Leatherworking first steps and tools-

[Hardrada]

3 hours ago, tibi said:

I would like to work with hand tools only with leather work as well. It will take me longer, but the hobby is about hand work satisfaction and not about chewing out products out of production line. 

Totally doable. That's how I do my leatherwork. The only "power" machine I've purchased is an electric creaser—sure, you can crease by hand with a spirit lamp, but the electric creaser gives you consistent temperature.

If you're a woodworker already, I can picture you doing something like this (all they use is hand tools):

 

Edited February 6, 2022 by Hardrada

[DJole]

You will probably find Ian Atkinson's videos about leatherworking very useful as you start out. 
He also has an excellent video discussing necessary tools for beginners.
Find the video series here: https://www.ianatkinson.net/leather/videos.htm

[zuludog]

Hello TIBI - welcome to the Forum and to leather work!

There is a lot of information and advice about leather work on YouTube, so much that you might not need to buy books, but if you do, these are good -

The Leatherworking Handbook: A Practical illustrated Source Book of Techniques and Projects by Valerie Michael

Leathercraft: Traditional Handcrafted Leatherwork Skills and Projects by Nigel Armitage

But as I mentioned, there are many videos on YouTube you can watch for free. Search YouTube for 'beginners tools for leatherwork', there are several. You will see that they are slightly different, reflecting the preferences of each leatherworker, but similar enough to see what is needed

Watch videos on making the items that interest you to see how other people do things and what they use, Also videos on techniques, such as the saddle stitch, edge finishing, edge bevelling, and so on

These channels are good - JH Leather..... Ian Atkinson ...... Nigel Armitage ..... Leathercraft Masterclass .... Harry Rogers ..... Corter Leather .... Geordie Leather

You will soon realise that most leather items are made using the same tools & techniques - belts, wallets, bags & pouches, saddle stitch, edge finishing, and so on; so the more you watch of any leatherwork the more 'instant experience' you will gain. There are videos on making a stitching pony/ saddlers clam

SPYROS has given good advice on tools, here are my comments -

A round knife needs practice & experience to use well, plus they are expensive, and good ones are very expensive. Start with a Stanley/ box cutter/ utility knife; they are cheap and easy to use, and when you gain experience, you will have a better idea of what to get next. You can re-sharpen Stanley knife blades, and even new ones are better if you sharpen them on a fine stone & a strop. A head knife is similar to a round knife but has only one point, which makes it a bit cheaper and easier to use

A Japanese Leather Knife, also called a Japanese Skiving Knife is good for skiving and straight cuts - there are videos on YouTube

Search Google for 'leather craft suppliers Europe', there are several references. I have used www.buyleatheronline.com but there are others

Vergez Blanchard and www.georgebarnsleyand sons.co.uk make good tools. Seiwa, Craft Sha, Kyoshin Elle are Japanese and make good, reasonably priced tools. Search Google for 'Etsy - japanese leather knives' ; 'Etsy - leather edge bevellers' and so on. There will be several suppliers

Whatever knives you get you will need to sharpen them; you are probably familiar with that from your woodwork, but Search YouTube for sharpening particular leather tools. Make your own strop - it is one of the easiest pieces of leatherwork to do; again, there are several videos

Edited February 7, 2022 by zuludog

[zuludog]

I've just re-read your post; here are more comments -

You don't need to turn wood to make a burnisher, it's easy to make a flat style from a piece of hardwood - even I can do it! Something like this -

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154565090086?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=7101533165274578&mkcid=2&itemid=154565090086&targetid=4584826055637456&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=&poi=&campaignid=412354546&mkgroupid=1299623041023876&rlsatarget=pla-4584826055637456&abcId=9300541&merchantid=87779&msclkid=8e41dde1674915871b86bfe1cf3673a3

Or any small piece of suitably shaped & polished wood, bone, or antler; you can also use tough cloth like canvas or denim. But if you are too busy to make one, buy something like this , but polish the wood with fine abrasive paper

No, you don't need a machine to sew leather; in fact some people find that sewing leather by hand is relaxing

For sewing, 0,6mm diameter thread will do most things, though for thin leather like wallets try 0,45mm diameter thread as well. For needles many people use John James Saddler's Harness Needles item code L3912; size 004 for thin thread and wallets; size 002 for thicker thread & leather like belts & bags, But be careful of the size description - make sure you get 002 and not 2/0. Contact www.jjneedles.com for a supplier, their customer service department is very helpful.

