Wanting To Become A Leatherwork Expert

[kingpugster]

Hey guys I've recently gotten the itch to begin making my own leather working goods. I'm doing a class project and I chose to become aquatinted with the skills necessary to make different products out of leather. I've watched a few videos on youtube and I know a leather working shop in my city that could probably help me out with getting the different tools. The only experience I have was in making very simple leather books in boy scouts and I've stamped a bit of leather.

I was just wondering if you guys could help me come up with the price range for making things such as wallets or belts.

Are wallets/belts feasible for a beginning leatherworker?

If not what do you recommend that I should start making to get into the basics?

Would it be possible to buy leather products and make quality products without having a shop at my house?

What are some tools that are necessary/affordable for someone to work at home?

Thanks guys,

Kingpugster

[Roq]

Are wallets/belts feasible for a beginning leatherworker? Yes

If not what do you recommend that I should start making to get into the basics?

Would it be possible to buy leather products and make quality products without having a shop at my house? It can be done on a small table for now... soon it will take over your house.

What are some tools that are necessary/affordable for someone to work at home? What is affordable for you?

http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/home/department/starter-sets/starter-sets.aspx

Not the best tools but will get you started.

[TwinOaks]

I was just wondering if you guys could help me come up with the price range for making things such as wallets or belts.

The price range will depend on just how far you want to go. Knowing how addictive leather working is....the short answer to "how much $" is: All you can spend, and then some.

Some of the questions' answers can be found in this thread: click here That topic was addressing holster making specifically, but it's the same tools, and it's what'll get you started.

I also completely agree with the following statement: "... soon it will take over your house." -Roq

[Dwight]

It only takes over the whole house long enough for you to build a separate building for it.

That only took me 5 years, . . . and about 3 grand.

Oh, . . . and that word you used, . . . uhhh, . . . "Expert", . . . well, ummmmm, . . . money doesn't buy that. You can become really good at one or two things in a couple of years, . . . but even then, . . . "Expert" is a long way down the pike.

I'm 70, . . . been messing with leather on and off for almost 60 years, . . . and will be ground temperature long before someone tags me with "Expert".

Very few attain that status, . . . and that is not meant to dissuade you, . . . just inform you.

May God bless,

Dwight

[DavidL]

you only start becoming an "expert" really once you feel comfortable making anything from scratch whether its a belt, bag or wallet (from repetition and knowledge). I would suggest if you could for the first week set aside 4 hours a day to work on a different task each day, those first few hours and days are where you learn the most. Spending the cash to apprentice under a shoemaker or leather craftsman is a faster way to learn.

I would try not using a pattern but actually draw something from scratch like a belt and make it as well as you can, this way you have the knowledge that you can create anything from your imagination. Doesnt look good? make another one and repeat until you have something that you would call good for a beginner.

If you have a basement or a garage you can work out a table and storage for leather under it you can have a space within 40 square feet mine is a small round table and a tree stump right in my furnace room.

For the pricing you could sell something for as low as 15 dollars like a key fob or 300 dollars for a wallet to 5 thousand a bag. It all depends on the quality of good you are selling and the marketing (another artform in itself) you establish.

[oltoot]

Practice, practice and finding people willing to pay you to practice. IOW develop people skills, too

[unicornleather]

It only takes over the whole house long enough for you to build a separate building for it.

That only took me 5 years, . . . and about 3 grand.

Oh, . . . and that word you used, . . . uhhh, . . . "Expert", . . . well, ummmmm, . . . money doesn't buy that. You can become really good at one or two things in a couple of years, . . . but even then, . . . "Expert" is a long way down the pike.

I'm 70, . . . been messing with leather on and off for almost 60 years, . . . and will be ground temperature long before someone tags me with "Expert".

Very few attain that status, . . . and that is not meant to dissuade you, . . . just inform you.

May God bless,

Dwight

THIS ^^

I've been a Saddler trained in the old school way for around 27 years and I'm still learning and perfecting my techniques.

You need at least a few years under your belt to be able to make most things and make them with any degree of skill and quality.

A colleague of mine who I trained at Cordwainers College with makes the most beautiful leathergoods, one of her bespoke crocodile skin handbags just sold to a high class client for £14,000 ($21,876.54) and one of her red patent briefcases fetched a staggering £34,000 ($53,128.74) and yes, she's still learning too!

Oz

[Northmount]

Definition of an expert:

X is an unknown quantity, and spurt is a drip under pressure.

Another definition is anyone more than 25 miles from home.

Tom

[byggyns]

I would also suggest you choose an initial direction for your learning. I think most people either focus on construction / design or tooling / design at the beginning.

Basically what I mean is that some will try to get good at designing & constructing a wide range of items before they tackle the tooling and decoration of leather. Others will focus on the tooling, decorations, and artwork side while making very simple (from a construction perspective) projects. I don't know how many people try to learn both sides at once, but that is a lot of skills to practice and integrate initially.

Personally, I am in the exploration phase of construction design. I try to come up with my own patterns, work out how I want to attach the hardware, what the order of assembly is, etc. The only decoration that I have even attempted yet is simple basket weave stamping.

[NVLeatherWorx]

I agree with what byggyns said about choosing your initial direction. It used to be that we all learned the basics of tooling first (believe it or not, simple stamping was not the entry level) and we pretty much refined our skills while making finished products from pre-packaged kits. For those of us who continued to pursue the "expert" level we then started getting into the design aspect as it would give us that unique niche that everyone is looking for (and that also sets us apart from the rest). I have been working leather for over 40 years, received my initial education from the Masters of the time, have worked saddlery and everything else on both sides, and can also reiterate that you will find achieving "expert" status is long down the road and really only means that you can pretty much do anything and with a high level of comfort and confidence but you will always be learning and will never know it all.

Good luck in your new direction of life and use the resources and experiences of those within this forum to help you; we have a huge wealth of knowledge and experience contained within this community and it will make your journey much easier than if you were to try and go it alone.