And back to describing the tools used in leather work. This time wooden handled hand tools.
First will be 3 types of tools used in hand stitching leather parts together. First of which is an adjustable stitching groover which is used to cut a shallow grove for the stitches to lay in, flush with the surface of your leather project. It can be adjusted to cut a grove 1/16" to 1-1/8" in from your project.
Next is a tool called an overstitcher. These come with various wheels used to mark where your stitch holes are to be punched through the leather. They come with wheels which mark from 5 stitches per inch up to 8 stitches per inch. Since I'll be working mostly with thick leather, I use the # 5 & 6 the most.
Next is the stitching awl which can be used to punch stitch holes through thinner leather, and can be used to widen punched holes in thicker leather. By putting a tiny bit of bees wax in the holes & twisting the awl blade in the hole, it will also burnish the hole making it easier to pull your thread through the hole.
Next is the edge beveler. Used to round over the edge on pieces of cut leather. This gives your project a more finished look, and can also prevent being cut by the sharp edge on the grain side of your leather pieces. Leather as it dries out can become quite hard, and can cut you. Edge bevelers come in several sizes from # 1 which only removes a tiny amount from the edge, up to # 10 which is only used on very thick leather. I for the most part use #'s 2 & 3.
Next is the adjustable gouge. Used where a tight bend must be made in thick leather, it removes a U shaped strip of material from the flesh side of your piece. It can be adjusted with a thumb nut to set the depth of groove you want to cut.
Next is the adjustable creaser. It is used to mark a line along the outside edge of a leather piece. Most often used on belts, it leaves that raised edge you see all the way around the outside of many belts. It can also be used as a guide line marker when punching holes for a laced edge on projects, or as a guide for stamping a decorative border around a project.
And finally something most wouldn't associate with leather work. Molding & modeling tools used in ceramic and clay modeling projects. These can be used to mold a leather carving to achieve shading and shaping of a carving. And not in the picture, but equally as useful is something all of you have on your jewelry bench. The bezel burnisher. I have both the straight & curved blade burnishers in my leather tool kit, and always know where they are if I need to set & burnish the bezel on a jewelry piece.
Many dental pics lend themselves to leather tooling as well. They will often fit into tight areas in a carving the leather tools are too large to fit into.
