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Leather Working Tools, Fixings etc

Seeing as the Leather Work Shop thread is gaining momentum, I thought a thread on were member's find there best items they use in producing their leather products, would be appropriate here (mods feel free to ammend / delete if not permitted).

This can range from leather suppliers, tools, rivets / screws / shackles etc and dye products to name a few.

Being based in Australia, leather items and products are either fairly limited or expensive to purchase.

We only have 1 Tandy Leather store and based on the East Coast so other avenues were sought.

Like most, eBay became a favourite (to wifey's horror again lol) but also stumbled upon Etsy, a site I have never heard of before but have picked so much gear from there to tide me over for awhile.

Favourite items from Etsy have included rivets, d rings, tools, dyes, thread burner (top bit of gear for melting thread ends without damaging your product) and templates / patterns.

I will add links to the best items I find as I go along.

2 members like this

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jason Oncedisturbed Riley on August 4, 2014 at 7:13

Would love to see your tools and setup.

The thread burner that I mentioned in the 1st first can be purchased here;

https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/190332191/thread-zap-ii-thread-burn...

Great bit of gear and saves burning the leather (and yourself) in the process of finishing the thread.

Permalink Reply by Alexander Noot on August 5, 2014 at 1:21

Well, you guys inspired me and I bought a cheap set of leatherstamps on E-bay. I've been wanting to get some stamps for prettying up my leather for ages...but now I finally caved.

KnifeMakerPermalink Reply by Carl Rechsteiner on August 8, 2014 at 6:41

You guys are knifemakers.......custom make your own tools. Not hard and you can make stamps that are totally custom and not available on the open market. Yeah, I have a lot of mfgr. tools/stamps, but mostly use the ones I've made because I like them better. Learned this from my Mentor - Sandy Morrissey. He had racks of tools most very high quality, but his well worn go-to's were the ones he'd made himself.

Sadly, Sandy is closing shop for good. He's been at it 47+years and has finally gotten "tired".....think he's going to tinker with motorcycles now......just joking. He's 92 and just doesn't feel like he can produce the quality work his customers expect. Keep him in your prayers as he searches for some other venue to occupy his time. He has been and still is a true treasure to me.

My early sheaths were truly in the "Fido's Butt" category. He changed all that by teaching, challenging, and encouraging me to do better.

Permalink Reply by Jason Oncedisturbed Riley on August 15, 2014 at 6:55

Wish I could make the tools to be honest but don't have the gear nor knowledge on how to.

Sounds like you had a good mentor.

KnifeMakerPermalink Reply by Carl Rechsteiner on August 15, 2014 at 16:17

A good dremel with a decent assortment of bits and disc, some imagination, and a willing to experiment is all it takes. Most prefer to use 4" stainless steel bolts due to water exposure, but I just grab whatever is laying around on the bench that hasn't found an occupation yet and have at it.
Helps to be able to think in reverse.
Practice on scrap leather and refine as needed.

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