Jump to content
Wysiwhee

Looking for LeatherCraftTools help + essentials check list

Recommended Posts

Hi, newbie here trying to cobble together my starter kit and need some help! I'm interested in making small leather items like wallets and bracelets for a hobby and as special gifts for friends/relatives, having been inspired recently by Jim Linnell's tutorials. I'm honestly a lot more interested in developing my skills in the carving/stamping part, my end goal is to be able to carve out my own illustrations onto leather, if I ever get good enough. So far, I have these picked out from LCT:

  • Kyoshin Elle Pro Swivel Knife + blade

  • Diamond Awl (Small)

  • Pronged Chisels 2mm 1 & 4 prongs

Other tools like needles, wing dividers, dyes, etc. I'll be hunting for in my local area (I'm in SE Asia). At the moment, I really need some help regarding a core stamp list to learn the Sheridan style. I've added the 6 stamping tools listed under the Basic Leather Carving Tutorial stickied in this subforum, and added a few choice picks of my own.

Camouflage C431

Veiner V407

Background A104

Mule Foot U858

Seeder S722

Beveler B702F

Beveler B701F

Pear Shader P233

Pear Shader P206

Beveler B892-C

Beveler B60

Is there anything in that stamp list that I can do without? I'm already way over budget and I still need to buy a lot of other things from local shops. I thought maybe I'd need a minimum of 2 sizes of bevelers, 2 of pear shaders, and a few undercut bevelers to start with. Can I just make do with one of each, and if so, which beveler, pear shader, and undercut beveler from the choices on that site would be better? (Preferably around the Y900 range)

I'm also wondering if I'm better off just buying one of those budget Chinese stamp tool sets. I hear the quality isn't good and that the tools break or deform, so I've been really hesitant to go that route. Considering I'm still just a beginner though, maybe it's better value for money at my stage?

Would also appreciate anyone looking over the rest of my starter kit, if it's not too much trouble:

  • Swivel knife + blade
  • Awl
  • Pronged chisels 2mm, 1+4 prongs
  • Stylus w/ modeling spoon
  • Jeweller's rouge
  • Mallet/maul
  • Cutting mat
  • Rubber mat or poly cutting board
  • Tracing paper
  • Needles
  • Thread
  • Large box cutter
  • X-Acto Blade
  • Wing divider
  • Cobbler's hammer
  • Edge creaser
  • Edge burnisher
  • Metal + transparent rulers
  • Leather dyes + stains
  • Leather finish
  • Dense sponge
  • Leather glue
  • Spray bottle
  • Vegetable-tanned leather 2mm (outer work/carving)
  • Vegetable-tanned leather 1mm (inner work)
  • Leather cords 2mm

Would love to know if I left anything out, or if there are things I can remove to ease the budget.

I'm pretty excited to get into this, but I don't want to be careless about my first purchases, especially considering my tight budget. Sorry for the lengthy first post! Thanks in advance for any help.

(Posted an earlier version of this yesterday on Reddit, but I took down the post and made an updated version here instead. Apologies if this seems a little familiar!)

Edited by Wysiwhee
oops forgot a thing

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It's a big jump to try and do Tooling and leatherworking at the same time

I would suggest making a few leather items first untill you are able to make some nice items and than move onto tooling

My thinking is even if you make the best tooling in the world it will look bad if the object it's on is poorly made

A cheap chinese set will cost  only a few quid and when you know there limitations, you will have the expertise to know what better tools you need,  then be able to spend your money wisely

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Do you read Chinese? If yes, then I would recommend Taobao. You can find both the cheap and the high quality stuff there.

 

By LCT I assume you mean leathercrafttools.com? You are planning to buy the 2mm thonging chisels? Just FYI, that is not for stitching.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

 

29 minutes ago, chrisash said:

It's a big jump to try and do Tooling and leatherworking at the same time

I would suggest making a few leather items first untill you are able to make some nice items and than move onto tooling

My thinking is even if you make the best tooling in the world it will look bad if the object it's on is poorly made

A cheap chinese set will cost  only a few quid and when you know there limitations, you will have the expertise to know what better tools you need,  then be able to spend your money wisely

Hi Chrisash, thanks for the reply! That makes sense, thanks. The carving part is seriously the one thing that's drawing my interest in leathercraft, to be honest, and if it were a choice between the two I'd really rather learn that first. Is learning carving alongside making small items like plain wallets and bracelets still too much too soon?

 

10 minutes ago, niakulah said:

Do you read Chinese? If yes, then I would recommend Taobao. You can find both the cheap and the high quality stuff there.

 

By LCT I assume you mean leathercrafttools.com? You are planning to buy the 2mm thonging chisels? Just FYI, that is not for stitching.

No I can't read Chinese, sorry. Is it more advisable to get the Chinese stamping tools, then? I can afford a few pieces from LCT like what I listed, but can just go for a Chinese stamping set if that's more advisable. Honestly can't differentiate which sets are quality and which aren't, though. 

And yup, I'm kind of going by what Jim Linnell did in his videos and found the leather lacing attractive. I thought that's what the thonging chisel is for?

Edited by Wysiwhee

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
53 minutes ago, Wysiwhee said:

 

Hi Chrisash, thanks for the reply! That makes sense, thanks. The carving part is seriously the one thing that's drawing my interest in leathercraft, to be honest, and if it were a choice between the two I'd really rather learn that first. Is learning carving alongside making small items like plain wallets and bracelets still too much too soon?

 

No I can't read Chinese, sorry. Is it more advisable to get the Chinese stamping tools, then? I can afford a few pieces from LCT like what I listed, but can just go for a Chinese stamping set if that's more advisable. Honestly can't differentiate which sets are quality and which aren't, though. 

And yup, I'm kind of going by what Jim Linnell did in his videos and found the leather lacing attractive. I thought that's what the thonging chisel is for?

Sorry, I meant for the the rest of your tools. I don't do stamping or carving so can't comment on that.

 

Well as long as you are aware they are thonging and not stitching chisels, since you called them "pronged chisels" (stitching chisels also have prongs).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
51 minutes ago, niakulah said:

Sorry, I meant for the the rest of your tools. I don't do stamping or carving so can't comment on that.

 

Well as long as you are aware they are thonging and not stitching chisels, since you called them "pronged chisels" (stitching chisels also have prongs).

I see! Thanks, that's an interesting idea. I saw some sets that do have most of what I'm missing. If there are still large gaps in my list after I'm done searching locally, I'll take another look at them. 

Thanks for clarifying, re: chisels, my bad. I'll keep a closer eye on the terms I use.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...