BigDale

I'm trying to find the following leather stamps for Scouts. If you or your Troop/Pack has any of these that I can either buy or trade for please contact me ASAP I have a bunch of extra (more than 400 different) 2d/3d stamps to trade. Please let me know what you are looking for and there is a good chance I'll have it to trade. Thanks, Dale

I'm trying to find the following leather stamps for Scouts. If you or your Troop/Pack has any of these that I can either buy or trade for please contact me ASAP I have a bunch of extra (more than 400 different) 2d/3d stamps to trade. Please let me know what you are looking for and there is a good chance I'll have it to trade. Thanks, Dale

I'm putting together a couple sets of leather tools to use in Scouts. One of my goals is to get all of the 3d stamps that I can find. I'm very close and need about 21 stamps to complete one of the sets. If you have any stamps for sale or trade, let me know and I'll send you a list of the specific stamps I need. Thanks, Dale

I'm sorry if I missed this post and have not contacted you. I'm interested in any leather tools you would be willing to donate. I'm currently working with 2 Councils trying to improve their Leatherwork MB offerings. Any tools donated will be used for that purpose. The Las Vegas Area Council has 5 sets of tools they use for LW MB and Cub Scout Day Camps. The Anchorage, Alaska council only offers LW MB during Summer Camps. But they have 3 Summer Camp locations. So that's 3 sets of tools. I have 2 sets of leather tools I use for Scouts. One in Las Vegas and the other I've been taking up to Anchorage whenever I go up there, piece by piece. I've been there twice this year already and am going again at the beginning of May. I want to offer the LW MB classes other times of the year. Here is my contact info: Dale Prezgay 4800 Crimson Glory Ln Las Vegas, NV 89130 702-768-3335 Thanks, Dale

There are lots of people that still do leather carving. Unfortunately, there is not enough time allocated in the Leatherwork MB to allow Scouts the chance. Whenever I teach the LW MB I have as few as 3 and a max of 4 hours to complete the whole MB. After teaching about a dozen of the MB classes I finally settled into a rhythm that allows me get all the Scouts through. The Scouts take home a nice project they can use and even impresses their parents. I only hope that I inspired some of them to explore leatherworking further with my own enthusiasm and examples of what can be made with leather. I also want to start offering additional classes to Scouts and Scouters that would give them the opportunity to explore this wonderful craft. If you are able, maybe you might try becoming a MB Counselor yourself. Contact your local council if your interested. What kind of tools do you have?

Anyone interested in trading leather stamps? I'm not looking to sell anything. Just trade. I'm looking for multiples of all the Boy Scout, Cub Scout, Girl Scout, O.A. and Wood Badge Leather Stamps. Plus a lot more. Our Council has at least 5 sets of leather stamps I'm trying to add to. Four of the sets are smaller and loaned out to MB Counselors and used in CS Day Camps. The fifth stays at the Council and I'm trying to get as many different stamps as I can for it. I also want to have an extra or two of some stamps, especially the Scout stamps since we do occasionally lose one here and there. I have around 275 different 2D/3D leather stamps with a total over 750. Attached are 2 PDF files. One for The Leather Stamps I Want and the other is Extra Leather Stamps I Have. Most trades, I'm willing to give at least 2 of my stamps for each one of yours. Many I will give more and some a lot more. Especially for the red and yellow ones in my list. I want the trades to be fair for both of us. The stamps I have are in great condition and I would like the same from you. If you would like to donate any leather stamps and/or tools, instead of trading, it would be most appreciated. All donated stamps and tools go directly to the Council. I'm NOT looking to get these stamps so I can resell them. They are for use with Scouts and other Youth Groups only. I will eventually have to sell the extras I currently have, but I really hate selling on ebay which is why I haven't done it yet. I am posting this on several forums so some stamps may not be available. Contact me with what you have and which stamps you want for them. I will try to get photos soon, but most likely won't get to it until after Christmas. Thanks, Dale 12 21 2019 Leather Stamps Wanted.pdf 12 21 2019 Extra Leather Stamps.pdf

My anal retentive mind won't let do that. Maybe I should explain more. I want to make, or have made, some leather stamps of the uniform numerals. Along with the border and everything. and in different sizes. do several leatherworking MB courses throughout the year and am going to do them at one or more summer camps next year.

