The Leather Crafting, Wood Burning and Whittling Starter Handbook: Beginner Friendly 3 in 1 Guide with Process,Tips and Techniques in Leatherworking and Wood Crafting

it.

Beginner’s Roadmap

Step 1: Decide with which type of leatherwork you intend to start your journey

Do you want to learn fine-tuned European design, Western Americana techniques, or a rustic type of leatherwork? Each of these approaches requires different tools and methods, depending on what you're looking for in your finished product.

Are you only looking to build a standard leather bag or purse, or would you also like to add a wow factor such as slanted stitches that require an intermediate level of craftsmanship?

So, decide the style and level of expertise you would like to achieve in your first phase of learning.

Even better, figure out the projects you would like to work on initially. It would help you to be more focused during the learning process.

Step 2: Find out the tools you'll need for your type of leatherwork.

Once you decide what sort of leatherwork you intend to craft, you should obtain the right tools for the work. 

The tools vary with the type of leatherwork you choose for your initial projects.

In the case of rustic leatherwork, you can make use of a lot of in-house tools. However, for more finished artwork, you would need a sewing clam or pony as well as sewing knives to create those ideal stitches.

Step 3: Identify what you want to make and obtain the appropriate leather 

Once you decide on what you plan to make, you can identify what kind of leather suits your project. Two of the most common leathers are chrome-tanned leather and veg-tanned leather. 

These two types of leather have several distinctions consisting of how they're tanned, the kind of colors they can acquire, and their amount of flexibility and softness.

If, for example, you're making a belt and you prefer heavy veg-tanned leather, choose a minimum of 7oz weight leather instead of chrome-tanned leather, which would be soft and flexible and would stretch after some time.

Step 4: While doing saddle-stitching use a premium linen thread

Making use of better materials is most likely to give you the desired outcome. Also, when the process involves stitching, which is very crucial and takes a lot of time and effort, it is suggested to use all-natural linen thread, which is durable and used traditionally.

Step 5: Practice and master the technique

When it comes to leatherwork, it's all about learning the basic steps and following each step carefully.

Make sure that you are following the sequential steps for the desired outcome. 

For instance, if you're looking for a refined and professional look, then make sure you are following sewing standards and also doing the edge finishing! Edge finishing is the step where you make use of wax and burnish your edges, so they're smooth as well as polished looking.

Step 6: Have fun with traditional leather craft!

The art of leatherwork, pyrography, and whittling belongs to a time when we were in the non-digital world. The aim was to spend quality time and make something creative.

So enjoy the craft, spend time with your loved ones by involving them, and yes, keep your mobile phones at bay!

TOP 3 BEGINNER PITFALLS: DON'T FALL INTO THEM!

Mistake # 1 - Buying the pre-assembled toolkits.

I have seen people getting excited and buying a pre-assembled kit online without doing proper research about their requirements. In many cases, these tools are of low quality, bent, and broken after a few days of use.

Usually, these kits contain poor-quality tools along with tools that you don't need.

Therefore, the key initially is having less but high-quality tools.

Mistake # 2 - Getting leather when you do not have a project in mind.

It is similar to getting ingredients without having a meal in mind. 

First, decide what item you will be making for your first project and then buy/arrange the leather accordingly. 

When buying leather from any reputed shops in your area, ask the salesperson about the best-suited leather for your particular project.

Mistake # 3 - Making the process more complex 

I see a lot of beginners getting caught up in buying lots of creams and power devices for finishing the leatherwork.

I still have around 20 devices in my toolkit, and half of those devices are standard and useful things that are lying around your house like an X- Acto blade, sandpaper, and a hammer.

The charm of typical leatherwork is that you're utilizing standard hand tools as well as techniques that have been around since simpler times! So, maintain it easily and also enjoy it.

2. About Leather

History of Leather Crafting

Tanning circa 1880

(By Anonymous artist - http://www.digibib.tu-bs.de/?docid=00000286, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=981570)

Leather making is an old art that has been practiced for more than 7,000 years. Throughout the Middle Ages, the Arabs protected the art of leather making and enhanced it. Morocco, as well as cordovan leather (from Córdoba, Spain), became very treasured natural leathers. By the 15th century, natural leather sun tanning was prevalent in Europe, and, by the mid-19th century, power-driven pieces of equipment did procedures such as fleshing, dehairing, as well as splitting.

