I have decided to make a sheath for the knife, but since the blade and the fittings are quite fancy, a plain leather sheath would be unbefitting. So the time has come for me to learn some fancy leatherwork. As you know, I am quite fond of making my own tools, but this time around I have decided to bite the bullet and buy some basic stuff for starters.
© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
These are really just the basics – a swivel knife and six basic stamps, a beveler, and a groover. The cheapest ones there were to find.
I will surely make some of my own tools in the future, but these should, hopefully, suffice for a start. They do not allow me to make anything that cannot be done with the tools that I already have – but they allow me to make those works much easier, more consistently, precisely and quicker.
Now I am going to cut up an old leather handbag and test some design ideas.
Nice! My suggestion is that you really practice with that swivel knife. For me, they were the hardest tool in that lot to master. I’ve seen people do some really lovely knife work but of course it takes a lot of practice. I’d offer to send you some cheap crappy tooling leather to practice with, but it would probably take 6 months to get there, these days… and no doubt, they have cheap crappy tooling leather right there where you live. It’s the best. It’s such horrible stuff you don’t even mind throwing it away when you’re done. I definitely don’t feel that way about good quality leather, where I am known to keep even the tiniest scraps possible and then use them in a project.
Yay for new toys. Another way to do really nice work on leather is to use heat, as it automatically adds colour.
New tools are always inspirational. I look forward to seeing the leather pouch you design to house them.