Homemade tools and ways you have saved money on tools

[JenGranger]

I want to hear about your homemade tools and other ways you have saved money one tools and supplies.

I'm am on a low fixed income and had no idea how expensive leathercraft would be when I got into it and it was too late to turn back.  So I've been trying to find ways to do this and save money. 

I get my practice leather from the local Army Surplus Store out of a dusty old box for 3 small pieces for a dollar.  Most of it is 6oz or thicker and very stiff and dry and wouldn't even be suitable for boot soles.  But at least it's leather to practice on...

My dad let me cut off a couple of 18" pieces of two by fours and gave me one of his C-clamps to make a stitching pony for when I'm ready to learn how to stitch.  He also gave me a ceramic knife sharpener for my 28 year old hand-me-down swivel knife, so that's one less thing I have to buy. I found a large nail I could sharpen up to make a scratch awl until I can get a real one.  I have some nylon thread that I had bought for another project and I have 6oz of beeswax and figured I could coat the nylon thread with beeswax and use some large embroidery needles to practice with until I can save up to get the proper supplies.  I was thinking I could make my stitch holes with a very small nail and hammer until I can get an awl.

how creative have you gotten?

[JenGranger]

I forgot to push the button that lets you know when people have replied, so this is what this comment is for lol

[cjartist]

I have not been very creative with the tools.  I did need to replicate a stitch pattern into the design of my most recent project though and found that a small flathead screwdriver gave me just the look I wanted.

When I started it began by admiring the work of an artist creating leather masks.  I then bought a storage unit at auction that had a bunch of old Tandy tools in it.  The amount of tools I have personally bought has been minimal.  It is the leather and hardware that is expensive.

If you are considering making items that are not tooled, keep your eyes open for a leather sofa sitting on the curb on garbage day.  As long as it is real leather, a box cutter and a few minutes of your time can give you something to make bags or wallets out of.

[JenGranger]

I have taken apart many old purses for the leather for the  back of my Native American beadwork barrettes and medallions long before I got into leathercraft.

[tnhomestead]

Piece of 1 by 4, put some 600 grit wet dry paper on one side and a piece of leather rubbed in rouge on the other side to strop your blades. Make a round knife from a old table saw blade if your handy enough. The stiching pony is an easy build, just put a spring inside on the bolt so it pops open -- makes life a lot easier!

[bikermutt07]

When you do buy tools, save some money by not buying leather specific tools. A cheap dead blow mallet, pliers, or razor knife will work as good as anything in a leather shop, to a point.

A fork can be used to mark your holes consistently. You can even make your own dye if you have access to useful trees in your area. A really sharp chisel can be a great leather knife.

If you use a nail to punch your holes run it through that wax to keep it from sticking in the leather.  Use a butter knife as a backer to keep the leather from pulling up with the nail as you remove it.

Sandpaper is cheap to true up the edges and I have seen edge bevellers made out of flat head screw drivers.

Just remember people worker thousands of years with leather before their was a Tandy. Just get creative.

Keep having fun.

[JenGranger]

Thanks!

[Willie0]

This guy has some amazingly creative ideas:  http://asailorsleather.blogspot.com/2008/10/homemade-leather-tool.html

[zuludog]

I got an old decorator's filling knife at a car boot sale for 50p, about 65 US cents? and  about 1 1/2'' wide at the end; but basically a good one with a proper forged spring steel blade, not cheap stamped metal.   Scruffy & rusty I cleaned it up and sharpened & shaped the end with a file & stones. Now it's a skiving knife

A colleague at work made himself a knife blade from an old industrial hacksaw blade, about 40mm wide, and I added a handle & made a sheath. There was a smallish piece left over, about 110mm long and 38mm wide when the teeth had been ground off. I made this into another skiving knife. He ground the cutting edge and I finished it myself with stones & strop

I had a cheap & nasty block plane that was fiddly to use & adjust so I never used it. But the blade was quite good so I turned it into a Japanese style leather knife. again, he did the shaping on a bench grinder

I have a carbon steel vegetable knife that I no longer use in the kitchen, blade about 4''. I fitted a fatter handle, shaped & sharpened  it, and that is a clicker knife

For cutting I mainly use a craft knife - 'Stanley' in Britain, 'box cutter' in USA I think. This was also cheap at a secondhand tool stall; cleaned it up, and also the rusty old blades it contained. Although they're meant to be disposable they actually seem to get better if you resharpen them, probably because you reduce the shoulder of the bevel, and polish them

