The Frugal Leather Craftsman: Basic Tools

Now here is a request for a tool: what to use as a slicker and how do you properly use it?
Should I just steal my wife's rolling pin?
Also how do you properly use it (if this is derailing the thread, please let me know so that I can start my own)?
Skin or meat side? Lots of pressure or almost none at all? Compress the leather? Rolling like the rolling pin or a round piece of wood or fixed like Dave's lignum vitae piece or piece of glass/plexi?

Btw, as for consumables, Dacron string from bow making works reasonable well as a string replacement, however, wax it well so the it doesn't frizz out. As for waxing, I think everybody should have a piece of bees wax or similar as it has so many uses.
 
Dont worry, this is a great thread for it, the bone folders and edge slickers are tools. :D

I'll write something up this afternoon and edit this post with pics I hope.
 
Ah yes, but I meant the thing for glassing... Like prepping th leather after casing... How is this called?
 
Some folks call it glassing becuase they use a piece of tempered glass, Nichole does. I use my piece of wood as you mentioned. I just call it slicking. Leather shold be damp and just starting to return to normal color. Slick on the grainside with your tooling stone underneath, moderate amount of pressure. You'll start seeing a change in your leather and you'll know you are getting it right. This process will even out your leather in color, consistenacy and temper. Some wrinkles and other minor faults will go away and make a piece of so so leather better and more usable. Great idea if you are doing any tooling as it helps to make your impressions more uniform and consistent. My piece of ligum vitae was pretty frugal only $7 or $8. Maybe 5-10minutes rounding and polishing the edges on the bottomside and the front, (the part that is used against the leather).
 
Check local hobby and craft stores they have some usable tools and such. Hobby lobby even has coupons for 40% off one item. I got a cheap set of barb wire stamps that I've been bangin on for a year and they still look like new. Their waxed nylon thread is some of the strongest I used. I also swiped my wife's cuticle cutter it works great in tight spots for edging. A cheap set of sanding drums from Sears chucked up in a drill press or a hand drill clamped up in a vise work great on edge profiling.
JB
 
vilePossum said:
Ah yes, but I meant the thing for glassing... Like prepping th leather after casing... How is this called?
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Ah yes! Thats it! :D
Horsewright said:
Some folks call it glassing becuase they use a piece of tempered glass, Nichole does. I use my piece of wood as you mentioned. I just call it slicking. Leather shold be damp and just starting to return to normal color. Slick on the grainside with your tooling stone underneath, moderate amount of pressure. You'll start seeing a change in your leather and you'll know you are getting it right. This process will even out your leather in color, consistenacy and temper. Some wrinkles and other minor faults will go away and make a piece of so so leather better and more usable. Great idea if you are doing any tooling as it helps to make your impressions more uniform and consistent. My piece of ligum vitae was pretty frugal only $7 or $8. Maybe 5-10minutes rounding and polishing the edges on the bottomside and the front, (the part that is used against the leather).
Click to expand...
I've seen it done, but never myself. The tool he used had a smoothed glass lower and a nice handle on top. He said he uses a lot of that saddle skirting that gets a little spongy when wet, the glass helped get it all down to a little under its original thickness resulting in a very nice and dense finished leather. He also said some tanneries use a hot or cold roller to squeeze the leather for things like shoe soles and such depending on its use. Fascinating stuff!
camaroless said:
Check local hobby and craft stores they have some usable tools and such. Hobby lobby even has coupons for 40% off one item. I got a cheap set of barb wire stamps that I've been bangin on for a year and they still look like new. Their waxed nylon thread is some of the strongest I used. I also swiped my wife's cuticle cutter it works great in tight spots for edging. A cheap set of sanding drums from Sears chucked up in a drill press or a hand drill clamped up in a vise work great on edge profiling.
JB
Click to expand...
I hope Hobby Lobby keeps up carrying the leather craft stuff, its a nice alternative to the other stores that arent so common in some towns.
Sanding drums are something that I've been thinking about a lot the past few years, would make it much easier to trim and equalize those tight curves in belt loops and other areas. Seems like a logical thing. :)
 
10) Now that you have needles, you'll need something to pull them through the leather. I use a small smooth jawed jewelers pliers. The smooth jaws dont mar up those expensive needles.
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My low budget version is a pair of flat jawed pliers and a piece of folded 8/9oz leather that is cut scored and fits in the jaws of the pliers to pad them.
They even stay put in the pliers since the leather wants to spring open.
Making use of scraps :)
 
Good idea! I like it! :D

After I broke a few of the lesser expensive small pliers I finally gave up and bought a couple Craftsman models. I think they were around ten bucks. I broke one and went to Sears and came out with new pliers. Hard to beat that.

