Leather craft for woodworkers

[Spyro]

(this might not be the best subforum for this thread, please move it if needs be, thx)

I'm posting here because I've been dabbling in leather craft recently and the more I thought about it the more I found lots of synergies with woodworking and a few reasons why it would be appealing to woodworkers. So I thought I'd share my experience because other people might be interested and I might save them some time & mistakes that I made.

So what's so appealing about it?

Well first of all it's something I can do inside the house for a change.
Working with leather is clean, mostly quiet, no dust, no nasty chemicals, no dangerous machines. All you really need is a table (and it's not gonna get scratched either), and amazingly you can build a fairly capable tool kit with not too much money that all fits inside a tool chest. Which I'm sure you can build a very nice one :)

This is what mine looked like before the Mrs painted it. Oh well LOL

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Workshop/i-TFrtzPp/0/91c89955/M/IMG_20200510_193425-2-M.jpghttps://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Workshop/i-szqvW4H/0/46127874/M/IMG_20200510_193505-2-M.jpg

Pretty basic stuff in there. Until you get to a point where you might want to do leather working professionally you don't actually need any machines whatsoever.
In fact as woodworkers we share a lot of tools with leather working (and unexpectedly we also share a lot of knowledge, I'll talk about this further down). Things like ball peen hammer, awl, dividers, steel ruler, stanley knive, sanders, pyrography kits, brass stamps with maker marks etc, all those things are used on leather. And there are many more tools we can make.

Another reason you might be interested is because, you know, nobody will say no to a handcrafted leather wallet or bag, people love that stuff. But if you're not interested at all in those sort of things, and I wasn't either, there's a lot of other things you can make easily and use as a woodworker: drawer pulls/handles/closes for your boxes, tool holders for your shop walls, strops for your irons, tool handles, aprons, a heavy duty toolbox that will last for generations (which was what got me into it initially)

In terms of building leathercraft tools, there's a few you can make and they're very nice projects.
This is a stitching pony I made, which is basically a clamp for holding your work piece on the table

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Workshop/i-Khw3jK3/0/8954f936/M/DSCF5516-M.jpg

A leathercraft maul I turned out of HDPE (I just melted plastic milk bottles in the oven LOL)
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Workshop/i-kKvJLtx/0/85f28fef/M/IMG_20200426_160922-M.jpg

This is my brass roller (bought a brass rod, bent some aluminium) and an edge burnishing tool

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Workshop/i-KfNH6JX/0/f703b159/M/IMG_20200528_214731-M.jpg

This is a strap cutter for belts etc (not mine) I havent made one yet but it looks fairly simple.

https://i.etsystatic.com/20585002/r/il/a89afc/1980624617/il_570xN.1980624617_91ra.jpg

Of course you need to buy some specialised tools like pricking irons and punches, but the entry to mid level stuff is actually very capable and not expensive at all.
Consumables like glue, finishes, hardware are also fairly cheap, the only expensive thing is really the leather itself. But there are ways to get cheap leather too, I'll talk about that further down.

So how hard is it? As a craft it's very hard to perfect, it takes years of experience and talent. True leather craftspeople that make hand made things are very rare these days, and if you find one do get something nice for yourself, it's worth it. But it's not hard at all for people who are into crafts to start and make simple stuff, and it's a shame not to. I used to think of leather sort of like a fabric: sewing machines, needles, threads etc. But when I started working it I found it was actually closer to wood in terms of processes. Same rules apply and mostly in the same order too: make a design on a computer or a piece of paper, measure, mark, cut, pre-drill holes, glue, join, roundover edges, sand, apply finish. A seamstress would get confused but to a woodworker it all makes sense immediately. The key difference of course is that we join with joinery and screws, in leather they stitch with thread. But they pre-punch the holes too.

There's two main difficulties really: the first is that, unlike woodworking, there is really no room for error. If you put a hole outside your line, that's it. Usually you just put that piece aside and start over with fresh material. The other difficult process is "skiving", this is when they thin out the leather towards the edge in order to fold it over itself, or to stack leather in things like wallet pockets that you don't want to get too thick. Leather workers invest a lot of time and money on high end skiving knives to do it manually, or eventually pay even more money for expensive skiving machines. There's ways around it of course, but it did seem a little intimidating to me. Until I figured out I can just pop out in the shed and do it fairly easily on the belt sander LOL
Not very elegant solution, I know, but hey.
Some people also use small woodworking rebate planes for skiving, I tried that and it actually works, but not as well as the belt sander.

