Starting out leather craft.

[Emdiesse]

Now, I am aware all I probably need is a pair of needles and some thread. I could make holes with nails, make out each stitch with a fork. Bevel the edges with a potato peeler. Make a stitch groove with a stanley knife, and so on. However I'm not sure I can see the harm in making my life a little easier with a few other tools built for the purpose.

So I am thinking my order from LePrevo will be as follows. I am looking to make a sheath for my mora and my laplander.

T11 2" Awl Blades * 2 @ 2.19 each making £4.38 - 2, just in case I am a little too brutal as a beginner
T63 Saddlers Awl Handle @ £1.02 - To go with the awl blades
T26 Size 2 Saddlers Needles @ £1.23 - for the sewing
T47 Overstitch Wheel 6 to 1" @ £5.60 - I know, I could use a fork, however I have seen so many tutorials where they appear to use these with success
T45 Stitch Groover - Adjustable @ £6.80 - This one
T53 Stitch Groover - Non Adjustable @ £5.79 - Or this one, Do I need an adjustable one or could I not rig some sort of thing together to make the non-adjutable one...adjustable (even if it's just holding it and using my thumb as a guide)
T46 Edge Beveller @ £6.20 - I suppose, just to make the edges look nice
TR14 18/3 Linen Thread - For the sewing

028 3-3.5mm Natural Veg-Tan Shoulders 12-16ft @ £4.33/ft



I also like the idea of making a tinder pouch and a pair of moccasins (because I found out on my last trip that come the evening I just did not want to be wearing my clunky walking boots around the camp!) So for this I guess I need some glovers needles... Any idea on size, or should I just get the smallest so that I don't make gaping holes in the side of my pouch/moccasins. Looks like I will need:

T140 Glovers Needles @ £3.61
TR15 Artificial Sinew @ £1.70 (Because I feel for a pair of moccasins I would like a durable thread, that won't wear and rot as easy and despite wanting to use real sinew I am not sure I want to walk around smelling like roadkill)

What leather, again veg-tanned? Just some 1.2-1.4 kip sides? (038)



I am planning on going halfs with the 3-3.5mm shoulder leather which seems to come in sizes 12ft to 16ft, even at 12ft i'd have 6foot to play with! However I understand you can buy it in lesser quanities if you buy belt leather which is 48" and you can specify a width... what widths do the go up to?

Cheers,
Matt

 

[mountainm]

There's a group buy on the go for this - depends how much of a rush you're in - one mo and I'll dig out a link.

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64710&highlight=group+buy

First post gives you the kit list.

 

[Deaner666]

I'm also looking to get into a bit of leather-crafting, after getting the bug making a knife and leather sheath from a Karesuando Knife Kit (see post here). Your list is a pretty useful guide to some of the bits I need to get hold of for some more projects.

I made the sheath from the kit using a cheap bradawl to puncture holes (which I painstakingly measured with a ruler - stitch marker would be top of my list of bits to get first!) and grooved it using the edge of a stanley knife opening with the blade retracted.

The leather that came with the kit was half-tanned, not veg-tanned. Half-tanned leather doesn't seem to be available in the UK (but it's easily available here from Brisa). I'd really like to find out the merits of the two different types of leather. I'm assuming the half-tanned goes off harder, seeing as it's rawhide on one side. For this reason I'd assume it's better for making a knife sheath, but I know plenty of people use veg-tanned for everything... Anyone out there with more knowledge able to explain the differences a bit better?

 

[Emdiesse]

I have seen that GB, cheers. However I am wondering why Tandy Leather seems to be a lot more costly than LePrevo? Forexample. A 6 stitch per 1" overstitch wheel on LePrevo is £5.60 compared to £14.03 on tandy? Are they of a better quality, or am I just covering the cost of more overheads for a bigger company? It almost appears to me that Leprevo are a family run business and have less admin costs, etc where as tandy are a bigger operation and have more admin work to cover the costs of? As I can't imagine Leprevo tools are of a poor quality since they seem quite renowned on here.

Interesting to hear about the half-tanned leather the kit came with deaner, although could it perhaps be easier to work veg-tanned leaher and then treat it yourself? Great tips of the retracted stanley knife blade, etc.

 

[Deaner666]

Interesting to hear about the half-tanned leather the kit came with deaner, although could it perhaps be easier to work veg-tanned leaher and then treat it yourself?

I'm not sure, the half-tanned was easy to work. I wet-moulded just like (I think) you do with normal veg-tanned. I'll have to get some veg-tanned and see the difference for myself I guess!

I'm also going to get hold of some bunny pelts and try tanning them for buckskin. When I get some time after finishing the bloody DIY