My favorite is the bent nose style, I can lever a needle out without worry of gouging the leather.

EDIT: I found them! A little higher now at eleven bucks but the last ones I'll have to buy for a while. :D http://www.sears.com/craftsman-prof...p-00945665000P?prdNo=2&blockNo=2&blockType=G2
 
There was talk earlier about edgers, here are the two I use most:




Note, the bend in one is a bit more than the other. The less bent model is much older and had a shallower trench on the bottom so it didnt track well. An hour or so with files and stones and I had it just like the newer one but for the angle. That better angle makes all the difference in comfort when edging long items. The rounded bottom tracks and cuts so much better than those straight edgers that I haven't picked them up in years.

I can draw up a diagram of what I mean by rounded bottom (concave) if anyone wants a visual.

Sharpening those is so easy its a non issue. Either make a board like Strig did, or use a slip stone and strop like I do and your good to go.

The older straight shaft edgers from Tandy are not worth the money. Hard to use and hard to sharpen properly. These are probably the models that Paul mentioned in another thread, and yes I agree. Not worth the trouble.

EDIT: looks like some issues with either BF or Photobucket. Stay tuned..............
 
Things I'd look at at Hobby Lobby.

1. Tandy overstitcher kit.

This is $20 and with the coupon makes it less than anywhere else I've seen.

2. Hide Crafter stamps.

These are $10 bucks. Imo they are very high quality for the price. Much better than Tandy and made in the USA. They are chrome plated, but they are still pretty detailed. Unfortunately they don't stock a lot of different stamps but they do have a decent collection of the basics. Really can't recommend these enough for the price. Look at them on ebay to see what they look like. They are the same tools only far better priced at HL.

3. Modeling tool.

I haven't used one myself, but I bought one for a friend. For $10 the nice wooden handle seems like a bargain.

4. Various other stuff.

Foam brushes, contact cement, transfer paper... There are a bunch of things that would be nice to have outside of the leather area. A light box for example.

You can get the coupon on your cell phone via "Retail me not".

If you don't mind going a few times to get the discount price on every item you can walk away with tools that you cannot beat the price on anywhere.
 
With beginning tools and such what would you consider to be a good starting workspace? How big? How robust? What's a good surface? There's a fair bit of mallet work and a lot of cutting going on.
 
My first work space was a corner in the living room. :D My work table consisted of an old table that had steel tubing for a frame and a nice thick 3/4" thick plywood top. It looks like it was possibly a typing "desk". Very stable. On top of that I had my little 12x12 granite block with a square of that "poundo pad" tandy sells under it.

I still use that little desk/table for my tooling. The top of the table is 18x18 so a very good size to get out of the way if you need it gone, which I did every night back then.

For a cutting surface I did and still use a kitchen cutting board. About a half inch thick and wide enough to sit on my lap, that is where I do most all my detail cutting. Those plastic ones work very well, and last pretty darn well under use. Dont go the cheap thin flexible ones, you will cut through way too quick,
 
My do it all Sears work table.



It sure was neat when I got it...Not any more...
Plenty big for what I do... whether its leather work, knife handles or messing with my fishing tackle...

But it does feel tiny compared to my table in my studio at work...


16'x6' :D

In the low budget theme, I salvaged a piece of granite countertop from a pizza place renovation.



When I went back with a hand truck for the rest, it was gone...
 
Now thats a workbench. I'd probably plant grass and turn out some cattle on it.
 
:D
At times there would be 4 of us working on that table at once.
It can get crowded with 30x40" boards really quick.
 
Piqued my curiosity as well! When I hear the word "studio" it gets my ears perked up. :D
 
I'm considering knocking together what amounts to a stout t.v. tray as a starting place. I had picked up a couple 4'x11"x3/4" particleboard shelves to make a sofaledge for my hunny, but she then decided she was happy without one. My "plan" will cut one shelf in half and my top will rough measure 22" by 24". I do need noise control input. There's quite a bit of hammer time in leather work between punching holes, setting fasteners, not to mention tooling. Are there tips for keeping the noise down?
 
The aforementioned poundo mat, or whatever they call it now, is a rubber like mat that goes under your granite slab and effectively muffles most all the sound that transfers through the table. Now, you will still get that trademark sound of the strikes on the rock, sounds like "tank" "tank" "tank" not obnoxious, but monotonous. :p

I figure a rubber mat of any kind would work, even a yoga mat, but it would wear fast. Need a fairly dense material in any case.
 
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