Guide to Leatherworking Tools For Beginner Leathercrafters

The list of leather working  tools includes;  awls, bevelers, burnishers, cutters, gouges, glues, groovers, mauls, pricking irons, punches, skivers, stamps, sewing items, and a cutting mat. Often the  specific tool  will depend on the project.

As a beginner It is better to keep it simple, you don’t need a lot of tools to start.  As you learn and get more experience you will get more confident about what you want. 

Below is a list of what we think is a good starting place for tools;

Some of these tools we stock, some we don't (yet).

Needle and Thread
 Harness needles – Size 4 and 2

Size 4 (004) - Smallest Needle Length: 48mm / Outer Diameter: 0.9mm
Size 2 (002) - Length: 54mm / Outer Diameter: 1.0mm

 

 

 Link to Hand Sewing Needles

Waxed  Hand Sewing Thread

Link to Hand Sewing Thread

Sharp Knife and Cutting Board
Retractable Blade type knife,  Heavy duty Scissors, self healing cutting matt

Stitching Clamp
 Keeps your hands free by holding  your leather project whilst   you stitch. Not essential, but makes hand stitching much easier

 Link to Stitching Clamp

 Awl
Used for  marking   or piercing leather.  

Pricking Iron
Evenly punches slots in your leather so that you can hand sew, ours are available  in 7 stitches per inch or 10 stitches per inch

Link to our pricking irons (coming soon)

Polymer Head Maul (Mallet/Hammer)
A Mallet with minimal bounce, also doesn't damage tools.

 

Link to our Mauls

Rotary Hole Punch
Punches round holes in leather in 2.0mm, 2.5mm,3.0mm,3.5mm,4mm and 4.5mm diameters
 
Bulldog Clips
Great for holding the edges of projects together

Tape measure & Metal Ruler

Contact Glue
Specialized leather contact glue is available  but contact glue from a hardware store is fine to begin with.

Wooden or Bone folder
Used for; folding, scoring and creasing Burnisher  
Usually wood, used to burnish the edge of your projects.