And the last super confusing thing is ordering stuff like leather, hardware, finishes, and dye (if that's your thing). It is confusing mainly because there's a huge choice of weird little things, but I've done it a few times now and I can help, if anyone is interested just ask.

Anyway, trust me, for simple things leather working is not that hard. Unbelievably to me this was the very first thing i made out of leather:

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Workshop/i-PBdbrGF/0/36c7a87a/L/DSCF5525-L.jpg
Not the roll of leather, the other one :D

Super rewarding (well, mainly to the Mrs), and it was a case of cutting this pattern on the leather with a stanley knife, punch the holes, stitch, set a few copper rivets, finish the edges a little bit with sandpaper & edging cream, done.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Workshop/i-rxKbrhb/0/ecfadc9a/L/IMG_20200516_162312-L.jpg

So where to shop from... There are a few tanneries in AU you can order your leather online from in fairly decent prices. I've done that once only, from a mob called Austanners in Geelong, they've been around a while and from what I've read they used to have the AFL contract for the Sherrins. I bought the half-hide in the photo for $180 I think, it was enough for 2 bags, a couple of leather journals, some other smaller things and I still have some offcuts left. Austanners were quick to ship, answered a couple of questions vie email and that's all I know about them really. Nice leather, happy customer, will shop again.

Another very popular choice in VIC is Leffler in West Melbourne, these guys are merchants and they have a GIANT warehouse full of leather goods. Worth going just to have a look, it's very impressive actually. Not cheap, but they have a huge scrap bin near the exit that you can find pretty much any type of leather you want for next to nothing. Not a great website but great experience in person and very friendly staff, just tell them what you want to do. There are a few more aussie vendors if you google it but that's the only two I have experience with. You can also order from O/S, and I've done that a few times, from a company called tandyleather. They are a multinational and they have a .com.au website especially for us, but they actually ship from Texas. It gets here in 4 days usually. Tandy has been around for ever and they specialise in entry level stuff for beginners, friendly prices, etc. Downside is expensive shipping but at least it's fast. And of course there's ebay and etsy, and then there's the high-end leather vendors of course but I have to learn how to walk first :)

Lastly dont forget the craft packs and bags of offcuts. Most tanneries and merchants sell them online, something like 5kg of mixed leather pieces for $20 or so, and that's a great cheap way to get started and experiment. Get one regardless, even just to make strops, liners and tool holders for your shop.

So I'm fairly new to all that myself but if anyone has any questions or has their own experience with those things please post here :)

Cheers
Spyro

[clear out]

You can also use leather as part of your woodwork.
Heres a pic of a desk and chair I made back in ‘84 whilst a student at a furniture design course at ANU.
The desk was turned in MDF and had an ebony veneered top with the rest covered in leather.
Chair MDF turned bowl shapes and leather covered.
Ive also moulded thick leather into bowl shapes at the Emma lake do in 2000.
Nice stuff to work with like wood, very tactile feel unlike cold hard metal.
H.

[NCArcher]

There is a leatherworking sub forum here.

[Kuriatko]

@Spyro - Those works are beautiful!

[Spyro]

There is a leatherworking sub forum here.
Where? Sorry it's a bit of a maze, I found the upholstery forum but not the leatherworking one

[Charlie_6ft]

Thanks for Sharing Spyro - I'll add it to the list of hobbies to get into :) I like the use of leather instead of knobs on pieces which I'll consider in future projects - very inspiring, thanks again!

Clear out, how did you do the domed components of this table? Looks interesting!

[GraemeCook]

Great post, Spyro, while revived a lots of memories.

Until the 1950's leather was commonly combined with wood in a lot of rural crafts:

handles, as you have done,
protective strips, often called buffers,
hinges,
clasps, a slit in a leather strap slipped over a rounded screw head,
knife, axe, chisel, scythe, guards,
belt drives on machinery,
a long list.


One preferred method of fastening was using copper rivets and roves.

[Spyro]

Ok if anyone wants to get started here's what you'll need in terms of tools

Cutting
Most people just use utility knives. Just hold it against a steel ruler and cut. For freehand/curved cuts and/or thinner leather an X-acto type precision knife is also commonly used, officeworks and bunnings have them. I wouldn't pay more than $10 for a good Xacto knock off. Most importantly get a bunch of replacement blades and use a fresh one every time.

