The tools you need to get started

You will not need these tools until Chapter 5. You may already have some of them at home.

KNIFE - To make starting items you will need to cut the leather, a basic utility knife works fine for this but try to avoid ones with retractable blades as they can unexpectedly retract when cutting heavier leather, keep a stock of new blades because cutting leather blunts blades quickly

RIVET SETTER - Many of our designs yuse cap head rivets to join the leather panels, rivet setters are cheap and are chosen to match the size and type of rivet heads. You will also need something to use as an anvil to set the rivets, this cam be a real anvil even a small one, some desk vices have a small anvil on them or just a small steel plate at least 12mm / half an inch thick, place it on a solid surface because you will be hitting it a lot

HOLE PUNCHES -  For making holes for the rivets and any eyelets a small set of punches are good for beginners, you want 3mm / 1/8th inch and 6mm or 1/4 inch as the two most important ones, you will also need a small stitch punch to make the stitch holes, alternatively if you already have an electric drill or dremel type drill you can use this instead

HAMMER OR POLY MALLET - If you already have a hammer at home you can use this with the rivet setter and punches, if not get a poly mallet, this has softer heads which won't damage the punches over time, the mallet in the picture is a deadblow type which has  weights in the head to give a solid blow we suggest one at about 0.5kg / 1lb weight.

NEEDLE - Get some Saddlers Harness Needles we generally use Size 2 (002) of these blunt needles from any good stockist of leatherworking tools or Amazon.

STITCH GROOVER - There are a variety of different designs of these tools that allow you to create a groove in your leather a fixed distance from the edge of a panel for stitching or decoration, you can buy them cheaply on amazon or ebay, most come from China

EDGE BEVELLER - This tool lets you put a nice bevel on the sharp edges of your leather, for armour making we find a N0.3 size works very nicely, Choose one with a hollow ground rear face, these not only are easier to use but the grind tends to form a smoother curve rather than an angled bevel.

SANDPAPER - For smoothing out curved cuts, a small pack of coarse, medium and fine paper used for wood is perfect

CUTTING MAT - Whilst this is not needed, it protects your table surface and prolongs the life of your cutting blades, do not use for hole punching though, for that a soft plastic  kitchen chopping board or a scrap of thick leather or soft wood is much better. 

Depending on what you already have and what you need to buy these should cost you $25 to  $50 in total to get started, the two most expensive items are the No.3 Edge beveller and the Poly Mallet