Noobie with question on cutting

[JohnnyLongpants]

Buy some masking tape.  That is the solution to all leather stretching problems, because paper tape does not appreciably stretch.

Stick the tape to the back of your leather.  Then lay down your straight edge and use whatever blade you prefer, so long as it is sharp.

The masking tape is also useful if you get into tooling or carving leather, as both of those processes distort the shape of the leather.  Having tape on the back keeps this from occurring.

[Handstitched]

On 5/17/2021 at 10:20 PM, zuludog said:

Press down hard on the ruler in the area at the end of the cut to hold the leather more firmly

Bingo   and the blade must be super duper sharp . The leather does move & flex a bit when cutting, as we all know . 

HS

[Klara]

This exact problem is explained vey well in Nigel Armitage's book. The thing is that when you cut verically towards you with the hand in front of your body, there comes a point when your elbow has nowhere to go but to the side. The solution is to cut at an angle, giving your elbow space to move. If you need illustrations to understand what I'm talking about - they are in the book (which is easily available, not very expensive, and if selling well will lead to more good books on leatherwork being published). 

Edited May 20, 2021 by Klara

[StickHer]

ok so here a picture of the leather i think its to thin, what is its purpose and can i make wallets or coasters with it 

also on the back side its "hairy" or "sheds a lot anything to know about this

 

https://imgur.com/a/6epKeXO

 

another problem when i use a wing divider it just pulls and bends the leathers. also ruin the leather in a weird way

 

 

Edited May 24, 2021 by StickHer

[LatigoAmigo]

1 hour ago, StickHer said:

so here a picture of the leather

Links don't always get a good response, so I'm posting your photos. That looks like very soft leather, almost like lambskin. Good for liners (think BDSM cuffs), but not much else.

[fredk]

or draw-string money bags

[StickHer]

any recommendation's of what and where to buy leather to practice with and start a first project 

[LatigoAmigo]

10 minutes ago, StickHer said:

any recommendation's of what and where to buy leather to practice with and start a first project 

Look at the top of the page and visit any of the leather suppliers advertising here. Maverick Leather is one of my favorites, but there are more. If you call any of them, tell them that you are just getting into the craft, and would like some inexpensive hides or any remnants they might have available. Sometimes you can buy bags of scraps from which you can start any number of projects. Good luck.

[StickHer]

7 minutes ago, LatigoAmigo said:

Look at the top of the page and visit any of the leather suppliers advertising here. Maverick Leather is one of my favorites, but there are more. If you call any of them, tell them that you are just getting into the craft, and would like some inexpensive hides or any remnants they might have available. Sometimes you can buy bags of scraps from which you can start any number of projects. Good luck.

thanks for the advice , the scraps i have are from a scrap bag on amazon  is it hit or miss on decent leather ?

Edited May 24, 2021 by StickHer

[fredk]

1 hour ago, StickHer said:

. . .  the scraps i have are from a scrap bag on amazon  is it hit or miss on decent leather ?

With buying scraps, or 'project sized pieces' off the likes of ebay or amazon, unless its coming from a regular type leather supplier, you are going to get someone's left over scraps. Even with a known retailer you can get rubbish sometimes, eg I once bought a couple of 'project piece' bellies from Tandy ~ I got a couple of pieces that were absolutely no use at all - they were just scrap