Leatherwork Benches/Spaces

[bruce johnson]

I've organized my stamps a few ways, and this has been the easiest for me right now. I used to use old fence post sections with the holes drilled in them. They were cut to fit inside metal tool boxes. It made it handy to keep to keep them upright. That was about it. At that time I was getting a lot of old tool sets and had a lot of stamps. I tried to organize them by type. Problem was I'd get some new ones and have to shift everything around. Then you'd forget to put one back and then there wouldn't be a hole for it. A lot of people can make it work, I can't. It would be easier now that I downsized my stamps.

I am attaching some pictures of what I've been doing for the last few years. The stamps are organized by type into individual cups. I drilled a small hole in the bottom and then bent some pegboard hooks to feed up from the bottom and hold them at an angle. When I am sitting the stamps all face out to me so I can see the heads pretty well. Originally I used small plastic juice cups to store them, but the clear color of the cup blended in with the silver finish of the stamps and made it kind of hard to pick them out. The green cups are actually pill vials and the green background makes it easier to see the stamps. The pegboard is to the right of my stamping rock and also holds the swivel knives, mauls, and push beaders and ticklers. In front of the rock is a small wooden block that holds a couple swivel knives and about 20 or so stamps for the ones seeing action on that pattern.

As far as setting up beforehand. Sometimes I'll pull out what I know I need and have them ready. Other times I'll pull them as I go. I keep them in the wooden rack until I'm done though.

A tip for angling the wooden block - Drill all your holes first in a square block. Then prop up the back upper edge and run it through a band saw - cutting the bottom off at an angle.

[hog4u]

Reply to resqman,

I haven't been at this but a few weeks. I don't have a dedicated work space for leather working yet. I did throw together a toolbox so I could get my leather stuff out the way quickly without having to put it all into a box. Photo attached, I hope. :-)

Pat