Customer Reviews

Leatherwork: A Manual of Techniques

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I ordered the book since I'm interested in working professionally with leather. I've been working in different arts & crafts for more than twenty years and learned them mostly through books. In books I look first for deep and detailed information on tools, materials and techniques, the way the information is presented, the clearness of the procedures and the photographs that accompany and show the process. This book will NOT lead you through the learning process. This book is so basic and shallow that you can almost get the same information in the Internet. Geoffrey West shows a very limited information on tools, leather types, dyes and techniques. For instance the list of working tools are not numbered so if you're a novice to this art you wont distinguish a clicker knife from an awl. He quickly lists other auxiliary tools and lightly shows some dyeing options. This information is basic for the newcomer to understand how to handle moisture time, pressure, etc. The projects he shows are for people that already know how to work on leather not for beginners since the lack of pictures and complexity of directions makes it hard to interpret. It seems that this book wasn't written having the apprentice in mind. Besides, I was looking for a particular simple stitch style that is not shown in this book. I'm disappointed with the book and I wish I hadn't spent my money on it. Fortunately I stopped by a local leather place and I found a fantastic 58 pages book called Leather Crafting. It's published by Tandy Leather and it shows step by step all what you need to know to start working on your leather projects. The book has superb pictures and detailed explanation of how to use the tools and prepare the leather. I'm happy because the book cost me only $6.50. If you are serious about leather work do not buy this book, it does not worth your money.

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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.