Members zuludog Posted January 6, 2019 Members Report Posted January 6, 2019 Welcome to the forum! I agree with Battlemunky and others, start with something simple, and build up from there How about a key fob? Depending on how complicated you want to go, it will show you - pattern making, marking out; cutting out; dyeing; edge bevelling; edge burnishing; saddle stitching; tooling; finishing; and probably a couple of other techniques I've missed. They will also use cheaper types of leather to practice on, like offcuts, remnants, or belly leather Make a few for friends & family, and keep the first one for yourself, to see how you have progressed There are loads of videos on YouTube. I make no apologies for repeating that some of the best are by Nigel Armitage and Ian Atkinson Have Fun! Quote
Members zuludog Posted January 6, 2019 Members Report Posted January 6, 2019 Oh yes, I nearly forgot The key to any good leatherwork is to have absolutely razor sharp tools, so you could make your own strop from oddments of wood & leather. There is a sharpening section on this forum, or search YouTube. But treat yourself to some proper honing/stropping compound. This will be just about the easiest piece of leatherwork you'll ever do Even if you start off with a Stanley Knife (box cutter in USA?) which has replaceable blades, they seem to be better if you resharpen them, probably because you reduce the shoulder of the bevel, and give them a higher polish Whatever knife you use, you will need two. Keep one for leather, and the other for cutting string, opening parcels and so on . It's purpose is to make sure that you keep one knife exclusively for cutting leather Quote
Members Wconn1979 Posted January 6, 2019 Author Members Report Posted January 6, 2019 Thanks for the information. I plan on trying out a few projects when I get back in from offshore in a week or so. For a knife I had ordered a scaple with 10 spare blades. Was also looking at buying a nice round knife. Quote
Members Wconn1979 Posted January 6, 2019 Author Members Report Posted January 6, 2019 I think I want to tackle a "gun belt" I was looking for something 1.5 inches wide and fairly thick, around 15 ounces. I think I may order 2 of the heavy leather strips from Tandy and glue them together. Then finish off the belt with a plain stainless buckle. https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/heavyweight-natural-cowhide-leather-strips https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/heavy-duty-roller-buckles-stainless-steel Quote
Members zuludog Posted January 6, 2019 Members Report Posted January 6, 2019 At the risk of sounding dismissive, I suggest that you don't start with either of those knives I use scalpels for my model planes ( in fact I trained as a biologist and they were left from my dissecting kit) but I think you will find them too light for all but the thinnest wallet type leather A round knife is the ultimate leather working knife, but they are tricky to use and expensive. I suggest you mentally put that to one side, and use a Stanley knife at first. They are cheap, work well enough, and you probably have one anyway. Then when you have got the hang of this leather business you can buy a round knife in the near future, with the benefit of some experience If you are starting, you might think about buying in to a Tandy discount card. There will be loads of things to get and it will probably pay for itself. However, I have heard that the Tandy/Al Stohlman round knife isn't that good. If you're going to get one, you may as well go the extra and get a better make. I'm sure others will advise you Quote
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