If you do lots of straight cuts you might want to consider a rotary cutter, but the good ones are a little expensive. I bought a 60mm OLFA one for about $50 on amazon (I think Spotlight has the Fiskars brand too), and it is a dream. Cuts pizza too :D
But in hindsight it was probably overkill, long steel ruler and utility knife is just fine.

There are some expensive leatherwork specific thin knives like these
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0501/0021/products/Vergez_Blanchard_L_Indispensable_knife_Clicker_nologo_flat_1400x.jpg?v=1568676996

and I've tried one, it didn't really add any benefit IMO.
I've even seen people cut with woodworking marking and carving knives, skiving knives, razor blades, round knives, anything you can imagine really.
It's a case of whatever works for you and suits your hand/eye coordination, so do try different things, but chances are you'll probably come back to the utility and X-acto knives.

Steel rulers
You'll need a couple to hold your cutter against, straight and right angle, maybe in different sizes depending how big is what you want to make.
Leatherworking shops will want to sell you cork backed rulers that dont slip (which is important)
Dont bother with that, get a couple of cheap rulers from anywhere and add some of that black non-slip plastic roll with double sided sticky tape from Bunnings. It works great. Have a couple of clear plastic rulers on hand as well, for marking.
There are also round steel patterns for curved cuts, roundovers etc. Nice to have but most people just use coins, bobbins, spray bottles etc and cut around them.

Surfaces
You need something to:
a) punch holes and generally pound on. A plastic cutting board from a dollar shop is fine.
b) cut on. Cutting mats from Officeworks/Ebay work great, Spotlight for better quality Fiskars ones, self healing ones are more expensive but last longer. But any surface will do really, as long as you don't mind the cut marks and it's not too hard for your knives. Sometimes I just cut on my pine assembly table in the shed.
c) skive against. You may or may not need to skive (thin out) leather by hand depending what you're making. Skiving ideally requires a very hard and flat surface, if you can get a piece of marble or thick glass that would be great. You can skive on anything really but the softer the backing surface the harder it gets.

Pricking iron
Those things that look like little forks and you use them to pre-punch your holes on the leather before you stitch it.
The actual teeth that penetrate the leather come in different spacing, thickness and shapes (diamond, olive, round are the most common ones).
Dont worry too much about that, spacing/shape/thickness is mostly decorative and it defines the style of your stitching. If those things are selectable where you're shopping from just get the middle size/thickness to get you started and whatever shape looks nice to your eye. It's just holes at the end of the day :)

Pricking iron quality is important though. It determines how easily it goes through the leather, how easy to pull it out after, how often you'll need to sharpen or replace (which is not very often compared to woodworking, leather is soft), how easy to hold straight and aim accurately. Having said that even the cheapest ones work fine for most things. I bought a cheap-ish set of 4 for $37 from an ebay seller called Wutaleather in China and they've been fine so far. You don't need 4 by the way, you need one with 5 to 7 teeth for straight lines and one with 1 or 2 teeth to go around curves.

Hole punches
These come in a many different sizes and shapes, but when you figure out exactly what you're making you might actually only need one. I just picked up a couple from the toolshop at Bunnings to make belt holes, and they work, you just lay the leather against something and punch it through. For smaller holes for a watchstrap I was making I ordered a kit from tandyleather with replaceable tips for about $20 I think, that works fine as well. There are also rotary hole punches, these are really for getting to places where you cant reach or you can't lay flat on your surface for whatever reason, like the inside of a bag. You might never need one of those so don't get one until you do.

Note there are also pricking irons available with little round hole punches instead of teeth. That's just a style thing, by all means use that instead of a pricking iron if you like the look. You can also mark the holes with a pricking iron and then actually punch them with a hole punch one at the time. In theory round holes for stitching are considered weaker because you actually remove material, but unless you're making safety equipment or something I wouldn't worry too much about that. Just pick the style you like visually (and keep in mind nobody actually cares about hole shapes other than other leatherworkers)

Roundover punches for belt and strap ends etc
Those are expensive (at least the good ones are) and specific to people who make repeatable cuts like belt makers etc
Nice to have, but if you're only gonna make a few cuts like that you can make them with your knife by cutting around a coin, don't bother buying.