I have looked at many fonts and cannot find any numbers that match the Unit Numeral Patches. Does anyone know if such a font actually exists? I noticed the CS and BS are different. I don't know about the others though. Thanks, Dale

We can get 20 through easy enough. I think the main issue is that in a larger group there is less participation per scout during the discussion time. In addition getting all the blue cards signed there is a lot of waiting around. With an assistant or two, we would have the chance to work with the scouts that need to take a little longer (and I can assign the lanyard part to someone else). I really don't want to organize my own event. What I may do is work at the troop level. That way it could be from just a few scouts to the whole troop. We may have to meet several times since most troop meetings are only about 1.5 hours.

Wow! I would love to have that few number of students. I can see that at a troop event. I'd be happy to get down to about a dozen.

I was wondering what you think is the proper number of Scouts in a single Leatherwork Merit Badge Class should be? Our Council schedules 20 per class and up until recently it was for a 3 hour class. Now it is 4 hours. At 4 hours, by myself, I am able to get all the kids done and signed off. If I had an assistant, we might be able to get more Scouts through, but I'm not sure that is a good idea. Any thoughts?

Several years ago, I sat in the leatherwork merit badge class at summer camp (as a Scouter). I had recently started leatherworking myself and wanted to see what they were teaching. The counselor was a Scout (not unusual at summer camps) and based on his knowledge, I'm not sure he did the merit badge himself. After camp I went to our council office and had a discussion with the director. I explained what I witnessed at the camp and this what he said. With some merit badge classes, the counselor is chosen by the process of, "whoever is not doing anything else at the time". That was even more disappointing. We then got into a deeper conversation about merit badges in general. I brought up the issue of the "Merit Badge" events and whether the kids were able to learn anything in the 3 hour classes. He said that kids today have a shorter attention spans and that most kids wouldn't go through the same process, I did as a scout, of finding a MBC and scheduling a time and actually reading the MB book before seeing the MBC. So they have to provide these opportunities for them. Fast forward a year and my son had turned 18 but I still wanted to stay involved. I decided to become a MBC for Leatherwork so I went to one of these events and assisted the MBC that was teaching the class. He actually had taught the class several times so I was looking forward to learning from someone that knew what they were doing. I was excited. The class started and after introductions he said, "I know what I'm doing because last night, I read the Leatherworking MB book 3 times". What? Sure he knew some of the basics but when asked some questions, he got them wrong. Then, on top of all that, they didn't even have any projects to work on. The had some suede mystery bracelets and leather lace. Nothing they could stamp on. So I went to the person in charge of merit badges at the event and told her the situation. She said, "there is nothing we can do about it now, so we have to use what we have". I explained that what they had was not enough to complete the merit badge and she said that the blue cards had to be signed. So I offered to run home and get some projects for the next class. I got back just in time for the class and offered to teach it while he observed and did all the paperwork. We were able to get all the requirements done but a few had to stay late to do it. So I've worked my way to be the "go to" person for any leatherworking. I've done some Cub Scout Day Camps and more MB classes. I did get them to change some things. We order the MB kits that come with everything they need to complete the class. Now the LW MB classes are 4 hours long instead of 3. I'm trying to get a helper in every class. Is it perfect? No. But we do manage to get all the requirements completed. Yes. Ideally, I'd like to spread the class over 2 days. This way the leather can have enough time to dry after dying. We can assemble the next day plus give them some extra time to stamp on some leather scraps just to have fun.

In my effort to find the cheapest prices for leather tools I ran across some on ebay that I wanted to mention. The Native American Symbol set that Tandy sells I found with a seller from overseas. Tandy Price 29.99 + tax ebay price 12.85 including shipping. Same with the 8137 Alphabet and Number set. 8.52 including shipping from overseas. I'll give them a try and let you know they work out. I have ordered leatherworking tools from overseas before on ebay and amazon. It takes longer to receive and have not had issues with quality. Others have had quality problems. But when you buy a 250 piece tool set for 9.00 it's not going to be top quality. I think it depends on the items though. I am ordering 1 item at a time, not a group of items. If these test OK then I'll go to our Council with all the pricing. I'll post in another topic what I think a Leather tool kit for scouts should include.