Natural leather has been a part of human culture, considering that in pre-historical times, animal hides were more than likely the initial material used by our ancestors for garments or shoes. Virtually any kind of animal hide can become leather, including the skin of some fish!

The most typical animals utilized for leather are usually huge animals, frequently cows, sheep, deer, or buffalo.

Tanned leather in Marrakesh

(By DonarReiskoffer, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=458235)

Unfortunately, raw animal hides will certainly rot or harden if left untreated, so very early artisans had to find a way to keep the hides soft and also pliable by treating or tanning them with all-natural chemicals. Remarkably enough, some of the very best compounds for tanning animal hides ended up being other parts of the animals themselves, such as the fat, bone, brain, urine as well as marrow!

Leather was necessary for both Egyptian and Roman societies where more advanced methods of tanning and making use of oils, minerals, and plants were being done. The paintings discovered in some Egyptian tombs that depict leather manufacturing and undamaged items of leather have been located buried with the pharaohs. In Rome, tanning was so efficient and useful that even the common people, not just the wealthy, might pay to buy natural leather. A version of the high laced leather shoe worn by Roman legislators is still part of our modern-day style culture today!

In the early 14th - 18th centuries, tanning was a proficient craft controlled by guilds. Working as a tanner was still a ruthless, smelly job that required a great deal of manual labor. In the late 1700s, tanning started to turn into a bigger manufacturing operation; however, it had not been until the exploration of the chrome tanning technique in 1858 that the industry truly changed.

Chrome tanning, which is a mineral tanning technique that utilizes chrome salts as the main tanning ingredient, decreased tanning time from 8 weeks to a few hours! This extreme process, together with the development of new equipment for handling natural leather, quickly put most little independent tanneries out of business as well as transformed tanning into big-time manufacturing. Old techniques of tanning are preserved in places like Morocco where tanners still utilize ingredients like wastewater, pigeon, as well as Lyme dung to tan hides, as well as essences from plants like henna, mint, indigo, and poppy to develop attractive bright dyes.

The tradition of leatherwork in North America is, to a huge degree, tied to the society of the American West. Natural leather was a crucial material for pioneers, cattle-herders, and Indigenous Americans alike, who typically lived far from a source of manufactured cloth, yet close to an abundant supply of animal hides. These cultures developed a distinct aesthetic for leatherwork, which was typically a synthesis of early American and indigenous creative traditions.

Today, 80-85% of natural leather is chrome tanned in big industrialized manufacturing facilities, but there are still smaller sized tanneries producing veg-tanned leather also. Leather is used for many purposes in the modern world, and it also played an important role in the fashion of diverse cultural movements. From bikers and punks to cowboys and socialites, many demographics can claim leather as an integral part of their sartorial identifications.

There is still a growing number of hobby leatherworkers in America, as well as increasingly more modern developers and artisans trying out leatherwork and establishing new strategies and also new looks. Laser cutting, which has resulted in a great deal of exciting and very complicated designs, works well with natural leather. Investigating some of the possibilities will undoubtedly get you a lot more thrilled about working with natural leather!

Famous Tannery Chauara

Leather Categories

There are three fundamental points you need to consider when you are looking for natural leather: What kind of natural leather it is, how thick it is, and just how large it is. Understanding how natural leather falls into these categories will certainly help you find the right fit for your project.

Leather Kinds

Chrome Tanned leather has already been colored and finished throughout production. It is tanned using chemicals like chromium sulfate, which reduces the tanning procedure as well as makes it possible to create leather with more diverse shades and also coatings.

Chrome tanned leather does not take extra sculpting, marking, tooling, or dyeing the way veg-tanned natural leather does, and also it will not be warped by water in the same way. Chrome tanned natural leather is used to create the majority of the leather products you see, specifically garments, purses, and also furniture.

Veg Tanned natural leather has not been dyed or completed in the tanning procedure and can also be tooled, stamped, carved, molded, and dyed. Veg tanned natural leather is tanned using natural tannins that are located in raw materials and are generally a light off-white or flesh tone, the all-natural color of the leather (though you can locate some veg tanned hides that have been pre-dyed).

Veg tanned natural leather is mainly used in hand leathercrafting like natural leather sculpting, shield, saddlery, shoemaking as well as bookbinding. Also, it normally calls for coloring and sealing to finish the item.

