Going to start leatherworking for fun, tips?

[HuumanCreed]

Its a long off season until Whitetail in Sept. Need something to keep myself busy during lunch break.
I want to start making my own tabs and maybe grips for my bows.

I got this basic kit and going to start watching some videos.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0894S496F

So for beginners, are generic leather basically the same? No need to buy from expensive source. Any hints for beginners?

First project is going to be shooting tabs. Apparently you can Ebay a bunch of scraps leather for really cheap. Pretty cool.

Thank you.

 

[Bowtie747]

Auctions! I bought a literally car full of leather at an Auction of good stuff for reasonable price once! Not sure how often they’re out there. I’m no expert but I found moving slow and thinking everything out is super important.

Say you’re making a wallet and you don’t want holes where the wallet bends. You gotta think about small stuff like that before you go punching a ton of holes. Idk if that makes sense but time spent laying everything out is well worth it.

I’ve made a wallet turned out good. Did what seemed to be the same thing and the next I basically scrapped lol it’s fun! I need to get back into it more!

 

[Jtaylor]

If you don't know about Tandy leather, check it out.
www.tandyleather.com
Look at garage sales and Goodwill for old leather coats, chaps, etc that can be used for material. Be sure to make sure they're not worth something first though before cutting them up!

 

[HuumanCreed]

Auctions! I bought a literally car full of leather at an Auction of good stuff for reasonable price once! Not sure how often they’re out there. I’m no expert but I found moving slow and thinking everything out is super important.

Say you’re making a wallet and you don’t want holes where the wallet bends. You gotta think about small stuff like that before you go punching a ton of holes. Idk if that makes sense but time spent laying everything out is well worth it.

I’ve made a wallet turned out good. Did what seemed to be the same thing and the next I basically scrapped lol it’s fun! I need to get back into it more!

Can anyone explain to me why shooting tabs are not stitched together more? like there is not stitching completely around the tab, but its mostly 2-3 pieces of materials grommeted together. Is it so they can bend and flex easier?

 

[Jtaylor]

Can anyone explain to me why shooting tabs are not stitched together more? like there is not stitching completely around the tab, but its mostly 2-3 pieces of materials grommeted together. Is it so they can bend and flex easier?

Mine is stitched. If you prefer two layers at the finger, they need to be independent of each other to allow both to move so they don't bunch up and create a ridge or bunched up spot for the string to catch on at release.
I guess that's the beauty of taking up leather working...try something you might like better and make it your own.