Thanks TMSM. That is a great project and method for teaching the scouts. I have thought of doing that same project but wondered if the scouts would like that particular project. I still have the one my Dad made from a tandy kit over 40 years ago. Can you tell me the approximate cost of each one? Most of what I talked about was for MB classes put on by the Council either at their office or other planned merit badge event like the Scout Expo. I have done classes with Girl Scouts and the projects are chosen by the girls since there is no official LW badge for them. One of the other things I want to accomplish is to work at the troop and pack level doing projects they choose. That way we can work over several meetings to get them done. I also want to make some videos for MB counselors on teaching the LWMB class, using the tools and doing the projects. Thanks

I am planning an intermediate class that would be for both Scouts and Scouters. It would include a number of projects over several weeks. I want to put together a set of tools that they could take home to work on their projects between classes. It would include almost all the tools needed to complete most project kits, except finishing. Or, as part of the fee they get a starter set of tools and projects to begin with. Tandy has some nice sets and Springfield Leather will put together custom sets for me. I love Springfield Leather. The have been good to me and are very supportive of Scouts. I would probably start with 6 - 10 students and up to 24 after I get it down. I also want to do an advanced class where all the projects are created from scratch using patterns and templates. Full disclosure - I'm not particularly good at LW myself. I have to learn all the above stuff before I teach it. So I'm hoping to start the intermediate classes next year and the advanced, shortly after. I didn't mention it in the 1st post, but I was planning on being the LWMB Counselor at our summer camp this year. MB classes are scheduled 2hrs each for 4 days. I was going to go through the whole Tandy beginning tooling class using the swivel knife and stamps to make that stupid western flower. Then have them do projects that would cover the rest of the MB. Then with any free time they could buy kits at the trading post to complete if they wanted. But they decided to close the summer camp here in Las Vegas so I'm SOL. I've been putting together a list of the best prices for various tools needed for the above kits. Some at Tandy, Springfield Leather, Amazon and even from Japan and China. I just need to tap into the unlimited funds I think I have, but really don't. So i'm thinking of doing some fundraising on Kickstarter or GoFundMe. I've tried to get a couple of leatherworkers registered as MB Counselors but they show no interest at all. In fact, none of them would even help me learn new techniques or show me some finishing tips. As far as the display goes. Right now it's just a bunch of pieces I spread out on a table. I plan on glueing the different species of leather on a board as some have already disappeared. I want to also do the same with the other items that are tooled and create some of my own tooled examples. Most of my tooled samples are pieces that have been included with leather tools I bought on ebay. I've also picked up, from craigslist in Alaska, and auctions in Vegas, some hair on hides that I want to stretch out between 4-branch frames with leather lace. I tend to go overboard whenever I do something like this but I think it just adds to the experience. I would love to have display boards surrounding the whole room to make it an immersive experience.

