Vintage Leathercraft Tools

Leathercraft encompasses the formation of leather into objects such as shoes, saddles, dog collars, belts, wallets, and purses. Leather carving or tooling is a branch of leathercraft in which specialized knives, stamps, and mallets are employed to create designs that appear in relief on tanned leather that has been moistened or cased. For collectors of unusual and specialized vintage tools, leathercraft tools have much to offer. One manufacturer of vintage tools is C.S. Osborne, which was founded in New Jersey in 1826 to make the tools used to make harnesses and saddles for horses pulling carriages through city streets and country lanes before the advent of the automobile. The firm is still in business today. A good deal later, in 1919, Tandycrafts, Inc. opened its doors in Texas. Originally in the business of making soles and heels for cobblers, after World War II the company expanded into leathercraft for the hobby market. The Tandy books and catalogs from this period, many of them featuring designs by Al Stohlman, are a side collectible for fans of vintage leathercraft tools. Today, Stohlman and his wife, Ann, are closely associated with the Tandy brand. In fact, Stohlman got his start in leathercraft working for a company based in Los Angeles called Craftool. That firm made all sorts of bevelers and stamping tools, from seeders and flowers to camouflage and veiner tools. Other tools of the leathercraft trade include mallets with wooden or rawhide heads. In general, a leather craftsperson will have at least two mallets of varying weight—a heavy one for making deep cuts and punching holes and a lighter one for finer work, which is typically executed by making repeated taps as the tool is moved across the surface of the leather being worked. Cutting, of course, is a big part of leathercraft, which is why every craftsperson also has a round knife, also called a head knife. Another cutting tool is the draw or plow gauge, which is used for cutting strips of leather to be made into handles, straps, and belts. The blade they use the most, though, is the swivel knife, which is designed to be held in the hand and depressed into the leather—the swivel allows the craftsperson to change direction easily. Finally, to make holes in leather, hollow hole punches are a must, as is a good awl, which can also be used as a scribe. More specialized is the pricking iron, which allows the craftsperson to punch multiple holes for stitching, a task that requires heavy needles, some of which are curved to make it easier to stitch in tight places.