The Best Tools AND SUPPLIES for Leatherworking
Tools & Supplies I USE AND RECOMmEND
PART 1
All tools and supplies featured in this list are items I own and use on a regular basis. I wasted plenty of time an money buying the wrong things before I settled on these, and I would highly recommend any of them over most other products out there. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me through Instagram or feel free to fill out my contact form found here. PSA: All of these are either linked to the manufacturers website, or to an affiliate amazon listing.
Crimson Hides Pricking Irons
Whether you use French / European irons or Diamond / Japanese irons, Crimson Hides has some of the best pricking irons around. The quality, customer service, feel, and durability is outstanding. I use these irons on most of my projects, and wish I could have them in every size. Not to mention the price is really good! I know it sound like I am “crushing” on them, but if you get these irons, I promise you will not regret it.
Crimson Hides Japanese & French Pricking Irons
INTERCHANGEABLE TIP Wing Divider
This thing is awesome! Its a multi functional leather compass that comes with a pointed sharp scratch tip and a groover tip. There are with 2 different sized adaptors. A smaller adapter for the pointed tip & groover, and a larger adapter that you can fit a pen in for marking more than just leather. The best feature to me is that you can adjust the height of the marking leg, which is the main reason I purchased this tool. Its great to be able to raise the marking leg to make it less likely that you will jump the edge and mar the surface of your project.
Crimson Hides Wing Divider with interchangeable tips
Palosanto Edge Bevelers
These are some of the premier edge bevelers on the market. They come sharp, hold their edge and bevel edges like a dream. The customer service is great as well! They can be purchase direct from South Korea, or at District Leather Supply when available.
Palosanto Edge Bevelers
Ron’s TOols Montana Edgers
If you are looking for a USA made beveler, these Montana Edgers are also some of the premier edge bevelers on the market. They come sharp, hold their edge and bevel edges like wonderfully. They can be purchase direct, or can sometimes be found at Rocky Mountain Leather Supply when available.
Rons Tools Montana Edgers Set
Leather Shears
These scissors are amazing! They’re sharp, sturdy, and they fit nicely in your hand. I have cut through 10oz of leather without any problem!
Kai 7205 8 Inch Professional Shears
OWDEN 6 Pcs Leather Punch Set
These are the best value punches available. You can get them on amazon for under $15 (as of right now) and I have used them daily for almost 2 years with no issues. Clean punches, and they stay sharp for a long time.
OWDEN 6pc Hole Punch Set - 1mm-5mm
Belt Hole Positioning Guide
I use this jig all the time. It’s perfect for making sure your belt holes are dead center, and accurate.
Belt Positioning Jig - Hole Spacing Template Tool
Halder Dead Blow Hammer
This is a great poly faced dead blow hammer that I have been using for about a year with my pricking irons & hand setting tools. It has a really nice weight to it, the face is non marring, and it is easy to keep pricking irons on line when using it. I have tried a bunch of different mallets, and this one is the best I have found.
Halder Dead Blow Poly Faced Mallet
Dremel Stylo+ & Keyless Chuck
Perfect for burnishing and sanding leather edges when paired with abrasive mandrels, and hardwood burnishing attachments. The keyless chuck is a must when changing bits frequently.
Dremel Stylo+ with Keyless Chuck
Rotary Tool Sandpaper Rolls
These are great at smoothing out edges when burnishing leather. The ability to use them wet or dry is a huge advantage, and this is the only set I know of with the extra fine grit options. That beings said, the metal mandrel is a softer metal so they can get out of alignment if you push to hard, but they are fairly easy to bend back into place.
Wet/Dry Rotary Sand Paper Rolls 240-2000 Grit
Micro-mesh Sanding Pads
These are great for getting that glossy mirror polish when burnishing your edges. They are washable and reusable.
Micro-Mesh Sanding Pads
Montana Empty Acrylic Marker
This is great to fill with 50/50 water and Tokonole for burnishing edges, or leather dye if you like to add color to your edges.
Montana Empty Acrylic Marker 15mm
Tokonole Burnishing Agent
This is the best solution for burnishing edges and can be found at most online leather supply stores. It is significantly better than anything else on the market.
Tokonole Burnishing Agent
Thickness Gauge (mm)
This thing is super accurate and super cheap. It’s not the nicest tool out there but you honestly cannot go wrong with this thickness gauge.
Thickness Gauge - Metric
OLFA Rotary Cutter 60mm
I really like this rotary cutter. I have had a few and the automatic trigger on this model is a great feature. Its nice to have the larger 60 mm size when using a ruler / straight edge with a cutting guard (which I would highly recommend when using a rotary cutter).
Olfa Deluxe Rotary Cutter (60mm)