OK, this past year I have done quite a few Leatherwork Merit Badge Classes (LWMB) in our Council and I've had a few problems. The main one has to do with time management. The classes have been 3 hours long and it seems that a high percentage of students don't get their project completed. So, I mark on their blue card that they have to complete the project and show the Scoutmaster. I do spend what I think is an appropriate amount of time on the discussion part of the class, but there is never enough time at the end to do everything. So I have come up with some ideas that I think might help others with their classes. 1 - I convinced the MB Coordinator to make the classes 4 hours long. That will solve most of the problems. 2 - Use the LWMB kits for the classes. BSA puts out 2 kits for the LWMB and they're about 13.00 each. They both include the 5 leather samples, the plastic lace and clasp to braid a lanyard (there is enough lace to make about 8" of braiding), a neckerchief slide project and one additional project. Either a pocket knife belt case or a wallet. I used to get half and half and let the kids choose but now only get the knife case. The reasons are: Having to explain 2 different projects and having to re-explain them over and over wastes a lot of time. And, the knife case is sewn as opposed to laced. Hand sewing is much faster than lacing. 3 - Give them fairly strict guideline on how they are to stamp the leather. The reason for this, is that given the choice, a high percentage of them try to fit every stamp image on their projects as possible. This, of course, looks like crap and whatever the project, it will end up on their floor at home in the back of the closet or just thrown away. I explain to them that these projects, done at an official BSA event, can be officially part of your uniform. Plus their parents are actually impressed with their projects. So I give them strict instructions for the 2 leather projects. For the neckerchief slide, I allow them 1 main image and possibly a border. They may also put their troop number and name above or below the main image. For the knife kit, There is room for 1 large 3d stamp on the flap and 1 on the front. Then I have them stamp their name and troop# either on the back or front (in case they lose it at summer camp). They can also do a border. Then we dye them. While they are drying I have them work on the lanyard. As soon as the dye is dry enough, I get them started on the sewing of the project. Item 1 above doesn't start until the next LWMB classes in October. But I followed 2 and 3 and all projects were completed. Although the kids had to stay after while I signed the blue cards. The best thing was that almost all the scouts were wearing their projects when they left. Here are a few more things I wanted to mention: I only had 2 of the 1/4" alphabet and number sets (T8137) so there was a lot of time wasted waiting for letters. It would be best to have one of these sets for every 3 to 4 scouts. In the room we were in, the tables could fit 3 scouts, so I would need 7 sets and then I could place them on their tables. Each Scout is given 1 poundo board, 1 wood mallet, 1 large tool handle and 1 small tool handle. The rest of the stamps I spread out on 1 large table up front. This worked really well as I have a wide variety of stamps that I bring when I do a LWMB class. I don't use the councils tools because I want to give them a lot of options for stamps. This however may also cause some slowdown due to the kids having to look over hundreds of stamps for that "perfect" one. I've seen MB Counselors put stamps on every table before, but then the Scouts get up and look at the other table's stamps anyways. I bring lots of display items that they can look at for ideas and to show them what can be done. I also have about 2 dozen small leather samples from different animals. I don't bring any swivel knives to the classes. There is not enough time to teach them how to use it. Bring an assistant. I was supposed to have an assistant at the last couple of classes that didn't show. That would have been really helpful. That way you have 2 trainers. My biggest issue is there isn't enough time for the leather to dry before dying and also waiting enough time for the dye to dry before assembly. But we have to work within our time limit. Getting that extra hour will help with that. I'm sure there's a lot more I could add but it's 4am so I'm going to sleep now. please add your own ideas to this post or ask any questions about the LWMB classes. Thanks, Dale

I was wondering if anyone does Leathercraft with Girl Scout Troops. I currently work with Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts. I've thought about Girl Scouts, but am having trouble coming up with projects for GS. I want projects they might actually use and not stupid, "throwaway" projects. Anyone have ideas what good projects to do. Dale

I've already donated over 300 (leatherworking) stamps to the 4 sets of Day Camp (for our Council in Las Vegas, NV) tools and have another 300 that will be going to our Summer camp and Girl Scout set that I am putting together. I am documenting my progress in putting the leather tool sets together and will be able to provide information about what works and what doesn't in order to help other councils do the same. Of note to all the Scouters out there willing to donate leather tools and stamps. I especially need the following: All 2d/3d stamps & sets, even if incomplete All sizes of 2d/3d Stamps 1", 3/4", 5/8", 1/2". 3/8" & 1/4" Any 2d/3d stamps in the number range 8500 to 8549, especially the Jewish and other religious symbols. All Scout stamps 13 sets of the Cub Scout Stamps (8532, 8445, 8442, 8441, 8443, 8444, 8440 & some have no number) 17 sets of the Boy Scout Stamps (Craftool 8508, 8543, Some have no number) 7 sets of the OA Stamps (8508, 8545 & 8411) 6 sets of the Wood Badge (8544, 8412, 8413, 8414, 8415, 8416, 8417, 8148, 8419 & ?) 7 sets of the Girl Scout Stamps (Craftool 8483, 8484, 8485 & 8486) Yes I'm working with Girl Scouts also. Alphabet and number sets, even if incomplete 3/4" & 1/2" Standard Alphabet 3/4" & 1/2" Numbers 3/4" & 1/2" Wood Alphabet 3/8" Fancy Alphabet 3/8" Fancy Number Set Any other sets that the kids would like Swivel Knives and Blades Poundo boards All Handle Stamps and Stamp Sets Tool handles for 3d stamps 500 - Large Handles 1200 - Small Handles (These are being glued to the smaller stamps so they don't get lost as easily) Mallets 182 - Wooden Mallets 130 - Plastic or Rawhide Mallets 48 - Number 2 or 3 Edge Bevelers Please PM me if you can donate leather tools and stamps. . (ed - RS) Thanks for you assistance. Dale

We'll see how it turns out I just found out that there are actually 3 separate sets of leather stamps. 4 bins of tools that can be checked out for Day Camps and Merit Badges. This is what I'm working on now. 1 large set of leather tools that they keep at the summer camp. I'm going to check out these this week. Scout Reach also has some leather tools that I need to check out. I will try to look at those this week or next. All have to be kept separate from each other. Looks like I have quite a task ahead of me.