Rawhide is an animal hide that has been de-haired and treated, but not tanned. Rawhide is a stiff, semi-transparent product that needs to be placed in water to become versatile. It becomes inflexible as well as holds its shape once it dries. It is used to make drumheads, water containers, moccasin soles, and also parts of saddles.

Leather Weight

The density of a leather hide is measured in ounces (oz). One oz amounts to 0.4 mm or 1/64 inch. A lot of the leather we will be discussing in this book will be between 4-8 oz.

When shopping for leather, look for the weight you need for your project.

There are tools you can get to determine the leather density. However, they are expensive. Alternately, you can use calipers or a scale for a somewhat less exact dimension.

Hide Dimension as well as Component

Hides are divided into pieces that are often sold separately. Different parts of a hide can be much better for various jobs.

For example, if you wanted to use the raw shaped side of the leather for a rustic appearance, a tummy area would certainly be better than a bend.

One problem that you will experience as a new leatherworker is that leather, specifically chrome tanned leather, is sold as complete hide, which is large when you're discussing a cow (various other hides, like a lamb and pig much smaller).

Most of the natural leather distributors, like Tandy and Hide Home, won't cut and offer smaller pieces. It can make purchasing natural leather expensive, and also limit the variety of weights as well as colors you can use in one job.

There are a few methods to go about this:

Find a natural leather vendor that will certainly cut you smaller pieces of hides.

Work with a buddy. Find a person with whom you can share the hides, purchase a couple of different hides, and split them between you. Or even become a small-time natural leather supplier!

Raid scrap bins. A lot of leather shops have bins of remnants that will certainly work for small jobs.

Use restored leather. Second-hand store purses, layers, belts, and various other accessories can be a wonderful source of chrome-tanned natural leather scraps.

Inspect fabric stores. Many textile stores carry some natural leather in smaller dimensions, though it is often light garment weight.

Parts of Hide

An entire hide is the entire animal hide. It is then broken down into areas.

Three main sections of the hide

Grades of Leather

The leather is categorized into three main sections based on the part of the hide :

Full/Complete Grain Natural Leather

Complete grain leather is the top of the natural line leather. This leather comes from the outer area of the skin, and it is the toughest and most high-quality leather that you can get.

The all-natural grain in the complete grain leather includes the strongest fibers throughout the whole hide.

Among the best qualities of full-grain leather is the aging process it sustains.

As opposed to the natural leather wearing out and also breaking down in time, complete grain leather develops a stunning natural patina.

Due to its top quality and also reduced availability, complete grain natural leather will be your most costly leather. For this reason, it is recommended that you wait up until you have some expertise under your belt before you start investing your savings on complete grain natural leather.

Top Grain Leather

Top grain leather is what you'll typically use. It is far more conveniently available as well as economical.

Taking the items of full grain leather with imperfections, the manufacturer sands and removes the outermost section of the top grains.

Because they get rid of several of the all-natural grain, this makes leading grain leather a little less strong and sturdy.

Because of its vast accessibility and lower prices, top grain leather is a fantastic selection for brand-new leatherworkers. Screwing up a piece is less of heartbreak than messing up a beautiful item of costly full-grain leather.

Genuine Natural Leather

Real natural leather is the most conveniently offered leather on the marketplace, but it's also the least sturdy as well as cheapest top quality.

Including a smooth, grain mark free, surface area, authentic leather is usually pressed with a texture to show up grainy.

You'll find authentic natural leather is used for lower quality purses or bags and some garments. The poor quality makes the lifespan of genuine leather much lower than full grain natural leather.

Because of this, you truly won't want to use real natural leather for any premium project.

Picking a Veg Tanned Leather/Leather Grading

Let’s discuss veg tanned leather. Tanned leather is an interesting medium, and also in the leather world, it's utilized a lot, such as for gun holsters, leather knife sheath belts, and many other items.

Veg-tanned leather can be acquired through many sources. You can purchase different imported leathers and also domestic leathers. Due to many options, people can get overwhelmed and confused about getting this leather.

Firstly, if you like to buy a veg-tanned leather online, it's offered by the square foot, which implies if you purchase one, you're going to obtain one square foot. Now, if you order 6, you're going to obtain a piece of leather that has a complete area of 6 square feet, which may not be an ideal rectangular shape.

Suppose the seller cuts the best rectangle for you. It'll be pricey because they need to take care of all the waste.

