My name is Tim. I am the founder and leather crafter behind Black Flag Leather Goods.
In July of 2020, I ordered a basic leatherworking kit from Amazon and my first order of leather. The quality of the tools was poor at best, but it didn’t matter; I was hooked right from the first cut I made.
My first piece looked the same as every leather worker’s first: a rectangular bifold wallet made of cheap leather with uneven stitch lines, crooked cuts, and the ugliest saddle stitching you can imagine. From there, every hole punched, every stitch I’ve made, and edge burnished has been a learning experience. With the help of an experienced crafter and amazing friend, the quality of each piece I created was noticeably better. Before long, I had people inquiring about my creations. And now that I've learned quite a bit from the leatherworking community, I want to pay it forward in the form of this RU-vid channel to help others.
Bonus tip: If you mess up when you’re scratching a pattern, (for some reason this was a big problem for me) congratulations, but just made an extremely expensive leather stencil. Write on it, draw on it, use it.
As a visual learner...seeing your hand and not the needle, did not help me at all. I'm so disappointed. I still have not learned the saddle stitch...sadly.
I am beginner. I am buying Sinabrocks pricking irons. Would the round pricking irons be the safest choice? I am only buying two; 2 prong and 8 prong 4 mm spacing. I don't have much money to invest.
Lotta good advice, thanks. I've never done anything like this; my whole life has centered around electronics. But I've just purchased all the basic tools from Weaver, and I'm going to try making some bi-fold wallets! I'm spending the meantime drawing designs and cutting cereal boxes!
can you make a template for sun shield for the sides of sun glasses? something I can cut out in leather to block the sun from coming around the sides/top of the glasses.
I'm getting ready to make my first wallet, absolutely love this advice! Yes, those gaps would drive me insane, OCD people show through in their work. Thanks for the tip!
Great video and nice angles. I will reference this more in the future. Thread zapper, it worked great for a couple of days, then the tip kept popping out, I taped it, but it doesn't heat properly. Honestly it's another bad Chinese product, you probably got a good one.
Thanks for the great video. I had a question about the sanding part - I've heard you say in other videos that you cycle up through many different grits of sandpaper. Does that mean you typically swap out the different grits of sandpaper and if so, how long does it take?
great hack as it works really well to keep your sand paper clean and last longer. but I Think you could skip some of the grits you are refering to... 1000, 1500, 2000, 3000, 3200, 3400, 4000, 6000, 8000, 10000, 12000 is way overkill in my humble opinion. you can just double the grit and get the same result like 1000, 2000,3000,(4000 if you like), 6000 then 12000. and I personnally never feel the need to go over 5000 to get really high polished glassy edges. but might depends on the leather. :) anyway your content and leather work are great and very useful so thank you for that.
I have the large Weaver Leather burnisher. I have had it for 7 years now. We put out 300-400 pieces of leather month and I can say that for the money it's junk. You are better off saving the money and getting one of these from Amazon. I have had many issues with it and when I have reached out to Weaver they have been completely unhelpful.
Im kind of mad with you. This video suggests the amazon starter set I went got it and now as I watch more of your videos you talk about how I don’t need most of the things in the actual kit you suggested. Damn. At least it wasn’t too expensive but I’m bummed I have a bunch of stuff I don’t need.
What is the best cutting tool to use when cutting leather. The one I have seems like a flimsy blade and wants to just do its own thing. Very newbie here.
I made a wallet that's 5-6oz thick. 6x the length is the amount of thread I needed. Maybe it was because I use 3mm chisels? I don't know, but it's a lot more than you suggested
I've bought so many of your recommendations for tools from your videos (inlcuding this one). 100% great suggestions! Some are pricey, comparatively, but less in the end since I don't buy all kinds of cheaper substitutes only to buy what is best in the end. I don't have to keep trying things to get what works very well. The joy of working with excellent tools makes me enjoy leatherwork even more. THANK-YOU!!!
@13:58 Inching my way closer to buying one of these. Thank you for the video. Always very informative and easy to understand. You mention using another software program to create your templates and upload into their software. What software is that? I've been fooling around with the Leather CAD program and really like how easily it puts in curves and stitch holes. Is that what you are using?
I know i'm a little late to the party but for someone without any tools mate that's an awesome job! I've made myself a few of these but would never even attempt it without the proper tools. Good effort man. Literally sewing without needles and 'moulding' without a mould or jig lol well done bro! Also, was that the Camper model of SAK?
What have I done few hour ago. 65 cm zipper and I have cut 3 meter thread to be on the safe side. But 65 cm zipper is 130 cm actually. One side is 65 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
Question..do you recommend punching through single layers of leather that are to be stitched together or double at the same time? I like your video and will be watching more as I get further into leather work.
I don't know if Berman Leather is still in business, because it has been a while, but they always had very nice stuff at good prices. And yeah FORGET trying to stamp or shape chrome-tanned leather! Other random notes: garment-weight leather can be sewn on a home machine for the most part, for all you costumers out there. 😊