As you probably know, you should hit steel tools like stitching chisels with a soft faced hammer, like wood, leather hide, or nylon

You will need a cutting mat; get the biggest you can manage, probably from an art or craft shop

You might find that some leather workers measure the thickness of leather by ounces; you can find an ounce - millimetre conversion chart  on Google. Search for 'leather thickness chart' And you might also need to convert between inches and millimetres - 1 inch = 25,4 mm

For skiving, consider a Japanese Skiving Knife or Search Google for 'skiving knife' there are a few different types. Also look at a Razor Plane. Skiving and Paring are two words for the same thing 

Leathertoolz has some useful videos; here's one on skiving - 

HOW TO CHOOSE SKIVING/PARING KNIFE - YouTube

You have the right approach with buying good mid range/priced tools. Watch the videos, make a list, and come back to us for advice and comments before you buy 

Oh, and as you use hand tools for wood working, have a look at YouTube videos by Paul Sellers, he's very good 

Edited February 7, 2022 by zuludog

[Spyros]

11 hours ago, tibi said:

For the very same reason (dust, noise and danger) I work exclusively with hand tools when woodworking. It is quieter and safer. I am a beginner woodworker  last year I have built a workshop in the garden and I have acquired the tools. I have a thickness planer, but I want to sell it once I build my new workbench (I am now building a workbench and restoring another that I have inherited after my great grandfather, who built it). The only power tools I have is a circular hand saw (for ripping big 3m boards that I buy from the mill into smaller boards) and a cordless drill. 

I would like to work with hand tools only with leather work as well. It will take me longer, but the hobby is about hand work satisfaction and not about chewing out products out of production line.

One thing you will find very refreshing compared to woodworking both here and on youtube is that in leatherworking generally there is much less masturbation over tools.  In leatherworking people talk a lot about sewing machines because they're legit complicated, but other than that most videos and discussions in leatherworking are usually around designs, patterns, techniques, learning, all that nice stuff.  Woodworkers on the other hand, I don't know what's wrong with them, they seem to be in a permanent competition who is going to die with the most tools.

There's really only two machines in leatherworking that it's hard to do without:  the sewing machine and the bell skiver.  Those two save A LOT of time.  But if you're only doing small volume you can do without those.

[zuludog]

You will need an awl; there are two types -

A round or scratch awl has a round cross section and is used to mark out a pattern on leather, and for general poking & prodding; they are cheap enough

A saddler's or diamond awl. The blade has a diamond cross section, and is used to make the holes for sewing. You can buy separate handles/hafts and blades, and fit them together yourself, but it is easier to buy a handle & blade ready mounted; or to buy a handle fitted with a small chuck to take the blade. You will almost certainly need to sharpen & polish the blade yourself - see YT videos

Even if you use stitching chisels a diamond awl is very useful, if only because the prongs on stitching chisels are only about 7mm long, so for thicker layers of leather you must start the holes with a chisel then complete them with an awl

[tibi]

2 hours ago, zuludog said:

Hello TIBI - welcome to the Forum and to leather work!

There is a lot of information and advice about leather work on YouTube, so much that you might not need to buy books, but if you do, these are good -

The Leatherworking Handbook: A Practical illustrated Source Book of Techniques and Projects by Valerie Michael

Leathercraft: Traditional Handcrafted Leatherwork Skills and Projects by Nigel Armitage

But as I mentioned, there are many videos on YouTube you can watch for free. Search YouTube for 'beginners tools for leatherwork', there are several. You will see that they are slightly different, reflecting the preferences of each leatherworker, but similar enough to see what is needed

Watch videos on making the items that interest you to see how other people do things and what they use, Also videos on techniques, such as the saddle stitch, edge finishing, edge bevelling, and so on

These channels are good - JH Leather..... Ian Atkinson ...... Nigel Armitage ..... Leathercraft Masterclass .... Harry Rogers ..... Corter Leather .... Geordie Leather

You will soon realise that most leather items are made using the same tools & techniques - belts, wallets, bags & pouches, saddle stitch, edge finishing, and so on; so the more you watch of any leatherwork the more 'instant experience' you will gain. There are videos on making a stitching pony/ saddlers clam

SPYROS has given good advice on tools, here are my comments -

A round knife needs practice & experience to use well, plus they are expensive, and good ones are very expensive. Start with a Stanley/ box cutter/ utility knife; they are cheap and easy to use, and when you gain experience, you will have a better idea of what to get next. You can re-sharpen Stanley knife blades, and even new ones are better if you sharpen them on a fine stone & a strop. A head knife is similar to a round knife but has only one point, which makes it a bit cheaper and easier to use