When we are discussing veg-tanned leather, it is a cowhide that's been tanned with a natural solution.

It used to be in the old days in the USA that oak bark was used for tanning the leather. Currently, we do not have sufficient oak barks to do so.

Nowadays, most tanneries make use of mimosa or quick Rocco, and there are a few other sorts of ingredients that they can add to the tanning solution and make this vegetable tan leather.

Veg-tanned leather is tanned to ensure that water can penetrate well in the leather to help in crafting.

Key color distinction: It's just extremely white and clean looking. When imported leather is tanned, they can cover up a plethora of defects with the type of tanning agent that gives them that white look.

Regarding veg tan leather being tanned in the same pit. A hundred hides go down into a tanning pit. Each pit gets X variety of heights dipped in.

The leather company does not know what they're going to have up until the hides come out of the pit. At that point, they take a look at them and grade them.

Something we have discovered is that many people are not knowledgeable about the way that leather is graded.

Leather Weight/Thickness Conversion (Reference Tandy Leather)

They believe that graded leather is of higher quality.

Is that true?

It is not true. Those hides came off cows that strolled in the field side by side; they went into the same handling plant, they underwent the same sun tanning pit, they underwent the very same procedure, and also at the end of the day they obtained a quality assessment.

So, if a hide has a hole and some grain damage, the remainder of this hide looks pretty darn excellent.

So, let’s assume somebody wants one square foot of a graded leather. Well, it might be underneath that hole, and it's a perfect piece of leather or at least pretty darn close to perfect.

So, the grading is nothing more than cosmetic issues. For the most part, you'll find cosmetic issues such as grain irregularities.

You may find issues on the backside of the leather such as thin spots or cuts or something like that, but again a domestic leather that isn't common issues usually another issue with domestic leathers is that American Heights.

American livestock is permitted to live longer, so the hides get bigger. In some countries, such as Mexico, they kill the cows earlier you'll have smaller sized hides.

Mexico or other nations may have more free-range livestock, which can lead to even more brands making sure they can mark them.

This can result in even more marks and scratches as well as pest attacks that the cow has actually undergone throughout its life.

The leather, which is dipped in a pit over and over, maintains those fibers firm, which enables them to stay extra stiff, and hold that shape far better.

If you're experimenting and if you've never used veg-tanned leather very much or if you're starting to use it, we'll tell you right up front that we're a little bit biased toward our urban oak leather, but there's a lot of other leathers you can use, and they'll do a fine job. Some of the European imported leathers are quite nice.

Plating is an issue. If you get a piece of leather that's shiny on top, that means that it is plated a little too hard.

Imported leathers are popular, and the wrinkles are ironed out with a giant iron and a ton of pressure. You have to take those things into account if you get a double shoulder that has been plated and has a little bit of a shiny appearance to it.

A water stamp tool and die will work on a veg-tanned leather just fine, but you're going to have to be careful when you make a sharp pull as you can crack the finish if you apply a lot of dye and then make a sharp fold.

It doesn't matter what kind of leather you use; with any veg-tanned leather that you're going to fold, it should be moistened first because it's going to crack.

It doesn't mean that the leather is bad. If you put an alcohol dye on veg tan leather, you've just taken more moisture out of it.

As the alcohol evaporates, it's going to crack. You can put a heavy coat of finish on vegetable-tanned leather.

If you bend the leather after it dries, the finish will crack, and it’ll look like the grain of the leather has cracked too, and possibly it did because as the finish cracks, so do the top grains of the leather.

Typically, it doesn't hurt anything.

A bad crack does not imply bad leather at all; it's just a case of perhaps not knowing how to work with it. Each piece of leather has its characteristics.

One arm may have scars or characteristics that the other arm doesn't have.

The same goes for animals. One side may have scars while the other side does not.

The other thing is that there are more prime areas to cut things, depending on what you want to do.

The hind end of the cow will act one way but down here in the armpit or the belly, it's going to act completely different and so taking into consideration that you're working with a natural product is a huge benefit to you and ultimately to the people who are trying to help you.

So, all of that being said, what’s the best value for your money?

Well, that's easier to figure out now regarding veg-tanned leather if you compare apples with apples and oranges to oranges.

The price of those leathers has leveled out because of the global oversupply. In some other markets, you can find cheaper leathers.

Imported leather, at