Low-tech tool kits: leather

[whswhs]

One of the players in my TL1 fantasy campaign is looking to have her character own a leatherworking tool kit. Consulting GURPS Low-Tech, I see that it lists a "tailor's kit" as suitable for working with cloth or leather.

1. Will the same kit work for both cloth and leather, or do you need two sets of slightly different tools for the two materials?

2. The kit doesn't seem to include tools for producing the leather in the first place. What would go into a tanner's/furrier's kit?

Please comment/suggest.

[Anders]

You should ask the author of Low-Tech. :)

Let's see. I found this how-to guide. Seems you need:

1 large bucket.
Some form of scraper - a large knife would probably be fine.
Some abrasive to scrape the epidermis off the hide.
Leather awl
Ropes and a wooden frame
A blunt blade or rowing paddle to sleak the hide

In addition you will need
Lime solution, made from seashells or bone (?)
Large amounts of suitable bark (oak or hemlock in the source material)
Greenwood to dry the leather
Oil to waterproof it

You will also need three to nine months, most of will be spent in a tanning solution. So patience would be recommended as well.

[whswhs]

Yes, well, I believe the author of that chapter of Low-Tech is still active here.

The list of recommended equipment is helpful. Can you suggest a total weight and price?

[Turhan's Bey Company]

For a leather sewing kit, I'd double or triple cost and weight from the tailor's kit. Similar gear, but more heavy duty.

For a leather-making kit, the tools aren't that complicated. You'll want a set of scrapers of different shapes (at TL1, probably mostly stone but some metal as well; call that $100, 2 lbs.), and stakes (a bunch; $40, 5 lbs.) and rope ($5, 1.5 lbs.) for stretching hides. If you're thinking of a portable kit, this would involved a couple of tubs for soaking operations ($113, 32 lbs.), though leather production often involved fixed installations with purpose-dug pits. Then there are materials, whose costs vary. Leather gets treated with a variety of unpleasant substances which might include wood ash solutions, concentrated urine, alum, and the animal's own brains.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

For a leather sewing kit, I'd double or triple cost and weight from the tailor's kit. Similar gear, but more heavy duty.

For a leather-making kit, the tools aren't that complicated. You'll want a set of scrapers of different shapes (at TL1, probably mostly stone but some metal as well; call that $100, 2 lbs.), and stakes (a bunch; $40, 5 lbs.) and rope ($5, 1.5 lbs.) for stretching hides. If you're thinking of a portable kit, this would involved a couple of tubs for soaking operations ($113, 32 lbs.), though leather production often involved fixed installations with purpose-dug pits. Then there are materials, whose costs vary. Leather gets treated with a variety of unpleasant substances which might include wood ash solutions, concentrated urine, alum, and the animal's own brains.

What about simply digging a pit in whatever temporary location you've moved to? It doesn't seem as if you would carry a tub full of tanning solution on a journey, though I suppose you could load it onto an oxcart.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by whswhs

What about simply digging a pit in whatever temporary location you've moved to? It doesn't seem as if you would carry a tub full of tanning solution on a journey, though I suppose you could load it onto an oxcart.

You'd need to line it with something (stones? clay?) so that whatever vile solution you were using didn't soak out over the course of several days, but yes, I'm sure that would work.

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by whswhs

One of the players in my TL1 fantasy campaign is looking to have her character own a leatherworking tool kit. Consulting GURPS Low-Tech, I see that it lists a "tailor's kit" as suitable for working with cloth or leather.

1. Will the same kit work for both cloth and leather, or do you need two sets of slightly different tools for the two materials?

2. The kit doesn't seem to include tools for producing the leather in the first place. What would go into a tanner's/furrier's kit?

Please comment/suggest.

At TL 1, neither tanning nor tailoring are probably things. Most textiles into the Iron Age were woven to shape not woven in long narrow pieces, cut up and sewed back together, and most leather until the Roman imperial period was alum-tawed or oil-cured or brain-tanned but not tanned with tannins.

[(E)]

Various treatments for leather are definately part of a leather kit at higher TLs and I would think that analogs would exist at TL1 to varying degrees. These are such things as saddle soap, glue, water proofing oils and waxes.

A higher TL leather toolkit would also include rivets, stamps and moulds.

[Sam Baughn]

The biggest and most expensive parts of any sewing kit are usually the cutting and measuring tools. Most of them will function for both fabric and light leather. For example, my sewing kit has scissors, scalpels, rotary cutters, seam rippers, cutting boards, measuring tape, paper, masking tape, rulers, french curves, compasses, chalk, pencils, and set squares. Almost all of those work for both materials. A serious sewer will be fussy about using exactly the right scissors for the material, but generally you can get away with anything sharp. Likewise, thimbles are universal.
The next biggest thing is thread. Leather will usually use thicker thread than fabric, but there will be a crossover and so long as you aren't too concerned about aesthetics you should be able to use stuff intended for one on the other. You may have to twist a couple of strands of thin stuff together to get something which can handle thick leather, but that isn't too difficult.
You would typically want different needles, but even in low-tech societies needles are small and cheap so you could easily keep both in your kit.
You will need an awl to work with leather, but not with fabric. I think you might be able to get away with using a seam ripper, but I'm not sure when they were invented. The kit in LT includes an awl anyway.
Essentially, I see no reason why one kit couldn't handle both cloth and leather by including only a few small, cheap extras.

[DanHoward]

An awl is used with fabric. When quilting multiple layers together or inserting rivets or grommets, the awl is used to spread the weave so the needle, grommet, or rivet can pass through without breaking strands. A leatherworking kit is essentially the same as a sewing kit except that the tools are heavier.