Leatherwork: A Manual of Techniques

I have to admit, upon receiving the book and spending about an hour with it, I was pretty disappointed. At the high retail price, and it also being a hardbound book, I expected it to be a good reference book to be displayed on my bookshelf. But that was not the case. It had some good chapters (Tools & Materials, Pattern-Making & Design, Hand-Stitching & Skiving, Carving, Stamping, etc...), but didn't really cover any of the topics in detail. As a matter of fact, there were not too many pictures to help illustrate the points - so the readers are completely reliant on understanding the writers thoughts as he tries to EXPLAIN the techniques. (A big "no-no" in my book)! And on top of that, the writer seems to be British, so all the "Useful Addresses" for suppliers and tools are useless to us in the good ole USA. The only reason I did not go all the way down to "ONE STAR, was because I did get a few good points from the book. In my honest opinion, invest in the Al Stohlman books. They are profusley ILLUSTRATED, hit the topics in great detail, and show the American readers great photographs of his personal projects to show us how it's PROPERLY done. (If we're going to learn, let's learn from "THE" master)!! So to end, the book was a big "Two Thumbs Down"!!

About 3/4's of the way through the book and I was all ready able to make a quality knife sheath and turned an unusable pistol holster into a useable one. With what I've learned so far from this book I have easily recouped the cost of the book. From a new bee's perspective it's been a wonderful source of information. The illustrations are ok at best but they get the job done with very little confusion.

So far I have not learned anything new.

I already own quite a few books on leathercrafts but this one seemed to be a worthy addition to my collection; and it indeed is.After a brief overview of the tools and materials, you get clear information about the basic techniques. There are very clear drawing included. Later on there are project where the explained techniques are used.The book is aimed at the crafters that work at home and don't have access to expensive machinery. You really get professional tips ans "trade secrets".I'd recommend this book to everybody with an interest in leather.

As described, very good

No real information, just a list of did and don'ts.No real information

very generic and not easy to follow. also the quality of the copy is not good. looks like it has been scanned then saved for a soft copy sell.

.This is a good beginner book. It is NOT a complete text, but has good information and presentation. It covers the basics, and for that it is a good book.Some of the projects do appear to have been done by a juvenile, and not a very talented one at that. None the less, the information is good even if the demonstrations could be better.This should not be the only leatherworking book in your library.

A good book for the basics, although I found that the photos regarding tools were a little obscure - could do with a coloured revamp and maybe being a little larger in order to be clearer for the reader.Contains some good design patterns and explanations of techniques, however again if you are looking for illustrations to visually explain the techniques I would perhaps look elsewhere, as the visual elements to this book are a bit of a let-down.

Contains numerous tips and is really useful.

This is a great book for beginners to use to get started.

Detailed leather projects in this book and easy to follow instructions

Very good book on leather