www.BoundAnna.com

So its always amazing how expensive good quality leather restraints are am I right? So I've really been thinking about trying to create some of my own, but I really know nothing of purchasing raw leather. What are considered good prices, also good suppliers (USA) if you know of any. Much appreciated!

good suppliers if you want to make your own restraints are cows.

visit the great plains or texas. i heard you can find rawhides there.

seriously, do some research 1st. visit a couple of vendors to get a feel for the quality they offer.

and get to know the different terms for different qualities of leather. that's important.

Years ago, Tandy Leather was a good hobbyist source for leather. Check their website for a location close to you.

Weaver Leather, http://www.weaverleathersupply.com/ is IMO your best choice.

Tandy and The Leather Factory merged into Tandy Leather Factory, still operating stores under the Tandy name. They're expensive, but if near you it's an opportunity to see things in person. Ohio Travel Bag has hardware... I sold them my site http://www.wwlhardware.com/ about ten years ago and it's still running, with locking hardware and other unique stuff.

Also, given that leather is quite strong, be aware that you'll need special needles if you want to sew things together, which is recommended for higher quality gear, or a powerful sewing machine capable of handling leather. Aquiring them might cause the total price higher than just buying the stuff you want to make if its only for 1 item.

Slave_L wrote:Also, given that leather is quite strong, be aware that you'll need special needles if you want to sew things together, which is recommended for higher quality gear, or a powerful sewing machine capable of handling leather. Aquiring them might cause the total price higher than just buying the stuff you want to make if its only for 1 item.

Yes I actually have a hand sewing awl that can be used for leather (which I have for sail repair on boats, but its the same tool).

ponylady wrote:good suppliers if you want to make your own restraints are cows.

visit the great plains or texas. i heard you can find rawhides there.

seriously, do some research 1st. visit a couple of vendors to get a feel for the quality they offer.

and get to know the different terms for different qualities of leather. that's important.

I have tried to do a little research, there is nothing near enough to me to handle goods sadly. I had found some stuff online but as always it's hard to judge quality vs. price with online sources. Also none of the online sources I found seemed like they had a very streamlined/high quality website with enough information to make good judgement.

Thanks for the responses though! I'll check out the sources posted here

Consider re-purposing other leather items, such as belts, rigging, replacement straps from sports equipment, etc.

A wide-enough belt could be cut apart and used for cuffs; long replacement straps could be used for body harnesses. Buy O-rings and a rivet kit at a hardware store. Then look at the web sites for the high-quality toy purveyors; the stuff is, from a design standpoint, reasonably simple...it *will*, of course, take some time (and trial and error) to get it just right. But you'd be surprised what you can make, on your own, if you give it the proper effort. Good luck!

If there are any Amish settlements near you there will most likely have someone who does harness making and repairs and you can buy leather from them at a very good price. That is what I did the last couple of times that I needed leather.

I always recommend "The art of hand sewing leather".

The basic tools, an awl (diamond shaped), two blunt needles and waxed thread costs very little.

Then ad a clamp, knife, steel ruler, "Wartenberg wheel" for marking the stitches and the groove tool, and off you go!


and for a start, second hand belts and leather bags are cheap sources of leather.

Found a maker of leather bags nearby, aaaaaand they sell scrap leather in their store from their bags. So might start out there and see where I get! Might as well practice on some cheap stuff before investing in better quality leather. Thanks for the responses and I will for sure be looking into that book Sir C!

i would advise to avoid belts & co as props to make restraints/harnesses.
95% of them, if you ask insistently enuff, will turn out to be bonded leather.

basically a lot of industrial glue with some leather scrapnel mixed in.
not really what you want for supple cuffs or harnesses.

TheWingmen wrote:Found a maker of leather bags nearby, aaaaaand they sell scrap leather in their store from their bags. So might start out there and see where I get! Might as well practice on some cheap stuff before investing in better quality leather. Thanks for the responses and I will for sure be looking into that book Sir C!

If you have a business or can mimic one sufficiently, Weaver puts out an excellent and informative catalog for their wholesale business. I don't know if they have somethign similar on the retail side.