What do these do? What are they called?

In this blog I will look at what the various tools we use the most frequently and what they are called as well as what they are used for.

The first tools that you will probably need to use are the ones we use for cutting out your pieces of leather.

These are a folding Stanley knife or box cutter

A craft knife

A pair of leather cutting scissors or shears. Note the blunt ends which allow you to cut into corners and right to the end of the blade.

Another cutting tool that you will use to straighten the edges of two pieces of leather sewn together is the Japanese knife. 

It can also be used as a skiver.

A much safer option for skivving is the Safety Beveller. 

This has a curved end and is best used at a 45 degree angle to the edge that you are skivving.

Make sure that the leather is dry before you start skivving to get a really clean cut.

Those shavings can come in handy if chopped up and used with PVA glue you can make leather mache to fill gaps in your work.

This is the tool to use when cutting a strap or belt and is unsurprisingly called a strap cutter.

The one on the right is for cutting an English Point or "church window" end punch. We only have one size so just mark the centre of your strap or belt and position the point on the centre mark.

Using an English Point strap end punch - making a keyfob

The smaller one on the left is a corner round punch and is used by aligning the centre mark with the corner point before hitting it with a mallet.  Both of these need to be used with a wad of scrap leather otherwise the edges will get blunted.

Next we come to the tools for making the holes needed for hand stitching.

From left to right these are a 2 and a 4 pronged diamond pricking iron. "Diamond" just describes the shape of the hole that they make. 

Link to using a pricking iron - making a keyfob

Next to them is a stitching awl with a diamond shaped blade. Traditionally the holes for stitching were lightly marked then the piece was held in a Stitching Pony and the awl pushed through to make the actual hole.

You can create faux stitching by using the groover to create a channel in the leather. Wet it with a small paint brush loaded with a water.

Then slowly and carefully run a pricking or overlocker wheel along the groove. This tool can also be run over the threads of your finished hand stitching to neaten up the stitches but it needs to be of the same pitch as your stitching holes.

For shaving the edges off your straps and belts then you need to use an edge beveller.

These come in various sizes but be careful not to cut too much off such that you cut into your stitching line if you have one.

For leather carving the first tool that you will reach for is a swivel knife. This one has a ceramic blade with a filigree point. Although these will not blunt you still need to strop these when you use them to get ride of the build up of fine particles of debris.

Link to Carving a coaster showing how to use and strop a swivel knife.

This strop has been used with metal tools which is why it has gained that dark grey colour.

The wooden burnisher was used when we made the keyfob. Used to create a mirror like shine on the edges of your work which also helps to seal the edges together.

Link to making a keyfob

Hole punches of different diameters are screwed into the handle and struck with a plastic or wooden mallet - never a metal hammer which would damage the plating on the handle.

Click here for a video about snap setting

A set of snap setting tools. Again used with a non metal mallet.

Link to making a small purse showing how to use a snap setter.

This is a stamp guide mostly used with letter and number stamps. The stamps are lined up in
position before stamping commences. I have marked the bottom of each letter and number stamp so that you can make sure that they are the right way round. You can use place holder stamps for duplicate letter (such as the second A in ALAN) by placing a spare letter upside down so that it is clear that it needs replacing before you hit it.

A stylus is used to mark lines on damp leather or you can press harder to make a point on dry leather. If you haven't got a stylus you can use a "dead" ballpoint pen.

Finally - leather. Not a tool but the most important material. 

This is a piece of vegetable tanned tooling leather. 

On the left is the flesh side and on the right is the grain side.