, merely a chance to try a few projects to see if you want to progress....only then does it become a very expensive and fulfilling hobby!

Edited August 9, 2013 by lightningad

[St8LineGunsmith]

I generally have to agree on the tandy comments however their ergo swivel knife with the black rubberized handle is a good swivel knife, but you have to go to their store and spin each knife to find the best one.

LOL Ya that is the same swivel knife I use

I actually got mine for 20 dollars delivered to the door from Amazon,com acyually another good place to find a good buy on leathercraft tools...

at least that is for here here in the USA.

The new pro swivel knifes are actually very nice knifes IMO and the pro sheridan stamps are very good but way overpriced in comparison to the pro sheridan tools SLC has for sale Just sayin

I am saving my money for a tangleboss swivel knife from tanglefoot traders. I think that swivel knife is the most innovated leather carving tools to evolve in the last many years it is a bit on the pricey side however I can see how it would improve my carving and cuts at least by two fold

[Matt S]

I use tandy for one thing: Stohlman books when they go on sale. Between Abbey, Le Prevo and Bachelor's everything else is covered - at better prices for Ivan/Craftool type tools or better quality if we are looking at Dixons and Barnsley.

[Murf]

As far as hand tooling work goes i dont care for my tandy tools at all except i did alot of work with the black rubberized ergo for a long time before i dropped the cash on an SK-3. I love my Barry King stamping tools. I use alot of tandy bought tools such as thronging chisels, al stohlman maul, french beveler, my awl with swapable bits, Over stitch wheel, stitching pony and alot of small hardware rivets etc. Alot of it is location IMO tandy is closest to me and i can have something here in a day. The tools i use from tandy do what i require them to do but i wont hinge the appearance of my tooling work on tandys products anymore, even though im still new to tooling i could tell a major difference when i bought nicer stampers

[WyomingSlick]

My recomendation is to buy used Craftools on ebay. Look for the older tools made before the early 60's. They will not have a letter prefix before the stamp number. This was before Tandy bought Craftool and moved the toolmaking operation from California ( Los Angelos ) to Texas. The original Craftool company had their tools made by various machinists in the L.A. area and were much more picky about how the tools were made, and the standard of quality they would accept. The very best examples of Craftools were some of those made in the late 40's and early 50's before the rising popularity of leathercraft took off.

Now is a very good time to buy used Craftools made in those early years on eBay. A lot of people took up the hobby then as this was also the Golden Years of Western Movies and TV shows. And now here it is 50 some years later and a lot of those tools do show up on eBay from estate sales, and just people inheriting them from their folks, and not being into leathercraft themselves. In fact, that is how my collection started - from some Craftools my Dad picked up when he was in the Army and stationed in San Diego, Caliornia, around the year 1950.

You should be able to pick up a good starter set with a selection of the more common stamping tools like bevelers, shaders, veiners, cams, seeders, etc for under 5 bucks a tool. Don't get in a hurry, watch some auctions, and get a feel or the prices tools are bringing. There are new sets showing up every week and right now, its a buyers market. Don't settle for some set that looks like it has been stored in the barn and is rusty. For instance.....I picked up a rack of 37 plus swivel knife from Hawaii a while back that looked as good as they did the day they came from the store. Really minty ! And for under 160 dollars !

[WScott]

Great advice Slick

Just be careful on E-Bay.....look carefully at what the items are, know what you want to spend

and don't get sucked into a bidding war. It's and auction remember you get some good stuff and

some not so hot. You can re-sell what you don't need.

Edited August 12, 2013 by WScott