UK beginner, need cheap leather for practice

[javatomic]

Beginner in the most basic sense haha,  just looking for help on what kind of leather i should use to practice on and where i can get it as cheap as i can in the uk if possible, thanks a bunch  also just planning on making small things to begin with, wallet is my first planned project hopefully

[ProCreationz]

You might want to start out with bellies.  They are the least expensive cut from the hide. 

[Matt S]

  On 6/4/2019 at 4:25 PM, javatomic said:

Beginner in the most basic sense haha,  just looking for help on what kind of leather i should use to practice on and where i can get it as cheap as i can in the uk if possible, thanks a bunch  also just planning on making small things to begin with, wallet is my first planned project hopefully

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Depends what you want to make, and what sort of leather you want to ultimately use when not practising. Probably the cheapest you can buy is upholstery offcuts/scrap. Somewhere around £5-10 per Kg... but about as much use as a chocolate fireguard if you want to make tooled knife sheaths, for instance.

Where are you in the UK? You may have a shop near to you that will let you rummage in their remnants bin, or a leatherworker who'll let you rummage in their offcuts bin.

 

[javatomic]

  On 6/4/2019 at 5:49 PM, Matt S said:

Depends what you want to make, and what sort of leather you want to ultimately use when not practising. Probably the cheapest you can buy is upholstery offcuts/scrap. Somewhere around £5-10 per Kg... but about as much use as a chocolate fireguard if you want to make tooled knife sheaths, for instance.

Where are you in the UK? You may have a shop near to you that will let you rummage in their remnants bin, or a leatherworker who'll let you rummage in their offcuts bin.

 

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n.wales, basically just wallets and stuff to start off with, thanks for tips

 

[Matt S]

  On 6/4/2019 at 8:02 PM, javatomic said:

n.wales, basically just wallets and stuff to start off with, thanks for tips

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I'm not sure of any sellers anywhere near you so you might get stuck with online sources. Le Prevo often has some low-price stuff in their "odds and sods" page. Again it depends on what sorts of leather you want to use -- if you want to practice techniques specifically for a type of leather get as similar leather as you can. I know it might seem obvious but if you want to make cut-edge chunky wallets from tooling leather, buy some cheap chunky tooling leather. If you want to make thin wallets from supple chrome tan leathers with edges that have been skived and folded, get some cheap thin supple chrome-tan. 

[DrmCa]

However surprising this might sound to you, old leather furniture could be the cheapest source. Whenever I see an old leather sofa on the road side, I cut off the back and sides and use for training/experimenting.

Do not confuse leather with vinyl though lol The modern "ecoleather"  could be surprisingly similar to genuine leather in looks.

[javatomic]

  On 6/6/2019 at 3:04 PM, DrmCa said:

However surprising this might sound to you, old leather furniture could be the cheapest source. Whenever I see an old leather sofa on the road side, I cut off the back and sides and use for training/experimenting.

Do not confuse leather with vinyl though lol The modern "ecoleather"  could be surprisingly similar to genuine leather in looks.

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Does it work the same? Ive read that most furniture uses chrome leather amd its not very good for leatherworkers

[fredk]

  On 6/7/2019 at 9:22 PM, javatomic said:

Does it work the same? Ive read that most furniture uses chrome leather amd its not very good for leatherworkers

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Furniture leather is fine for some things but not what you want to do. Upholstery leather is too soft and flexible. Its ok for waistcoats, soft bags and hats but not for wallets. Its good for proof-of-concept shape making. You need to check that what you cut off old furniture is actually leather and not a PU leather. A burn test will show the difference.

I get my quality leather from Le Prevo. Others on here use Abbey. Get from a quality place, build up a relationship with them then you can just rely on them to send you good stuff when you order. I've been buying from Le Prevo for 20 years

[chrisash]

I would suggest it might be worth while looking at these two sites

J Wood https://www.jwoodleathers.co.uk/natural-veg-tan-leathers/ they do a economy veg tan shoulder that is good for practice

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FletcherHandmade/items he offers some good prices on a different selection of cheap leathers most which may be good for bags or wallets etc

Do some research on what thickness is recommended for different items 

[$$hobby]

welcome

head on over to your local leather crafter and see what scraps they have.  Sometimes they will have scraps by the pound or KG in your neck of the woods.  

Or as mentioned, look at belies.  Also, "practice on" can mean different things.  If you mean carving or just learning how to make, fold, cut, crease and so forth?

Look for any leatherworker or anyone that may do some leather craft.  you do have saddlers and tack shops there, so go and ask if you can look and maybe buy some scrap.  Let them know what you are attempting to do since i found that if someone is trying to learn a craft, they may try to help you out or know of someone that has what you want.  

If you have anything like "garage or estate sales" look for leathergoods .  If you can look for some beatup broken saddles that you can cutup and practice, assuming you mean folding, cutting,  creasing and so forth.  You can also look at how the saddles are made and see how things are assembled and work together and that is also if you mean you want to learn how to do some tack/saddlery repair or builds.

Try craigslist too.  Note that what they maybe selling may not be so good quality, but if its convenient to you, it may not hurt to look

 

 

 

[javatomic]

  On 6/8/2019 at 9:06 AM, chrisash said:

I would suggest it might be worth while looking at these two sites

J Wood https://www.jwoodleathers.co.uk/natural-veg-tan-leathers/ they do a economy veg tan shoulder that is good for practice

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FletcherHandmade/items he offers some good prices on a different selection of cheap leathers most which may be good for bags or wallets etc

Do some research on what thickness is recommended for different items 

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good advice thanks, hopefullyt will visit jwood soon