Is Everything From Tandy Sub-Par?

[Art]

I don't have a problem with all TLF tooling. Some of it that I have received is so shoddily made as to be unusable. Example in point is the stitch groovers. The hole in the end often so misplaced that it cannot form a cutting edge. This requires quite a bit of sharpening experience to correct, not to mention tools the beginner might not have. This is a simple quality control problem usually precipitated by pinching the manufacturer for a lower cost.

The other foot is that some TLF stuff works well. Take the snap setters for instance. They do a reasonable job. So all TLF tools aren't bad, just some. It is enough that one can hope that complaining about it will fix it.

I think what the goal would be that a newer leather worker will take a tool home and use it, and if he gets less than desired results, he would know that it is his skill level, not the tool that is at fault. You don't want someone with perfectly acceptable skills questioning them when the tool is really to fault.

Art

[Colt W Knight]

I really like my Craft Tool Pro line swivel knives, and some of my stamps from tandy work really well. The Al stohlman maul is working well for me to. Lotta crap from there though. When I first got into leather crafting, I could go to the local tandy store and buy relatively inexpensive good quality leather. Over the last two years, my local store has quit stocking "acceptable" grade tooling leather, and the prices have nearly doubled. Im at the point now where I only go to tandy for buckles, conchoes, gromets and dye.

[LeatherNerd]

Wow. This topic has been an eye-opener for me. A little disheartening at first, but makes me hopeful that better stuff is out there.

TLF is the only place I've been. All my tools are from there, and I have a bad case of toolitis as they're into me for over a grand now. I just assumed that what they had was what was out there, because I had no experience with anything else.

The staff at my local TLF all know me by name and are super friendly. I know they want my business whenever I'm in there. I'll keep going back, especially now that what I'm reading in this thread is that there are two kinds of people: those who own Tandy tools and those who lie about it. But I'll start being more careful about what I pick up there. I have noticed that their basic craftool selection is chrome-plated and often has rounded edges instead of crisp sharp edges, sort of like the tool was cast/forged in a mold/die that was overused and worn out. I had no idea that several people on here consider their leather to be too expensive and too poor quality.

Direct question for anybody with experience: Is their top of the line "Oak Tan" leather sub-par compared to high-quality leather from other places? I hear people talking about "Hermann Oak" leather and I just assumed that "Oak Tan" was Tandy's rebranding of the leather, but now I'm wondering if it's a whole different product.

I just dropped $105 on a half hide of 5oz "Oak Tan" leather. It's their top-of-the-line stuff. It feels creamy and smooth under the hand and I notice a distinct improvement to the feel of the carving as compared to the various remnants and other practice samples I've worked on. It's clearly better than their bad stuff (then again working their bad stuff is like carving gravel). Is that a good price and a good quality leather? If not, I will be briefly saddened and then excited to go out and get "real" high-quality hide.

Thanks!

[56FordGuy]

Tandy has been great for me- it got me into the hobby. I wanted to try it, didn't want to risk a lot of money if it turned out I didn't want to really get into it. I bought the $50 starter set, got a sink cutout from a countertop place and made an awl out of an old wooden rake handle. That was enough to get me started and realize I wanted to do more, so as I've needed more things I spent a little more and bought nicer stuff.

My go-to now is Sheridan Leather. I've had the chance to visit twice in person (went by today, actually) and the folks there are very knowledgable, have an absolutely astonishing selection and are really patient with my beginner questions. Went in today to ask about a way to fasten something I wasnt sure about, the gentleman not only knew exactly what I needed but opened a package of rivets, got a small piece of leather and showed me exactly what the finished joint would look like. I bought my nice (not made of a rake handle) stitching awl there about a month ago, and hopefully this winter I'll be able to visit them again for materials and tools to work on some bigger projects. I need a maul (still using the cheesy wooden mallet from the Tandy kit), and want to make some chinks.

Tandy made it easy for me to get started and there's a store in town if I need something today, but for the most part I think I'm serious enough about the hobby now to invest in some higher end equipment. I wouldn't be here if not for them though.

[TinkerTailor]

My recommendations are to keep tool cost low to start. There are many ways to skive and bevel, french edgers are one of them. The safety beveler is cheap, easy, and if used on a 45° angle gives a nice clean cut with not much of a learning curve. No sharpening stone or strop necessary.

Art

If you flip the razor blades over once in a while they last longer. I find the edge bends and curls over just a bit and they don't cut as good, before they are actually dull. If you wait too long, blade is gone. As soon as it starts dragging, flip the blade over.

When you are starting out, Tandy is good for basic starter tools. Replace the ones you like/need to with better when you can. Learn to sharpen and hone, it can make a crappy tool fine to use. Most cheap hole punches need a little touch up on the edges.

The pain of using crap tools makes you appreciate the good ones.

Be mindful of things they sell that are available elsewhere however. Blue nitrile gloves are at your local drug store in boxes of100 for couple more bux than tandy sells you 1/2 dozen. Sponges, glue applicators, squeeze bottles, paint brushes? Local dollar store...

