Starting Advice

[Sleez]

hello,

thanks for a great forum, i have spent a few days poking around.

i would like to get into carving, making armor and holsters/sheaths.

i am a complete beginner, i have some artistic skills, have made stained glass pieces and have been model building for years.

my first question; are the starter kits that are available at Tandy worth it, or should I just buy tools etc. separately?

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

i do know i will be spending a lot of time making scrap pieces as i learn the skills, i have patience and a drive to succeed at what i start.

[Chief31794]

There will be several opinions on this, here's mine. I recommend you buy what you need as you need it and if possible, buy better quality than what you'll get in the kit. Some of the cost of the kits are for the projects, dyes and finishes that are included, many of those you won't need. Additionally, many tools you can buy elsewhere such as a good quality razor knife from Lowes, Home Depot, etc. The Kobalt brand at Lowes is very good. You may even already have some of the tools you need. If you're just starting out, I recommend you buy a 1 lb box of Leather Pieces to practice on, you can get them from most leather stores. If you're interested in Carving, you'll need a Swivel Knife, a beveler, camo tool, veiner, seeder, and pear shader, you can add other tools as you need them. If you're going to be sewing or lacing then you'll need the appropriate needles and thread or lace. Now all of these things are included in the beginner kits you see at Tandy and if you're so inclined, some of those tools will be useable. It's basically just up to you and how you want to go about it.

Hope this helps and isn't too confusing,

Chief

[Sleez]

thanks Chief,

i do have a nice exacto box kit, many blades/saws etc.

the main thing was if it made sense to buy one of those kits or just buy the individual tools. you pretty much said what i figured, the tools and stuff in the kit are usually on the cheaper side, and include stuff i may not use.

be cool to have a nice list of "getting started" tools and materials.

i am initially focusing on the tooling, and will learn the lacing and adding hardware (buckles, rivets, grommets) as i need to.

so a partial list of stuff:

Razor Knife

Swivel Knife

Beveler

Camo Tool

Veiner

Seeder

Pear Shader

Mallet (i assume?)

Leather Pieces (what should i look for s far as type/thickness etc.?)

[camano ridge]

If you do a search you will find several threads listing tools for beginers. However you will find the list verries because those that have been doing this a while have developed there personal preferences for what they do. The list you have is a good place to start and you can build your list to suit your needs, it won't be long before start I wish I had one of these. If you are mainly going to start out with tooling then you will need veg tanned leather as to the thickness give us an idea of the type of projects you want to start with and we can give you an idea of the thickness needed. If you just want some scrap to practice on, then start out with 5- 6oz. The big thing with tooling is learning to case your leather properly regardless of thickness. Just lookked at your list agin you will need a backgrounder of some sort as well. You will also need and edge beveler whan you start to do actual projects so you can have rounded finished adges for burnishing.

[Sleez]

camano ridge; thanks, i would like to do classic floral, celtic, basket weave designs to start. mostly saddle type decorations for holsters, sheathes and armor pieces.

so an updated partial list of stuff:

Razor Knife

Swivel Knife

Beveler

Camo Tool

Veiner

Seeder

Pear Shader

Mallet (i assume?)

Leather Pieces (5-6 oz to start)

Edge Beveler

Backgrounder

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[danboy295]

Hi Sleez,

I was just recently in your boat back in September. I went with the "buy quality tools as you need them" method instead of the kits. I found this to be the way to go for me as I didn't spend money on tools I did not need and I didn't have to pay to replace them with higher quality tools down the line. The only downside can be turnaround time. You may want to do something now but have to wait until you can order the tool you didn't realize you needed.

For what you are looking to do, I would recommend 6-7 oz leather. As I started out I played around with 5-6 and 6-7 oz leather. I found 5-6 oz to be too thin for what I was doing (holsters for Nerf guns for structural and "feel" reasons, sheaths for safety reasons). YMMV.

There a few lists kicking around for good starter/basic tools to help you flesh out your basics. I have also found some random stuff I didn't realize I needed until I started working. Since I work on my kitchen table, I have found a cutting mat (Alvin or other) to be invaluable. I do all of my work except dying and finishing on the mat to save my kitchen table from undue damage.

For my punching and stamping, I have also found a cheap marble slab glued to a poundo board to be helpful. Combined with a piece of polyurethane kitchen cutting board for punches and a bar anvil for hardware, this combo makes punching, stamping, and setting hardware very easy.

[St8LineGunsmith]

I agree with Chief 100%

a lot of the most essential tools you will need you possibly already have or can obtain from the local hardware store

I get a lot of my tools from harbor freight

tools you will need that are very inexpensive.

these are also the tools of the craft I find most useful

cutting board

1. Folding lock back razor knife

2. small framing square

3. steel straight edge and ruler

4. wing dividers

5. punch

6. stitching kit

7. lacing chisel you will need a single prong also

8. lacing needles

9. keen edge beveler

10. skiving knife

11. strap cutter

you will need snap and rivet setters and hardware

you will need dyes and finishes you will need a slab of marble or granite for tooling and stamping and setting which you can get cheap enough from a place that sells marble and granite counter tops.

and of course a basic carving starter set.

from that point you can add what you need as you go

I would recommend buying through Springfield leather to get started the least inexpensively

and join their wholesale club, you will save a substantial amount right off the bat call them to join they will set your web account so you can see your wholesale price when you sign in to your account.

Edited February 14, 2014 by St8LineGunsmith

[SteelcityK9Cop]

As for leather... I bought a little bag of scrap from Tandy and it was just that...total scrap. I bought a 10 pound box of scrap from Springfield for about $30 and I have enough big pieces to make at least 7 practice holsters. The pieces are great to practice sewing, edging, dying... you name it. Just my two cents.

