How did you get your tools?

[bruce johnson]

Paul's post in the Wichita Falls report got me thinking. I was in the same boat as him - about 300 stamps, bunch of handtools, and I only was using about 20%. I went through the Tandy Leather Arts program they had several years ago. You had to do a lot of different learning modules like figure carving and all kinds of projects - the more you did, the better your benefits. Some of these I had little interest in later, and the tools sat. I also would buy yard sale sets of tools to get the few I wanted. Then I could send the duplicates to a woman who collected tools for prison programs (later dropped in CA, they make enough sharp weapons on their own).

I was running out of options to keep tools organized, and just wasn't using them. I have since adopted the "green room" plan. It is a storage room in a separate out-building. I put things out there, and set a time limit to prove I don't need it. If I don't go get it, it sells. I started off doing that with the Tippmann Boss. It went so well with that and some 3-in-1 machines, that I do it for other things now. I have a handcrank splitter and some thumbprint pear shaders ''cycling out" in a couple weeks, things like that. Stampwise, I probably have about about 80 active now. The only ones I am buying now are geometrics, borders, flower centers, and baskets. Things to just "mix it up" a little. Once in a while I will find a neat old stamp with some history someplace, but they are all users. Because my wife does some work, and has different preferences for some things like edgers, I do have some duplicate hand tools, but everything else is pretty streamlined. Anybody have something they do that works?

[sheathmaker]

The Yard Sale, pawn shop thing....buy 20 tools to get two you really want etc. Sometimes I find a person who is starting out in leather work and they impress me with their dedication, talent and desire and I give them a batch of tools geared to their particular direction. This is not limited to stamps, but hand tools, books and anything else I've accumualted and not used for a long time. I suppose eBay would be an option, but frankly I'd rather just give the stuff to someone I feel is deserving of the consideration. Even with this spasmodic "generosity", I still have things I haven't touched in months, but the old "I may use it again someday" syndrom is hard to cure. Duplicates, however, get given away in a heart beat.

Edited October 13, 2007 by sheathmaker

[abn]

Interesting topic!

I started out doing leatherwork in a small apartment. So small, in fact, that I really only had room for a 20" Craftsman toolbox. I'd haul it out to the dining room table to do some work, and then stow it away in the bottom of the bedroom closet when done. I crammed that thing full of what I needed: a set of punches, about 15 Craftool stamps, scissors, a skiver, needles, awls, rulers, edgers, a mallet, thread, and assorted hardware.

When I moved into a bigger place, there was that initial temptation to expand the amount of stuff I had. Ultimately I resisted, and to this day, I still produce my work using only a minimal amount of tools that fit into the same 20" toolbox. This approach is absolutely not for the person who is trying to run a successful business selling leatherwork, but it's definitely proof positive that you can do leatherwork on the cheap. My guess is that the total value of all of my tools is less than $200.

Like Bruce, I'll buy tools to try them out, but if they don't get used and can't justify their space in my small toolbox, they need to go.

-Alex

[robert]

I bought up bunches of yard sale sets for a while so that i could have sets for students in the classes I was doing at the time, and yes, i bought lots off ebay just to get to the couple that i needed for class sets. but unlike you guys, i dont try very hard to get rid of them... some of those old yard sale tools are as good as the tools that i buy now from custom tool makers, so i cant bring myself to get rid of a $1 ebay tool and then think that later i could have to buy a $20 or $40 tool to replace it. I have probably 75 "using tools" in my wooden rack at the bench, but the other 150 or so are in plastic containers, and i am surprised how many times i go fishing through them for some particular project. Also, i like to expiriment with different tooling styles, so those tools that i dont use today may be just what i need for a project next month.