The most important thing to keeping costs down is keeping your eyes open

[DR80]

I bought the Craftool diamond hole chisel set. http://www.tandyleather.eu/en/product/diamond-hole-chisel-set?ip_lookup_country_id=SE

In my opinion it's useless. They make elephant sized holes. And you have to punch REALLY hard to make them go through relatively thin leather.

Those are a much better alternative. http://www.leathercrafttools.com/tools/punch/diamond-hole-punch/list.jsp

[25b]

I bought the Craftool diamond hole chisel set. http://www.tandyleather.eu/en/product/diamond-hole-chisel-set?ip_lookup_country_id=SE

Those are a much better alternative. http://www.leathercrafttools.com/tools/punch/diamond-hole-punch/list.jsp

Yeah, I agree...tandy is garbage. You can pretty much count on not being able to get any of your investment back out of them when you figure out they're junk.

Leathercrafttools.com does have better quality tools at decent prices. I recommend starting there...

Edited October 31, 2015 by 25b

[Sheilajeanne]

Okay, I can't seem to get the quote function to work for me, but I am replying to the posts on the previous page about Tandy catering to beginners, who often don't stay with the hobby, and who would be discouraged if they had to pay top dollar for professional grade tools. Also, Bob mentioned seeing Al Stohlman's very unsophisticated tools in the leathercraft museum...

EXACTLY! I got my start in leatherwork at around the age of 12. I made my own tools from the innards of an old pocket knife and I forget what else. I took apart an old holster from a cap gun (remember those?) I'd had as a kid, and made several projects with it before losing interest. My total investment was a few pennies for some sewing needles that broke as I was sewing. (OF course, they weren't harness needles!)

I am now starting seriously into leather work, and Tandy is the only store I know. I bought a beginner's kit, and am working on the 8 weeks of free classes that come along with it. I find most of their stuff is reasonably priced, except for some of the items like the quartz slab and poundo board, which are $40 and up, even with my wholesale membership. (I run a dog boarding business, so I qualified for that.) I went to Home Depot and bought a granite tile for $9.00 that works just fine as a work surface for stamping, etc. and if it breaks, I can replace it quite a few times before I get to the cost of what Tandy wants for their slab!

One of my stamps has a burr on the pattern, and I've ruined an oblong punch and a hole punch by using them on the wrong surfaces. The stitch gouger is a PITA, as the blade won't stay in position (set screw keeps coming undone.)The only tool that is REALLY a piece of garbage is the wooden mallet that came with my basic beginner kit. The more expensive kits have poly mallets, for good reason! I managed to get a poly mallet on sale for half price ($20), and I'm happy with it. The wood mallet is soon going to be used as kindling in my fireplace.

Other than that, I'm too green to really comment on the tools, but our instructor is top rate. He brought in some of his projects to show us this week, and we were all going 'WOW' at the quality. We have some naturally talented people in the class (which he keeps to a maximum of 8, to make sure everyone gets enough individual attention.) I can understand why he didn't bring his work in to show us during the first few weeks, as we would have been totally discouraged, and probably dropped out! He used to go the rounds of leather craft shows and competitions, and you can see how he would have done very well there.

So, my feeling is it's a great place to start, and see if the hobby is for you. If you stick at it, yes, you are probably going to want more sophisticated and better quality stuff. Same goes for pretty much ANY hobby! The staff is extremely knowledgeable, and if they don't know the answer to a question they will refer us to someone who does (usually our instructor....they will say, "That's a Bill question!")

Although absolutely no pressure has been put on us to buy more tools or leather, many of the students do stay after class to do exactly that, and Bill or the other staff members are always more than ready to help. Even when Bill was showing off his work yesterday, with his main goal being to introduce us to what we can do with dyes and stains, he made no effort to market their products. If you asked him directly, "How did you do this?" he would tell you what tools and dyes he used, but he didn't run and grab them off the shelves, though he easily could have!

I am looking for better tools so I can cut my own projects. Yeah, that swivel knife sure is useless, except for carving patterns! Is a utility knife like a box-cutter (Xacto knife)? And is a round knife the half moon shaped blade with a handle in the middle of the non-cutting surface? What other tools am I really going to need? I have a skiver, and a stitching gouge. The skiver (cheaper one) is okay, but you have to be really careful with it, as it often doesn't cut evenly, but with a second or third pass, you can usually get the result you want. Do I really need a corner cutter?

Edited November 1, 2015 by Sheilajeanne

[LeatherNerd]

I bought the Craftool diamond hole chisel set. http://www.tandyleather.eu/en/product/diamond-hole-chisel-set?ip_lookup_country_id=SE

In my opinion it's useless. They make elephant sized holes. And you have to punch REALLY hard to make them go through relatively thin leather.

Those are a much better alternative. http://www.leathercrafttools.com/tools/punch/diamond-hole-punch/list.jsp

Interesting. I've got the Craftool set and I like it, but I would venture to say that this is because I don't know any better--in fact the last time I was in the store the sales guy told me not to ever try the nicer quality ones until I'm ready to start hating my Craftool kit. I know that when I try it I will suddenly see what a load of crap I've been putting up with, but for now I don't have anything to compare it to and I must protect my blissful ignorance until I have my pennies saved up.

[Bonecross]

Tandy Leather in Montreal has been really good to me, even if I mail order...