Hi, I'm Stuart. I'm new to leather but I've been working with my hands, crafting goods for some time now. Usually it's been carpentry on a much larger scale, but life's taken an interesting turn and I'm not able to continue down that road any longer. I've been getting excited about learning the art of leathercraft, even more so after stumbling upon some of Philip's students and seeing photos of their work. When a few people with fantastic results all point the same direction it didn't take much convincing for me to sign up. It was more a matter of juggling the checkbook to figure out how to cover some basic tools and the course while I kept the lights on after being off work on disability for six months so far.
I've jumped in with both feet. The first round of tools should be here by the end of the week, and the notepad's already filling up with things to keep in mind. Not sure if it'll be a blessing or a curse, but Tandy's just up the road. Once all the goodies are here and my work space is set up I'm planning to head there to get a feel for the place, grab some remnants and thread and start practicing pricking iron, awl and stitching work ... a lot.
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's progress, and picking your brains.
Today's progress was largely spending money online and digging through layers of sediment in the garage. I unearthed my old workbench, a long forgotten piece of granite threshold, and a couple of hand tools. I even requisitioned some perfectly timed help to dragging it all inside for me ... closely followed by a lot of calming the Mrs. down for my being out in the garage in freezing cold temperatures unsupervised with just my walker amidst the chaos. In hindsight, perhaps I should have waited until someone else was home, but I was eager to make a beginning. 🤣
Anyway, a 2'x4' workbench is now inside. It's got a double layer of 3/4" plywood and an added sacrificial layer of 3/4" MDF on top with an open shelf along the bottom. My temporary but free granite piece is roughly 4"x12" and about 3/4" thick at a guess. I'll be reaching out to counter installers in the area and see if I can get a bigger piece from a sink cutout in the coming weeks. The room's well lit with natural lighting on two sides, I've got a 3d printer in the corner if I want to print up some patterns or molds.
Still on the to do list before the tools and materials arrive in a few days... 1. figure out what to do with the furniture that was in the room and is currently stacked in the corner, kind of a priority or I'll be back to having an upset Mrs. and that won't do, since she's been so supportive of my jumping into this head first. 2. Dig out a couple of other small hand tools from the back of my garage. Yeah, it's gotten as bad as it sounds. What once was a workshop was become overrun with junk that would get used "some day". I need a dumpster. 3. work out tool and material storage and organization, knowing that will have to evolve as I acquire more tools and larger cuts, quantities and varieties of leather start arriving down the road.