What tools should a newbie not skimp on?

[chuck123wapati]

Skimping on tools ? Hmmm Does that mean quality or something else?  If your question is all about quality then no buy quality tools! As other have said however is a quality box cutter that is  80% percent cheaper than a round knife skimping? Heck yea ! Skimping can also mean not buying tools you don't need. But as most have said the tools you do decide to buy need to be of decent quality to do the job you need done, i will add if you decide on non disposable cutting tools then by all means buy Good sharpening tools.

[mike02130]

After tools you need to learn some basics.  Saddle stitching, saddle stitching and more saddle stitching.  Right now--today--go buy some cheap irons from Amazon.  You will also need a non steel mallet, a wing divider and a utility knife, glue and a straight edge.  Go to Rocky Mountain leather and spend some money on a nice piece of 3 oz Buttero leather, some small John James' needles and a spool of their "Twist" brand polyester thread at .45 mm.   Make a stitching pony.  The Buttero is 22 bucks a square foot.  Expensive but that will be the caliber of leather you will be using.  Get a feel for it and appreciate the quality.  Cut some strips and glue and scribe, punch and sew.  Show us your stitching and we'll help you improve on that.  Times a wasting.  

I think we--at least I--have done all that we could for you.  Show some initiative.  The ball is in your court.  Decide if you are going to run or fumble. 

I suggest you start out making something basic such as a card holder with your left over Buttero or something like a passport/notebook cover such as below.

https://www.rmleathersupply.com/collections/view-all-leather/products/buttero-veg-tanned-leather-3oz-1-2mm-made-in-italy

https://www.rmleathersupply.com/collections/thread-sewing/products/john-james-saddlers-harness-needles-sz-4-2-0-00-000-25-pack?variant=711082135

https://www.rmleathersupply.com/collections/thread-sewing/products/twist-polybraid-premium-braided-polyester-thread-buy-5-get-6th-free

[mike02130]

BTW, If you were to buy only one book, this is the one to buy.  It will teach you luxury goods and she provides patterns.

https://www.rmleathersupply.com/products/leatherwork-school-book-techniques-for-making-hand-stitched-leather-goods-pattern-download?_pos=1&_sid=1af776371&_ss=r

[Brigg]

Thank you all for the help! I really appreciate it.

[Brigg]

Thank you all again for all your help! I ordered all my tools to start with the exception of pricking irons (have some cheap 3mm Wuta ones already)

I do have one more question about pricking irons. I would like to get some Blanchard ones in the near future. Atelier Amblard only sells ones with 2, 4, 12 teeth. RM Leather seems to sell ones with up to 13 teeth with exception of the 12 tooth model. What are the recommended number of teeth assuming I only want two irons? Amblard says 12 and 2 and RM leather says 2 and 8. The largest one I have has 6 teeth...so 12 seems enormous especially for smaller items. How many teeth do your regularly used irons have?

[Hardrada]

I only have 2-prong and 7-prong. It might get tedious when punching straps, but 7-prong is a good all-round number when making smaller items like pouches and wallets. If all you make is straps then go for more, like a 10- or 12-prong.

[Danne]

6 hours ago, Brigg said:

Thank you all again for all your help! I ordered all my tools to start with the exception of pricking irons (have some cheap 3mm Wuta ones already)

I do have one more question about pricking irons. I would like to get some Blanchard ones in the near future. Atelier Amblard only sells ones with 2, 4, 12 teeth. RM Leather seems to sell ones with up to 13 teeth with exception of the 12 tooth model. What are the recommended number of teeth assuming I only want two irons? Amblard says 12 and 2 and RM leather says 2 and 8. The largest one I have has 6 teeth...so 12 seems enormous especially for smaller items. How many teeth do your regularly used irons have?

I'm curious what made you decide to go for Blanchard? Do you have Wuta European pricking irons now, do you think Blanchard will give you a better more consistent result?

I only make wallets/card holder and watch straps. I have Ksblade 2,5,10 And the irons I have from Kevin Lee is 2 and 8. So I would say 2 + 8-10 works perfect for wallets, if I made bags (and only bags) it would be nice with more teeth.

Edited December 26, 2020 by Danne

[zuludog]

I have 2 & 4 prong stitching chisels by Seiwa, Tandy Craftool, and Tandy Craftool Pro; and 2, 5, & 10 prong by Abbey England, which I believe are WUTA, though I'm willing to be corrected on that. I'm happy enough with those, and I don't plan on getting any more

I'd say get a 2 prong; about 4 or 5 prong, and about 8 or 10 prong. If you intend doing long runs of stitching then a 12 or 13 prong might be useful. I assume you have a 2 prong, so for the moment I'd stay with your 2 & 6 prong, and see how you get on with those, you can always add more if you find you need them

I have a few awls, but I've settled on Osborne #42, it needed much less polishing then anything from Tandy or other suppliers. I mounted it myself in a plain wooden haft, which is tricky. If I get another awl I would get the same blade again, but also an Osborne haft fitted with a chuck or collet 

