I think belts area great place to start learning how to work with leather. There are several useful techniques involved in making a belt that apply fairly universally, and the tools you need will form the basis of your main kit.
Strap cutter - for cutting the belt blank
Craft knife - for trimming ends and shaping the belt tongue. (A Stanley knife is fine.)
Stitch groover - to add edge detail (optional)
Edge beveller & burnishing wheel - for edge finishing
Hole punch - for rivet and buckle tongue holes
Slot punch - for fitting the buckle.
Rivet tool & anvil - for closing your rivets.
Hammer - for hitting things with (hole punch, slot punch, rivet tool, and on occasion your thumb.
You may like to buy a rotary hole punch and they are very useful. Single punches are also useful for when you want to make a hole further across the leather than the rotary punch will reach.
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When I first started out I thought mail was the way to go - I was intrigued by the process of making it, and the result had the same functional beauty of any object uncompromisingly designed for a specific purpose. Having made a couple of hauberks (short-sleeved shirts), and a coif for myself I began to understand the impracticalities. This entry is where I will post any news on the web site - changes, and new items etc. One of the things that differentiates good quality leatherwork from the rest is the level of finish, and part of this is edge finishing. Unfinished edges, like you see on many belts, are square-cut and although leather cannot fray, the corners will wear and the fibres rough up. It's not easy keeping to schedule with the demands of a day job. Delivery dates can slip all too easily and although most people seem to understand that craftsmen such as myself often have other jobs too I don't like disappointing them. |
AuthorDave Gullen, leather craftsman, writer, and grower of tree ferns. Archives
November 2008
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