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My Webelo DL and I thought that it would be a great project to have the cubs do leather stamping (name tags, belts, etc.) Here's the problem, we (the adults) don't know how to stamp leather or have the equipment. It's hard to teach a skill that you don't know how to do yourself. I've asked the troop leadership is they know of a leatherwork MBC that I could call and they don't know of any. I've been on Youtube (not much), Google searches, etc. and haven't found much information. I even call the different military bases to see if their Arts and Crafts centers had leather stamping equipment/classes...nada. I could probababy go out and buy a leather stamping kit, but I've been putting out a lot of money buying stuff to support scouting and don't want to buy an entire stamping kit, just for a one time project. Are there any resources that are out there?

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Check out Tandy Leather.

 

They still have stories around the country, a catalog and on-line webstore. They are pretty much THE source for leatherwork.

 

And they have discounts that scout units take take advantage of, I believe.

 

 

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Lets hear it for Tandy Leather! Hope you have one in your area.

 

I've taken 3 dens there and encouraged other den trips. They do it for a small fee (I have the boys pay) that must just cover cost of the supplies. My local store actually had a Scouter who would come for us with all these great scout stamps. He was an Eagle and would talk about the adventure of scouting while he worked with the boys.

 

We did pocketknife cases.

Have the boys put their initials on them. This is a true keepsake of their boyhood.

 

-- AK

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Leathercraft is easy and rewarding for scouts, I think. We don't have Tandy Leather stores in my area, but we do have Michaels and Hobby Lobby. Both offer a small selection of leathercrafting tools and supplies, and both regularly offer 40% off coupons on their website (or on their phone apps, if you have a smart phone). This is a good way to pick up an alphabet stamp set and a hole punch tool if you need one for your project. The scout shop also sells leather stamps, I like the Cub Scout logo and the BSA logo. These need a handle, we found that a short dowel worked well rather than buying the one suggested. I've also use a metal stamp alphabet that was $5 at Harbor Freight. A light touch was needed for these.

 

We found that Amazon had the best price for leather knife cases and other leather kits, better than Tandy with their discount.

 

The basic technique to stamp leather is to dampen the leather surface, place it on a wooden block, position the stamp, and strike it once or twice with a wooden mallet. Have some scraps around for the leaders and the scouts to practice, it doesn't take much to get satisfactory results.

 

I also want to mention that our unit leaders didn't know we had leathercraft tools until there was a thorough cleaning of our storage area and all the unmarked boxes were sorted. :) Other ideas as to where to borrow the stamps might be your district day camp staff or nature centers.

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If your Council operates a summer camp, they probably have the supplies and tools at camp. You may be able to coordinate something with the camp director/program director and take your Den to camp and use their equipment.

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Thanks all for the info. I wish we had one, but no Tandy store (or any store that offers leatherworking classes). I have a call into council...let's see if they respond at all. I have a call into the camp ranger at the scout camp to see if we can borrow the equipment. I'm really hoping he doesn't say we have to go there to use the equipment since it's pretty far to take the scouts. I don't mind driving out there and back myself though. My last resort option is to buy the equipment, but if it comes to that, I'l use Sasha's advise. I forgot about those 40% coupons.

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