okay got a question....

[tarheel mac]

What are the basic tools for working with leather?  I mean besides a knife...? 

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Boy, that's like asking "How long is a piece of string?" You would be well off to buy a beginners kit with a book to get you started. Tandy sells some good starter kits. Here are the basic tools but you will eventually end up with a lot more tools than these:

Basic work: a knife (or knives, depending on the piece to be made) to cut the leather into shape, a skiving knife to thin edges, hole punches (or a rotary punch), an edge beveler, a cobler's hammer and a small anvil or block of steel to set rivets if you use speedy rivets.

Then you need to be able to sew and that requires thread, needles, stitch awl, beeswax and a knife to feather the end of the thread.

I'm sure a few of the other pards here will be able to add to this list things I may have overlooked.

[Tommy tornado]

I have found a dremel very useful as well.  You can sand the edges very easily, buff, and drill holes in exceptionally thick leather.

[laffalotlouie]

Some of the tools I use the most are of course knives, but I did recently purchase a head knife but haven't mastered it yet, rulers, mallets, stamping tools of various sorts, a leather awl for punching stitching holes.  Recently got a bench sander and that is working out great for finishing edges.  In addition you'll want some edge bevelers, probably a couple of stitching groovers. 

There are literally tons of tools that you may find that you need at any given time.  Try to find a picture of Al Stohlman's work bench.  I think he has a thousand tools, probably more hid away somewhere. 

Oh, bought forgot another tool I purchased that I find very handy, a strap cutter.  I bought the wood, adjustable one from Tandy and it works great for cutting straps up to 4" wide.  Has more than paid for itself over buying precut straps.

Later,

Laff-a-lot Louie

[Slowhand Bob]

Everbody has their favorites but mine has drifted away from the specialty leather tools towards some of the cheepest replacements immaginable.  I have put my collection of head knives away in a drawer and replaced them with; 1-the Personna injector blade carpet knife cuts like a dream on streights and moderate curves,  2- the disposable blade box openers do a great job and can handle slightly tighter curves (some newer models are swept downward toward the cutting edge-good thing), 3- X-Acto sells a wooden handled carver with a concave disposable blade that can turn in a bb sized hole and this baby can do all the precision cuts from the finest snips to trimming thread right down into the stitching hole, 4- and the handiest little skiver you will ever find is a simple disposable bladed glass scraper which can take strap ends or whichinever right down to a true feather edge without a lot of pulled fibers in its wake.

I keep several small rulers, French curves, architect angles, etc in a drawer together for pattern work and quick measurements and marking.  I got a 60" aluminum yard stick at Home Depot for the layout of longer straps and though it works fairly well as a cutting guide I use one of the 8' aluminum angles, also obtained from Home Depot. 

We gots one of them Harbour Freights moved into town a few years ago and they carry several items that can come in handy at a cheep price, just remember that cheep has its downsides.  Hole punches seem to be made of pretty good metal but are very dull and you must supply yopur own sharpening.  One other thing, inspect the edges closely before purchaseing as some will display burned metal (avoid).  Over time I had collected some nice punches and just use these for making custom half punches, etc.  HF carries bulk bags of small flux type brushes reeeal cheep and I use them for glue application in finer spaces.  Sometimes a little extra crimp with some plyers might slow shedding.  I bought several of their cheep hole saw sets when they were at almost give away prices and ground the teeth off and sharpened to make large circle cutting dies but was disappointed.

Sewing is another place where I vary from the norm a bit.  I use the diamond hole punches to lay out my stitches rather than the overstitch wheels and awl.  I have not had any complaints on the appearance and find it to be quicker and easier on my hands.  These punches are also relatively cheep and need much clean-up work to start them out right.

Most of this could be obtained locally for less than a single high end head knife.  There are very many other examples of tools that can get you started on a budget and not give up one bit of advantage to that high end head knife.  Do not misunderstand me and think that I'm saying cheep is frequently as good, because it rarely is, but frequently common tools can work as well or better than the specialty versions and their price will save you big bucks.  Remember that the blades for that lowly box cutter can be bought in a cheep low quality brand(generally dull) or a better quality brand(with a razor edge).       

[Doc Neeley]

I originally had a Tandy starter kit with a leather mallet (couple of them) a rotary hole punch and a marking wheel and leather shears, and needles and awls. I made lots of buckskin clothes and leather items with this setup.

When I became interested in trying my hand at tooled leather be it knife sheaths or holsters, I went on eBay and after a bit accumulated over 100 stamps, punches, in fact too much to remember, all at 10% of original cost. You get whole sets and it's kinda pot luck as to the mix, but cheap and fun.

Serarches I used were 'craftool' 'leathercraft', 'osborne'. You get the idea. Good luck.