Watch videos by JH Leather, she uses pricking irons & an awl for most of her work; even for items you might not want to make, like a dog's collar, it will all help to see how things are done. She has several videos on techniques, and I think her video on the saddle stitch is one of the best 

If you haven't got one, make a strop from oddments of wood & leather. It doesn't have be be precision carpentry, something about 3" X 15" will do; there are loads of videos. Get some proper stropping compound, green chromium dioxide is as good as any. Even new Stanley knife blades work better after they've been stropped

Edited December 26, 2020 by zuludog

[Danne]

38 minutes ago, zuludog said:

I have 2 & 4 prong stitching chisels by Seiwa, Tandy Craftool, and Tandy Craftool Pro; and 2, 5, & 10 prong by Abbey England, which I believe are WUTA, though I'm willing to be corrected on that. I'm happy enough with those, and I don't plan on getting any more

I'd say get a 2 prong; about 4 or 5 prong, and about 8 or 10 prong. If you intend doing long runs of stitching then a 12 or 13 prong might be useful. I assume you have a 2 prong, so for the moment I'd stay with your 2 & 6 prong, and see how you get on with those, you can always add more if you find you need them

I have a few awls, but I've settled on Osborne #42, it needed much less polishing then anything from Tandy or other suppliers. I mounted it myself in a plain wooden haft, which is tricky. If I get another awl I would get the same blade again, but also an Osborne haft fitted with a chuck or collet 

Watch videos by JH Leather, she uses pricking irons & an awl for most of her work; even for items you might not want to make, like a dog's collar, it will all help to see how things are done. She has several videos on techniques, and I think her video on the saddle stitch is one of the best 

If you haven't got one, make a strop from oddments of wood & leather. It doesn't have be be precision carpentry, something about 3" X 15" will do; there are loads of videos. Get some proper stropping compound, green chromium dioxide is as good as any. Even new Stanley knife blades work better after they've been stropped

I add something here regarding the awls. I didn't like using awls before, because I could never get a good result. But at the same time I knew that for making wallets with skived edges and to get a good result I need to learn how to use an awl. Finally when I figured out how to reshape and sharpen my awls I was surprised how easy it was to get a good consistent result, and now I use it for all my wallets and card holders. 

[jcuk]

More important to get the right SPI ( sorry old  money ) than the width of the iron, you will be able to get various widths of irons from Blanchard in the same SPI, as long as the SPI remains the same,  a narrower iron will do the job just means using your iron more to mark the required length of work to be stitched. One thing on stitching chisels they have a place i know but remember they are a cutting tool not just a marking tool,  so the  edges will need more maintenance over time then pricking irons i had my pricking irons 25+ years never had to sharpen them no maintenance at all just mark and and stitch.

JCUK

43 minutes ago, Danne said:

I add something here regarding the awls. I didn't like using awls before, because I could never get a good result. But at the same time I knew that for making wallets with skived edges and to get a good result I need to learn how to use an awl. Finally when I figured out how to reshape and sharpen my awls I was surprised how easy it was to get a good consistent result, and now I use it for all my wallets and card holders. 

Congrats you have come in from the dark side. Sorry could not resist

JCUK

[Brigg]

On 12/26/2020 at 10:26 AM, Danne said:

I'm curious what made you decide to go for Blanchard? Do you have Wuta European pricking irons now, do you think Blanchard will give you a better more consistent result?

I only make wallets/card holder and watch straps. I have Ksblade 2,5,10 And the irons I have from Kevin Lee is 2 and 8. So I would say 2 + 8-10 works perfect for wallets, if I made bags (and only bags) it would be nice with more teeth.

I have Wuta chisels that are designed to punch holes in the leather and not mark the leather. I figure if I buy a tool made in Asia I will still end up wanting the one made in Europe...I think the Blanchards have decent resale value and are what the school I might want to attend uses.

[iknowthemuffinman]

I’ve definitely come a long way since I started with leather about 4 years ago. Like others have said, I’d say it really is based on your personal preference for tools and what you’re doing. I still have a long way to learn about craft and tools. But Ive gotten to a point where I want to put some more money into tools that can be helpful and make the work a little easier. It’s starting to seem more worth it 4 years later. I’m also pretty frugal with not wanting to spend more than I’ve needed. 
 

That being said, I’d really suggest for you to go buy a bag of scrap leather from hobby lobby and Micheal’s, or other places (those seem to be easily accessible). They have some good pieces to make simple projects out of and are about $6 with coupons. 

Honestly, if you’re just wanting to try your hand at it some, I think some good things to start with at something to cut with (a box cutter, rotary cutter, dedicated leather blade), rubber/contact cement, some pricking irons and awl or chisels for stitching holes, a hole punch (rotary or individual punches are pretty cheap), thread, a straight edge/ruler are really all you need to make some simple projects. And all of them you can get for under $50. Amazon has some pretty decent cheap kits that will definitely get the job done for now. And if you want to progress more, as this thread has shown, there’s lots of tools and ways to get the job done if you enjoy it enough!

Edited January 1, 2021 by iknowthemuffinman