Awls
You need a sharp one for marking lines and holes on leather, and maybe you need a blunt stitching one.
The stitching one is used for widening holes if you're having trouble getting your needle through, and also to make the bottom hole exactly the same shape as the top one if your hole makeing was a little imperfect. It's supposed to have the same shape as whatever hole maker you're using. I made a couple for myself with a long screw lodged in a piece of wood and glued with epoxy, then I took it to the disk sander and shaped it. I never actually used it to be honest, I just use needle and thread that are one size smaller than the recommended for my holes, and they go through really easy.

[Spyro]

Skiving knives
You need at least one. I bought a japanese style one from wutaleather for $30

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/e9kAAOSwwjRac8uk/s-l1600.jpg

It's fine, it works, and it's very easy to hold down and sharpen to perfection on the diamond stone because of that big bevel.
Skiving is by nature a difficult process though, lately I find myself using the belt sander more and more.
You can buy bigger and better skiving knives in different shapes but they're not cheap.
https://i.etsystatic.com/9637034/r/il/94d68b/740675662/il_1588xN.740675662_nkqf.jpg

Generally take it easy with the leatherwork knives, they are the like the planes in woodworking, before you know they can take over your wallet and your walls and then you are basically a collector.

Edge bevellers
They shave off the edge of your leather to round it over. A cheap set of 3 sizes works great, should be about $30 from anywhere really (Tandy/wuta/ebay etc) If you find you're only using one then maybe long term get a more expensive one that holds edge for longer as these are a pain to sharpen
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0327/9683/5975/products/8076-02_800x800.jpg?v=1582047249



Wing divider and/or stitching groover
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/513FOKxImkL._AC_SL1000_.jpg
These are used for the same purpose, to mark a line along the edge of the leather for you to punch your stitching holes on. Cheap, get a divider for $10-20 if you don't already have one. The stitching groover actually cuts a shallow groove as well, and personally I avoid it. The groove doesn't really add anything and if you make a mistake with the wing divider it will eventually mostly heal & disappear, but with the groover you'll have to live with it.

Mallets / mauls
Rawhide/plastic/wooden, they're all pretty much the same. The whole purpose of those things is to be a little softer than your pricking irons and hole punches so you don't destroy them overtime. Use what you have or make one that suits your hand. I made a maul out of HDPE on a threaded rod, then I cut a hole in it with a forstner bit and kept adding washers until I got exactly the weight and balance I wanted.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Workshop/i-LcJ6q3H/0/9dcb0773/L/IMG_20200426_142835-L.jpg

Sanding & Burnishing tools
Burnishing tools are made of wood and are used for rubbing against the edge of your leather after you've sanded it and coated it with edge cream, to make it smooth(er) and shiny(er). They're cheap to buy or you can make your own to mount on rotary tool, drill press, bench grinder to make the job faster
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Workshop/i-nVpbkPQ/0/9d268a20/L/IMG_20200510_185903%20%281%29-L.jpg
Or you can just use some canvas cloth and rub with that instead if it works better for you.

Needles
Cheap, get at least two* in all sizes until you find what works best with your hole sizes and your leather thickness.
*hand stitching leather is done with two needles.

Stitching pony
Thats for holding your work piece clamped on the table so you can stitch it. If anyone wants to make one let me know, I have plans and instructions.
If you prefer to buy, etsy is probably the best place. Medium size is perfect for most things.

Aaaand that's it, I think that makes a capable kit, I hope I didn't forget anything important.

Obviously there are many specialised tools, you can go crazy with stamping/carving/pyrography/dyes/moulds, but you don't need to.

[Spyro]

Great post, Spyro, while revived a lots of memories.
One preferred method of fastening was using copper rivets and roves.
it's actually pretty common again, for a cute old school look
that's how I made that tote for example
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Workshop/i-tSwrBWM/0/6b21e630/L/IMG_20200517_181232-L.jpghttps://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Workshop/i-sNj82c7/0/28e0e2c6/L/IMG_20200518_205854-L.jpghttps://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Workshop/i-9HPjtxt/0/4e82590e/L/DSCF5533-L.jpg

[BobL]

Where? Sorry it's a bit of a maze, I found the upholstery forum but not the leatherworking one
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f258

And while I was at it I moved this thread into that forum. :)

[Spyro]

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f258

And while I was at it I moved this thread into that forum. :)
So that's where leatherwork discussions go to die LoL
RIP

[Arron]

You can also use leather as part of your woodwork.
Heres a pic of a desk and chair I made back in ‘84 whilst a student at a furniture design course at ANU.
The desk was turned in MDF and had an ebony veneered top with the rest covered in leather.
Chair MDF turned bowl shapes and leather covered.
Ive also moulded thick leather into bowl shapes at the Emma lake do in 2000.
Nice stuff to work with like wood, very tactile feel unlike cold hard metal.
H.

