First Leather Stamps

Starting out, as mentioned, you would probably just want the very basic tools to get started to stamp leather. The following are what I believe you will need in a basic set of leather stamps for doing completing most carved patterns. 1) Background – A104; 2) Pear Shader – P212; 3) Beveler – B702; 4) Seeder – B706; 5) Veiner – V748 or V708; 6) Camouflage – C709; and 7) Mulefoot – U859.

I believe that this would be a very good, basic, set of stamps that will be relatively easy to use and a bit more practical for your first stamps. One other tool that you will need is a swivel knife to carve the pattern into the leather. A ballpoint stylus is helpful to have to transfer the carving pattern onto the leather. Most leather project kits will come with already drawn patterns that will allow the tracing of the pattern onto another piece of paper for transfer to the leather.

As for the stamps mentioned in the first paragraph there are two things that I want to say about them. This is only a suggested list that I believe will help you to get started and you might prefer others with different patterns on them. These stamps can be ordered online or purchased from a local dealer for one of the tool makers. Actually there is a third bit of information I should pass on. If you order custom-made stamps, most makers will use the same numbers but may call them something different and have a different letter prefix. Please keep in mind, if you order custom stamps you could be investing up to $400 or more for the items mentioned within.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Have fun!

In looking back at this post, I noticed that I left out some very important information about purchasing leather stamps. What I am about to tell you might get me in trouble with some of the non-custom toolmakers. Over the years, I have always been on the lookout for leather stamps. When I first started out doing leatherwork, I would not have known the difference between a quality leather stamp and an ugly one.

I started buying my leather tools in the fall of 1970. This was much to the detriment of my college career and good grades. I found the same fascination with leather that I have today. I am probably even more fascinated with leather today because of the things that I have learned to do. I have learned some pretty good tricks over the years and I will share some of the better ones with you on this blog.

What I learned about leather stamps is that my original stamps were made in an era when the quality really mattered. They are not probably the best quality stamps that you would find, but they were good enough for me to learn with and develop my style of tooling. It is not really the quality of the stamps that you have, but how you work with them.

In my looking for new stamps, I found that some toolmakers seemed to be going for quantity rather than quality for the stamps that were being sold. The stamps that I acquired had a good quality design that would transfer to the leather with good definition. I was glad that I purchased my stamps when I did. Many of these new stamps were being made with very coarse looking patterns that were mostly filled with chrome plating.

Chrome plating is necessary unless a stamp is made from stainless steel. Periodically, I need to polish some of the tools that I have made because they will oxidize and stain the leather. I believe that some of the stamp makers learned that their customers wanted and needed higher quality stamps to turn out higher quality leather products. They seem to be making better quality stamps now, which pays dividends for the makers.

It really does not matter if you use an inexpensive set of stamps on your leather. I would ask the question, “If a person can make a hand-tooled leather project look good with inexpensive stamps, does that person need to have custom made stamps to achieve the same quality?” I would say “No!” Maybe the person who is able to turn out good quality products with non-custom made stamps is actually more of an artist.