Thanks for the advise. I have already been asked to do the leatherwork merit badge at next years Expo. I even get to pick the projects. Yeah. After I get all this stuff figured out I am going to go to the monthly roundtable in my district and offer to come to pack/troop meetings for leatherworking activities/merit badge.

It was. The kids can't keep their hands off them. I would have the same problem though, even at my age.

OK, I worked my 1st Cub Scout Day Camp. I handled the Leather Craft table. (See my other posts if you are interested in leatherworking and scouts). I have a lot of unique experience with kids since my mom ran a daycare from our home while I was growing up. We helped out when needed and I treated the (12) kids like little brothers and sisters. It was good practice for raising my own kids and many of the kids brought their own kids later in life when my mom opened a larger center with 125 kids. I've done some leatherworking with girl scout and boy scout troops but It's been a long time since I worked with groups of young boys (and a few girls) and it brought back some memories. We had a specific project to work on and a bit of information I had to pass on, and their attention span was low. These kids don't care about where leather comes from and how it's processed. Why would they? But just before the 1st session I was handed a sheet of paper with information on Italian leather. Apparently I was to inform them about this leather and it took me a couple of sessions to figure out why. The theme was "Passport to Adventure" and I was Italy. For me, the best method I've found when working with young kids is to be a performer and treat them as the audience. But you need to engage them in the "act". Lots of silliness and audience participation. And I'm ok playing the "fool" so this works for me. So after introductions and spending a few minutes just talking about whatever popped up I, I told them it's time to start and flat out said, "OK, we're going to do a leather project today. But first we have to go over some boring stuff." Now the important thing about making a statement like this is that whatever you say during the boring part can't be boring. I felt like I worked out a pretty good routine throughout the day. Next was the description of the project and a demo on how to use the tools. I discovered that it is best not to pass out the tools until just before you turn them loose on the stamping tools. I showed them samples that looked good with some design and also some that were just random stamping, all over the place. And as much as it kills me to see random stamping I told them it was totally up to them what they wanted to do. At this age I think it is important that with any art they should decide what looks good to them. Now we cover the rules. I do this last because they would not remember most of them if I did them earlier. This is not the time for silliness. The key is to present the rules and explain the consequences if they are not followed. Basically, telling them not to use the tools for anything but what they are designed to do, for our project, and if they didn't then I would take the tools away and they wouldn't be able to finish the project. Keep the list short and sweet. After I gave them the rules I had them tell them back to me. Then I hand out the basic tools and turn them loose, while I'm repeating the rules again. I was really surprised to see many of the kids put in some actual thought before they started stamping. But there were also a lot that NEED to stamp on every square micro-millimeter of the leather, front and back. Even when they say they are done they find a place where one more tiny stamp might fit. I made a list of some additional things to bring in to the next day camp. Samples or leather items, additional supplies and such. All in all it was a pretty good experience and I look forward to the next one. But, as I was asking about the next one. I found out that each district, within the council has their own volunteers. Silly me, I thought that there was a group of volunteers that moved from district to district until they were all completed. Like Gypsies moving from town to town. But nooooo. It isn't that easy. I have to WORK to be a volunteer. There are 9 more this summer, but only 6 that I can be at. I want do as many as I can in order to work towards my ultimate goal within the council regarding the leather program (see my other posts). Dale

Thank, I'll order some and test them out. Dale

I've gone through Wood Badge and served on staff a couple times. I'm a Fox. Which also happens to be my patrol animal. But your right about "trickle down" respect and pride. I took all the stuff in today and is being used tomorrow at a day camp. I'm working the next 4 day camps so I know the tools will be taken care of. I'll miss the next one but by then I'll have a manual together and a sign in/out procedure that will make a single person responsible for the tools. So if anything is missing that district would have to pay for it. We'll see what happens. Dale

I don't qualify to itemize but I get the receipt anyways because I know people that do.