For a scratch awl I use an old dart head mounted in an old wooden file handle

I use the glass oven door from an old cooker to skive on

Yes, get some beeswax. Besides waxing thread it is used for all sorts of odds & ends in leatherwork

The key to good leatherwork is very sharp tools, whether they're old, new, or home made. Diamond and ceramic stones are currently popular, but the cheapest are probably oilstones, especially as you are most likely to find them secondhand

Then work through wet & dry paper on glass, or pin some on a flat piece of wood

Make your own strop from scrap leather & wood. You already have your old 6oz leather, try softening it with some kind of leather oil or grease

Ask around friends, neighbours, colleagues at work and so on, you never know what might turn up

Edited December 26, 2016 by zuludog

[zuludog]

However there are a couple of places where I think you should be prepared to pay full price

A cutting mat, the usual green thing; get the biggest you can manage; they're not too expensive

An awl. For sewing leather the blade has slightly flattened section, and is often called a saddler's awl or a harness awl. Traditionally you buy the blade and the handle separately then fit them together and do the final sharpening yourself; which is a right pain, so it's easier to buy an awl ready for use

Do not be tempted by the 4-in-1 awl you often see, especially at Tandy; it is expensive and not very sharp or good. On the other hand I have tried this from Tandy - Craftool Pro Stitching Awl #83020 - 00 and I think it's pretty good. Shop around for the best price you can find; at the moment it's on offer in Britain for £20, about $26

There are loads of videos on sharpening on YouTube, and a complete section on this forum; however I think this is one of the best. Although it is about chisels the techniques can be quite easily used on leather tools

'Preparing and Sharpening Woodworking Chisels' by Paul Sellers

Come to think of it, a 1'' or 1 1/2'' wood chisel would make a decent skiving knife; see if there is a secondhand tool stall near you

Edited December 26, 2016 by zuludog

[tnhomestead]

hey if your a fellow vet, sign up for tandys vet discount -- its free and gives you elite pricing, same as a business. 

Yogurt cups are awesome -- hold dyes, glue, mix dyes all kinds of uses!

If you know someone that does bodywork, usually can get 1/2 sheets of 600 grit and better for free, 1/2 sheets last a long time for sharpening1

Edited December 26, 2016 by tnhomestead

[JimBonita]

Brettuns Village has a large selection of leather remnants.  Most are chrome tanned and finished, not good for stamping but you save the price of dyes and such.  Shipping is included in the price, so no surprises.

[bikermutt07]

Also, if you can sock away some cash, do.

You never know when an awesome deal on Craigslist will pop up. Earlier this year I was looking for a splitter. I found a weaver master splitter in excellent condition for 250.00. When I met up with the kid he brought boxes of stuff that he had accumulated in prison. All marked with his name and id number. I only had 350 with me. He let me have it all for that 350. All told I think I paid less then ten cents on the dollar. He was happy, and I was beside myself.

So, it could be handy to have some cash on hand for deals.

[chiefjason]

On December 26, 2016 at 8:35 PM, bikermutt07 said:

Also, if you can sock away some cash, do.

You never know when an awesome deal on Craigslist will pop up. Earlier this year I was looking for a splitter. I found a weaver master splitter in excellent condition for 250.00. When I met up with the kid he brought boxes of stuff that he had accumulated in prison. All marked with his name and id number. I only had 350 with me. He let me have it all for that 350. All told I think I paid less then ten cents on the dollar. He was happy, and I was beside myself.

So, it could be handy to have some cash on hand for deals.

 

This^^

Walked into a pawn shop to look at an instrument for my daughter.  Made an offhand comment about making holsters.  Guy went into the back and came out with a bowling ball bag full of leather tools, dyes, and hardware.  He said it just came out of pawn and he was not looking forward to pricing all the pieces.  Looked in and quickly saw $100 worth of tools I needed since I was new to it.  Told him to make me an offer I could not refuse.  He took a minute and came back with $65 OTD.  I went home and quit counting at $350 worth of tools.  

 

I still use old tooth brush handles to bone and mold holsters or press them when gluing.  I have some kids craft tools I use too.  Made my own strops.  Made a skiving guide for belt tongues.  Made my own palm protector for pushing needles when I hand stitch.  

[JenGranger]

Can you turn a scratch awl into a diamond awl with a knife sharpener and stopping?

Edited December 30, 2016 by JenGranger

[bikermutt07]

I don't see why not.

