Post by Galxey Sparrow on Feb 5, 2015 23:57:31 GMT
I have a number of tool I have found or adapted from others that I cannot work without. I'm sure a lot of these tools will be with me from a long while yet and will likely see some adjustments and repairs along the way!
I would love to see everyone else's well loved tools as well!
Post by lyndagillette on Feb 11, 2015 16:12:57 GMT
As crazy as it may be, my favorite tool is toothpicks. I use them when I glue pieces together, to help straighten rows when doing my loom beadwork, to put pieces in place as I glue them together, etc., etc. A box costs a buck & I always have them ready to use. After that a good pair of smaller & very sharp scissors to fringe leather. Also a smaller size needle nose pliers.
Last Edit: Feb 11, 2015 16:13:18 GMT by lyndagillette
Not too long ago I bought a set of nail art dotting tools. (quick ebay link) I bought them to use for polymer clay sculpting but I find that I use them for everything, much like the toothpicks that Lynda mentioned.
Another odd one is an old hair straightener. I'll use it to iron small pieces of fabric instead of dragging out the iron and ironing board every time I need it. (which is often, haha)
Post by Galxey Sparrow on Feb 12, 2015 11:59:35 GMT
Can do ^.^ Mr purple bird : I got today off my mother and he is an adorable pin cushion <3
Tweezers : for tweezing things and getting straps in keepers. Also used to place small bling items and beads
Awls : short fat red one for stabbing and enlarging holes also used for poking straps through keepers after i have used it to open them up. White thin Awl is used for all my glueing and also placing of small blinggy but with a bit of half dryed glue on the end, I also use this awl for doing all my stitch marking
The green pen: is an old fabercastell fine liner I have removed the felt tip, insides and end from which i use as a hole punch this one is .05mm i also have a .07mm width along with one i have altered to a square shaped tip that i use to press the small square patterns into my harness cheeck pieces.
Scissors: cuttin up stuffs (soft leather, fabric, lengths of lacing)
Small nail quick pusher thing? : I use for stuffing my panels (i need to make it a nice handle)
paint brush: this one i use for applying my sealer it is very well loved >.<
Modelling Pliers: pliering stuff, making buckles these are really strong amazingly high quality modelling/hobby pliers i bought from my hobby store everyone should have a pair! (i will find the brand for everyone)
Hobby knives:used for everything and anything skiving, cutting out tooling leather, tooling leather ... splitting lacing, scoring cans to make saddle trees
Files: cleaning up hardware and buckles, custom work on the odd horse or 2, filing nails when i half slice them off with the above.
So, out of all my many tools, these are my favourites:
I use the three on the left for smoothing leather or for pushing it down to create relief when tooling.
Nr 4 from left is a nice small file, to shave off the attachment-piece from buckles.
The yellow thing is a needle on a stick, which I use to prick holes, indicate places in the leather where something needs to be done, and it plays a big part in tooling leather (I use it to open up the cuts I make to make them better visable). Also when I'm gonna cut out a more difficult shaped piece of leather, I first "draw" a line in the leather with this tool to see if it will look good, while still being able to adjust the pattern something isn't quite right.
Nr 5 from left, the silver one, is probably known to you all: the hobby knife. I love this tool, and I have these awesome small blades (right upper corner) for it which I buy in a bunch and I refresh them very often to keep the tool sharp. I use this knife for cutting out pieces, and for cutting lines when I'm tooling.
Nr 6 is the best item in my whole tool-collection, the surgical knife. It's the best knife EVER for skiving lace and leather, cause the handle is flat and the blades are so ridiculously sharp that it's a bit scary to work with, I really don't want to cut off my fingertops but with this knife that is very possible The blades for this knife are in the right lower corner.
Charlotte Pijnenburg CharArt Because tack will always make it better! charart.wordpress.com/
Can do ^.^ Mr purple bird : I got today off my mother and he is an adorable pin cushion <3
Tweezers : for tweezing things and getting straps in keepers. Also used to place small bling items and beads
Awls : short fat red one for stabbing and enlarging holes also used for poking straps through keepers after i have used it to open them up. White thin Awl is used for all my glueing and also placing of small blinggy but with a bit of half dryed glue on the end, I also use this awl for doing all my stitch marking
The green pen: is an old fabercastell fine liner I have removed the felt tip, insides and end from which i use as a hole punch this one is .05mm i also have a .07mm width along with one i have altered to a square shaped tip that i use to press the small square patterns into my harness cheeck pieces.
Scissors: cuttin up stuffs (soft leather, fabric, lengths of lacing)
Small nail quick pusher thing? : I use for stuffing my panels (i need to make it a nice handle)
paint brush: this one i use for applying my sealer it is very well loved >.<
Modelling Pliers: pliering stuff, making buckles these are really strong amazingly high quality modelling/hobby pliers i bought from my hobby store everyone should have a pair! (i will find the brand for everyone)
Hobby knives:used for everything and anything skiving, cutting out tooling leather, tooling leather ... splitting lacing, scoring cans to make saddle trees
Files: cleaning up hardware and buckles, custom work on the odd horse or 2, filing nails when i half slice them off with the above.
Hopefully this isn't too boring! haha
Wow, I want an Awls like that short red one too! That is very handy, I'm missing a tool like that in my tool-collection... Any chance you can send me one with the halter that's coming my way?
Hihi, I have a paint brush especially for sealer too, though it's not included in my favourite tools.
I'm very interested in the brand of your pliers. I've got a nice one which was from my dad (dentist) which is very sharp, but it's good to know other brands to use too!
Thanks for explaining your tools Very interesting
Charlotte Pijnenburg CharArt Because tack will always make it better! charart.wordpress.com/
Post by Galxey Sparrow on Feb 12, 2015 13:08:55 GMT
Yeah My mum's friends store sells them i believe they are $12 or so and come in red and white they also have a small plastic cover so you don't stab yourself but clearly I like to live dangerously. I will need to look into those first 3 you have as at the moment I only have my tweezers for shaping my leather and my awls
Lol on the hair straightener, but very smart! I wouldn't have thought of that.
I used one for leather lace that gets all twisted up or if u unlace a leather purse made of lace (fancy dress shoes too leather lace) straightens it out a bit.
I heared that leather gets a bit stiffer when you iron it from the back. I once tried it with soft, fuzzy leather and it really seemed to work. Char, I am thinking about buying a surgical knife, too. I am mostly using a cutter, but the blades are getting dull sooo fast. Do the blades of the surgical knife stay sharp longer?