Those are really nice Clear-Out. Can you give us more detail on exactly what bits are leather covered - like the legs of the table for instance - are they leather? Also some detail about how you Shaped, cut and fixed the leather down. I’d love to do some of that but have not found very much information on Google. Maybe you could start another thread so we don’t bomb the OP here.
Cheers
Arron

[GraemeCook]

Apologies for unnoticed autocomplete errors.


Why are stuff ups by Bill Gates called "autocomplete errors"?

[Spyro]

Maybe you could start another thread so we don’t bomb the OP here.
Cheers
Arron
No please bomb away, it's completely on topic and I have the same questions too.


Sent from my Redmi Note 7 using Tapatalk

[GraemeCook]

Where? Sorry it's a bit of a maze, I found the upholstery forum but not the leatherworking one
(https://www.woodworkforums.com/f258)https://www.woodworkforums.com/f258

And while I was at it I moved this thread into that forum. :)

https://www.woodworkforums.com/clear.gif (https://www.woodworkforums.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=2190768&noquote=1)

So that's where leatherwork discussions go to die LoL
RIP


I had the same problem as Spyro.

I clicked on Bob's removal notice and was taken to the Leatherwork SubForum, where the forum address was given as:

Forum => NOT WOODWORK - MY OTHER LOVES => LEATHERWORK => Leather craft for woodworkers.


Fine.

But when I tried to re-find the SubForum via the Forum Index button (top left of almost every Forum page), I was unable to find any SubForum titled NOT WOODWORK - MY OTHER LOVES nor could I find one entitled LEATHERWORK.

Perhaps Leatherwork discussions prefer to die in seclusion?

[A Duke]

https://www.woodworkforums.com/clear.gif (https://www.woodworkforums.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=2190768&noquote=1)



I had the same problem as Spyro.

I clicked on Bob's removal notice and was taken to the Leatherwork SubForum, where the forum address was given as:

Forum => NOT WOODWORK - MY OTHER LOVES => LEATHERWORK => Leather craft for woodworkers.


Fine.

But when I tried to re-find the SubForum via the Forum Index button (top left of almost every Forum page), I was unable to find any SubForum titled NOT WOODWORK - MY OTHER LOVES nor could I find one entitled LEATHERWORK.

Perhaps Leatherwork discussions prefer to die in seclusion?

Hi,
When you open the tab at the top, click on forum home, there are a lot more sub forums there, the one you want is way down the list.
Hops this helps.
Regards,

[BobL]

I was right into leather work in the 1970's. Made quite a few belts, purses, wallets, and even pair of moccasins.

About a decade ago I have made some utilitarian axe head covers and a draw knife cover.

Rivets ! :oo: Heresy I know but the (Al) rivets have worked out just fine .
The first set of covers I made using thonging but the axe blade cut through those pretty quickly - I now know how to get around this without rivets but I just needed a quick solution.

474497


474496

I was going to make a few "tool rolls" but I found a good supplier who did a far better job than I and he was not too badly priced.

[Spyro]

I was right into leather work in the 1970's. Made quite a few belts, purses, wallets, and even pair of moccasins.

About a decade ago I have made some utilitarian axe head covers and a draw knife cover.

Rivets ! :oo: Heresy I know but the (Al) rivets have worked out just fine .
The first set of covers I made using thonging but the axe blade cut through those pretty quickly - I now know how to get around this without rivets but I just needed a quick solution.

474497


474496

I was going to make a few "tool rolls" but I found a good supplier who did a far better job than I and he was not too badly priced.
These are nice :)
And nothing wrong with rivets, in fact they are trending with fashion bag designers, especially copper ones.

I had the same "problem", I was about to make a couple of leather tool holders for my shed wall, and then I found in Bunnings some Irwin ones on special for $1.50 each!
Beautiful thick veg tan leather too, so i bought 3 and waterformed them to fit my hammers and a big pair of scissors. It worked but they're not exactly what i wanted, they never are. Plus it says "Irwin" on it which annoys me.