Top 10 Tools for Amateur and Pro Leatherworkers

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Leather is a durable material used to make luxurious products with timeless beauty. It is incredibly versatile: Using the right and best Leather working Tools, painters and sculptors can use it to create art and showcase creativity and manufacturers turn it into leather shoes, bags, and coats that never go out of style and furniture that is always in trend.

Products made of leather are high in quality and will last a lifetime therefore leatherworking is a profitable and rewarding industry with many creative practitioners. However, turning natural leather into all those popular items on the market cannot be done without the right tools and accessories.

If you want to learn all about the tools used in leather working, this article is for you.

What Is Leatherworking?

Leatherworking is known as a craft involving cutting, skiving, stitching, and embellishment to create items out of leather.

A man holding leatherworking tools in hand

Humans first began leatherwork in Old Stone Age to make durable clothes and shelter. Later on, in ancient Egypt and Rome, men started using leather to make furniture, armor, and other equipment for their warriors.

Nowadays, leatherworking has turned into a popular industry with a market revenue of USD 253.82 billion that Grand View Research predicts to grow to USD 405.28 billion in less than one decade.

whether you are eager to start a leather business or simply learn it as a hobby, we have made a leather working tools list to help you along the way!

Basic Leather Working Tools

Choosing the right leatherworking tools ensures the efficiency and precision of the project. If you are a beginner in the leatherworking profession, here’s a list of all the tools you could use:

Cutting Tool

Standard cutting tools such as a utility knife, a rotary cutter, or a round knife are among the basic leather working tools that are essential for cutting leather into pieces of desired size and shape.

Your choice in picking up a cutting tool depends on your personal preference, but if you are looking for something reliable and efficient, Ronix 3402 rotary tool (with the right attachments) will be your best bet.

Cutting Mat

Using a cutting mat is necessary to make precise and clean cuts and protect your workbench throughout the process.

Stitching Awl

Through their sharp, usually flat or slightly curved blades, they let you thin out leather pieces of different types and thicknesses easily and in the blink of an eye.

After going through the Basic leather working tools suitable for beginners in the trade, it’s time to take a look at what professional practitioners might find helpful to complete their more complex projects.

Leather Skiver

Thinning out the workpiece is an important step in leatherworking as thin leather is easier to work with and it will give the final product a professional-looking finish. That’s when leather skivers come in handy!

Through their sharp, usually flat or slightly curved blades, they let you thin out leather pieces of different types and thicknesses easily and in the blink of an eye.

Professional Leather Working Tools

Professional leather workers know their way around leather and have higher skills and experience in the field. They need to be fast, pay attention to the details, and create high-quality products with a flawless finish. To do so, they depend on many tools other than the basic ones, including:

Diamond Chisels

A diamond chisel helps the user stitch through leather accurately without having to create stitch holes. As an important item on the list of professional leather working tools, diamond chisels come in a variety of sizes and can help you punch perfect and evenly spaces holes for hand sewing as well as saddle stitching leather.

Using a diamond chisel to make holes on leather

By Applying a bit of beeswax, pros ensure these hand tools slide in and out of the leather smoothly and without much effort.

Leatherworking Hammer

The leatherworking hammers’ real claim to fame among professional users takes root in the precision and efficiency they offer.

A man driving rivets into the leather using a hammer

They allow for fast and easy driving of rivets into the leather and can be used to flatten its surface and edges effortlessly.

Edge Beveler

An Edge Beveler is an essential tool in a leather working kit that can be used for smoothing the edges of the leather. It is ergonomically curve-shaped to maximize comfort and efficiency while trimming and finishing the edges of leather to round them off.

As edge bevelers can prevent the wearing out of the edges over time and make the final product look much better, they too deserve a place on the list of professional leather working tools.

Groover

Leather groovers are adjustable tools used to cut grooves into leather and create a straight channel where stitching holes can be punched.

Grooves are usually used for marking shallow lines used as a guide for cutting or stitching. You can also use them to cut deeper and create a channel. Creating such a channel means the stitches will not stick up from the leather, which reduces the overall friction and improves the durability of your craftwork.

Edge Burnisher

Edge burnishers help you enhance your Leatherworking profession. They are usually rounded or curved so they can smooth out leather surfaces and edges through friction. When leather is cut, the edges will show the internal fibers. By rubbing the burnisher on the edges of the leather you can melt the fibers of the edges together. This way, the resulting slick finish will be more resistant to fraying.

Hole Punches

Leather slots or hole punches are metal tools with a cutting edge to create narrow holes in leather. They fall under the category of professional tools used in leatherwork as only skill and practice can ensure making evenly spaced holes with them on the leather.

Among all the materials used in leatherwork which include the leather itself, thread and hardware, tools take pride of place. Therefore, they need to be chosen carefully based on the complexity of the task at hand and your level of skill and experience.

FAQ of Best Leather Working Tools

What do I need to get started in leatherworking?

To start leatherworking, you need leather, thread, a cutting mat, cutting tools like Ronix RH-3903 Left Cut Aviation Snip or the 3402 rotary tool, a Stitching awl, and a leather skiver.

What are the most professional leather working tools?

Diamond chisels, edge burnishers, hole punches, groovers, leather edge bevlers, and leatherworking hammers are some of the most professional leatherworking tools.