It is more of a rhombus shape than a diamond.

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fvt-s3-files.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fproblem_question_image%2Fimage%2F7390%2FRhombus_1.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.varsitytutors.com%2Fadvanced_geometry-help%2Fhow-to-find-the-length-of-the-diagonal-of-a-rhombus&docid=-QynN1yfDzEMlM&tbnid=2QN5pGxnBoDLQM%3A&vet=1&w=680&h=488&client=ms-android-verizon&bih=514&biw=360&q=rhombus&ved=0ahUKEwj51-r605rRAhWm44MKHcvsB4MQMwhKKAQwBA&iact=mrc&uact=8

[zuludog]

24 minutes ago, JenGranger said:

Can you turn a scratch awl into a diamond awl with a knife sharpener and stopping?

Probably, but it would be a tedious process

IMO this is one of the times you are better off scraping some money together and buying the proper tool in the first place

[tnhomestead]

If you have access to a grinder, shouldnt take but a few minutes to make a diamond awl or even a belt sander. Hmm, gives me an idea!~

[tnhomestead]

Vinegaroon dye -- just dump steel wool pad into vinegar, let it sit till the steel wool dissolves, run through a coffee filter, and voila you have a black dye! just dont put a lid on tightly as it cooks, may blow up on you. Just tested my first batch, wanted to see if getting it rusty etc in advance was needed and seems to work fine this way. Just saw a cool video on using biscuit letters to stamp leather, 2 bucks a set with a holder to line them up! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alphabet-Number-Letter-Biscuit-Cake-Cookie-Mould-Embosser-Press-Stamp-Decorating-/302047824610?var=&hash=item4653740ae2:m:maOZugv6Z-7rRLMdOSkJNgQ is a link to one of them ( just a random one I saw on ebay ) and a cheap accurate way of embossing leather. The video used a 1 ton arbor press and the made a slot in a block of wood for the stamp holder to ride in -- it looked super simple!

[machinehead]

18 minutes ago, tnhomestead said:

Just saw a cool video on using biscuit letters to stamp leather,

Thank You to leatherworker member Harrybodger for posting the Youtube video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0RjVoFAqUI&t=125s

 

[zuludog]

JENGRANGER - I've just been on Tandy USA website. They currently have the Craftool Pro Stitching Awl # 83020 - 00 for sale at $ 19-99

[JenGranger]

Awesome

[JenGranger]

On December 30, 2016 at 11:42 AM, tnhomestead said:

Vinegaroon dye -- just dump steel wool pad into vinegar, let it sit till the steel wool dissolves, run through a coffee filter, and voila you have a black dye! just dont put a lid on tightly as it cooks, may blow up on you. Just tested my first batch, wanted to see if getting it rusty etc in advance was needed and seems to work fine this way. Just saw a cool video on using biscuit letters to stamp leather, 2 bucks a set with a holder to line them up! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alphabet-Number-Letter-Biscuit-Cake-Cookie-Mould-Embosser-Press-Stamp-Decorating-/302047824610?var=&hash=item4653740ae2:m:maOZugv6Z-7rRLMdOSkJNgQ is a link to one of them ( just a random one I saw on ebay ) and a cheap accurate way of embossing leather. The video used a 1 ton arbor press and the made a slot in a block of wood for the stamp holder to ride in -- it looked super simple!

I've brewed up some vinegaroon about a month ago, so it's probably ready to use.  I'm going to try it on the wallet that came with the 25-30 year old Tandy beginner kit I inherited after I tool it, then sew it together. I think I should probably soak it in strong tea before I vinegaroon it since the leather is so old. The leather lace is missing from the kit and the leather sewing thread I ordered is coming from China and it will be more than a month before I get it.  So I guess I'll just wax some thick nylon thread that I have with beeswax and sew it together with that.  It's not like I'm giving it to someone, so it's ok that I'm not doing it the proper way.  I'm just putting it together for the expirience and for the fun of it.

[Tob]

Do keep your eyes on craigslist.  I found a set and some leather for free.  I misplaced some of the tools like an idiot.  There was a good amount of everything.  Food coloring works for non brown or black dyes.  I have made a barely passable beveler out of a nail.  550 cord could be a source of thread, use wax.  It is braided, not woven and a bit thick.  Almost forgot to say that you could use a sharpie to color it black brown or whatever color.

Edited January 3, 2017 by Tob
Added info.

[JenGranger]

I wondered if you could dye leather with food clororing.