A Japanese Leather Knife, also called a Japanese Skiving Knife is good for skiving and straight cuts - there are videos on YouTube

Search Google for 'leather craft suppliers Europe', there are several references. I have used www.buyleatheronline.com but there are others

Vergez Blanchard and www.georgebarnsleyand sons.co.uk make good tools. Seiwa, Craft Sha, Kyoshin Elle are Japanese and make good, reasonably priced tools. Search Google for 'Etsy - japanese leather knives' ; 'Etsy - leather edge bevellers' and so on. There will be several suppliers

Whatever knives you get you will need to sharpen them; you are probably familiar with that from your woodwork, but Search YouTube for sharpening particular leather tools. Make your own strop - it is one of the easiest pieces of leatherwork to do; again, there are several videos

Thank you very much Zuludog,

I appreciate your advice. As I have already watched some videos about leather working, there are not too many tools that I would need and compared to woodworking all the manual tools needed would cost me as one or one and a half of a single Lie Nielsen plane (I do not own any). I also know Paul Sellers very well, as well as Tom Fidgen, Richard MacGuire, Shannon Rogers and other hand tool only woodworkers.

The good news is that I would start working with leather no sooner than in October/November, as I have many woodworking projects to finish during the year and I will not have time for leatherworking. So I have enough time to watch videos and read books during the evenings to get the basics and figure out what I need. I have found beautiful tools from Kemovan craft (Chinese people can indeed make quality products and the reviews on etsy seems to be real), so I will probably buy from them.

I like that I need to make a smaller investment into leatherworking than into woodworking and I can become competent with less tools.

 

[tibi]

2 hours ago, Spyros said:

One thing you will find very refreshing compared to woodworking both here and on youtube is that in leatherworking generally there is much less masturbation over tools.  In leatherworking people talk a lot about sewing machines because they're legit complicated, but other than that most videos and discussions in leatherworking are usually around designs, patterns, techniques, learning, all that nice stuff.  Woodworkers on the other hand, I don't know what's wrong with them, they seem to be in a permanent competition who is going to die with the most tools.

There's really only two machines in leatherworking that it's hard to do without:  the sewing machine and the bell skiver.  Those two save A LOT of time.  But if you're only doing small volume you can do without those.

Yes, woodworkers suffer from this. They either have too many tools on their shelves gathering dust or they have the top-tier brand loyalty, i.e. all the tools must be Lie-Nielsen/Veritas (it is like Apple only household for those who do not know woodworking brands). And they build those beautiful wall cabinets with all matching tools inside. Such a cabinet worth of tools can cost you up to 10 000 USD. Leatherworking tools are cheap compared to that, if you do not count leather working machines.If I would start talking about woodworking machines, quality stuff costs a fortune.

[tibi]

50 minutes ago, zuludog said:

You will need an awl; there are two types -

A round or scratch awl has a round cross section and is used to mark out a pattern on leather, and for general poking & prodding; they are cheap enough

A saddler's or diamond awl. The blade has a diamond cross section, and is used to make the holes for sewing. You can buy separate handles/hafts and blades, and fit them together yourself, but it is easier to buy a handle & blade ready mounted; or to buy a handle fitted with a small chuck to take the blade. You will almost certainly need to sharpen & polish the blade yourself - see YT videos

Even if you use stitching chisels a diamond awl is very useful, if only because the prongs on stitching chisels are only about 7mm long, so for thicker layers of leather you must start the holes with a chisel then complete them with an awl

What is the difference between round/flat and diamond awl? I know that round is round and flat is flat, but what is a diamond awl used for?

Here are the options which I can buy

Edited February 7, 2022 by tibi

[tibi]

1 hour ago, zuludog said:

You will need an awl; there are two types -

A round or scratch awl has a round cross section and is used to mark out a pattern on leather, and for general poking & prodding; they are cheap enough

A saddler's or diamond awl. The blade has a diamond cross section, and is used to make the holes for sewing. You can buy separate handles/hafts and blades, and fit them together yourself, but it is easier to buy a handle & blade ready mounted; or to buy a handle fitted with a small chuck to take the blade. You will almost certainly need to sharpen & polish the blade yourself - see YT videos

Even if you use stitching chisels a diamond awl is very useful, if only because the prongs on stitching chisels are only about 7mm long, so for thicker layers of leather you must start the holes with a chisel then complete them with an awl

Thank you very much. So I need a round awl and diamond as well. I will buy two separate, as it is more comfortable than switching the irons all the time.