[Sleez]

thanks everyone, all of your advice is priceless, i will be getting my tools together in a couple weeks.

look forward to delving into this hobby!!

[ToddB 68]

Hi Sleez !

I just thought of the few following things and I'm sure others can add more.

VIDEOS:

If you haven't already, look at the Nigel Armitage series of YouTube Videos .......indispensable IMHO.

There are lots of great videos by Nigel, but three of my favorites are Sharpening a Saddlers Awl, Saddle Stitch and Saddle Stitch in Detail. You can just Google his name and then click-on the link at the top. You will learn a lot from his videos and personally, I think he is a very good speaker and demonstrator.

Other home-made video producers lack skills that are manifested by one of the following: #1) Shaky camera, poor shot angles and proper lighting on the subject, #2) Camera operator mumbles or doesn't speak loud enough (or has incorrect volume setting.), just to name a few things .

BOOKS:

Another recommendation would be to obtain the following books by Al Stohlman. The ART of HAND SEWING and Leathercraft TOOLS.

HONING YOUR CUTTING TOOLS:

You can make your own Stropping block with a piece of hardwood (The block must be flat.) and a piece of leather of the same size glued to the block, rubbed and impregnated with jewelers rouge (or Valve grinding paste, which is carborundum grit with oil and is available at Auto Supply stores.) to keep your cutting blades keenly sharp.

Any size of wood block that suits you will do. Although this type of stropping block is the standard among most leathercrafters, you could get by with sheets Slicon Carbide sandpaper layed on a flat surface. In the finer grits, it is commonly referred to as "wet or dry paper" and usually comes in grits of 200 very fine, 320 extra fine, 400 super fine, 600 ultra fine, 1500 mirror fine and even finer grades.

STITCHING PONY:

If you are interested in making your own Stitching Pony, there is a great set of plans in The ART of HAND SEWING . Also, I saw a good video showing step-by-step how to make one, using left-over cut-offs of hardwood flooring lumber but I'll have to find it again on the internet. Let me know if interested.

OK, that's my two cents for now. Keep searching resources on the Internet and asking questions here......that's a couple of good ways to learn !

Good Luck !

ToddB68

[Sleez]

ToddB68,

thank you as well, i will look into all of that!!

[ToddB 68]

Sleez and any others interested in Making Your Own Stitching Pony,

The You Tube video I was referring to at the bottom of my previous post can be seen by entering the

following caption into your search engine window (omit quotation marks) and activate your search button.

" How to Make a Leatherworkers Clamp or Stitching Pony, by Harry Rogers "

Then click-on this same caption at the top of the links page.

BTW, I would have included a hyperlinked address, but the hyperlinker and several other things on this website don't work for me, although I have no problems at any other websites.

Good Luck ! (making your own.)

ToddB68

[camano ridge]

Here is a link to the stitching pony video ToddB68 was refering to.

[St8LineGunsmith]

heres a diagram and a pic of my stitching mule

it is pretty simple to build. I used a forsner bit with a drill press and a wood chisel to slot the 2x.6's

heres a pic of the one I have now and it is the best one I have used IMO

here is the original design

[St8LineGunsmith]

not that good of a detail pic i know but this piece of 2"x6" with a 1/2" plywood base pretty much holds my whole set of leatherworking hand tools with room for more stamps and room to modify if needed (Add More Holes= modify). probably cost a total of 5 bucks if I were to purchase the materials and screws

Heres a pic of my little work area dedicated to strictly leatherworking.

you might get some ideas of how you want to set up your work space with these pics.

[danboy295]

St8line,

I really like the leather strap holder for your hand tools. That is a great set up, I'm going to borrow the idea for me workspace.

[St8LineGunsmith]

Works rather well, everything is right there in one neat place easy to locate the tool I need

[JLSleather]

A couple of things :

Since you specifically mention making holsters, then you'll want to keep the leather thickness at least 7 ounce (some of the boys use TWO layers of 4/5, for a total of about 9 ounce thick).

For very simple designs, not a lot of tools needed. Seriously, to make a simple holster, you could do that in a simple basketweave with...

Piece of 8/9 ounce leather (about 2 sq ft for a good size one, less for smaller rigs)

Knife to cut out (your exacto kit probably has what you need)

Swivel knife, smooth beveler, basket stamp, cam or border tool (for basketweave design tooling),

Some type of dye (Fiebing's spirit dyes are a long favorite of many folks),

thread, stitchin needles, and something to make holes (I like an awl, but look around the forums),

Folder, modeling tool,

Hole punch (for belt slots, etc) for holsters, you might consider an oblong (#5) and a regular wood chisel. Together with your xacto, this would let you punch belt holes, too, if you were to decide on the belt to match.

Plus, wait - no plus - that really is all you need.

Beyond that, because I've made most of the mistakes that can be made, here's my 'add-on'.

Spend $5 at a hobby store, if you don't already have transparent triangles. You know, the 30/60 , 45/90 little things likely in the drawing or drafting section. Great for making borders (straight), and many other uses you'll see once you have it within reach.

If you're going to lace, spend the couple bucks and get threaded lacing needles called Perma-Lok. Without being long-winded about it, those "prong" needles are crap.

Get a caliper, if you dont' have one yet. Doesn't need to say Sharpe or Starrett, just $10-15 at the hardware store (or auto parts store prolly got one too). Measure thickness of leather, distance to edge, size of holes, etc. I "ounce" thickness = .0156" (or about .4 mm)

Do not pay someone for "scrap". This is one of the biggest insults I've seen from leather suppliers (and there are many). I recommend going with a USEABLE piece of leather.

[Sleez]

thanks again, everyone, some great suggestions and wonderful leadership here, you rock!