ClipArt ETC

The Leatherworking ClipArt gallery offers 29 illustrations of leatherwork tools and practices.

A common glove of the 16th century.

16th Century Glove

A common glove of the 16th century.

A frame or last used by boot-makers for drawing and shaping the body of a boot.

Bootcrimp

A frame or last used by boot-makers for drawing and shaping the body of a boot.

Cobbler with hammer and glasses making a shoe.

Cobbler

Cobbler with hammer and glasses making a shoe.

A cobbler clouthing shoon

Cobbler

A cobbler clouthing shoon

"Currying Apparatus. C, pommel; R, raising board; S, slicker." —The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1910

Currying Apparatus

"Currying Apparatus. C, pommel; R, raising board; S, slicker." —The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1910

"The knife is a double-edged rectangular blade, about 12 inches by 5 inches, with a straight handle at one end, and a cross handle at the other in the plane of the blade." —The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1910

Currying Knife

"The knife is a double-edged rectangular blade, about 12 inches by 5 inches, with a straight handle…

"Harness hides are washed by some means in pure water, the most convenient and generally adopted method being to place them in the dash wheel, in which they revolve and tumble about whilst fresh water is continually being poured on them within the revolving wheel." —The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1910

Dash Wheel

"Harness hides are washed by some means in pure water, the most convenient and generally adopted method…

"The softening of leather is helped and rendered thorough by working them for some time in the stocks after they have been well soaked." —The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1910

Double-Acting Stock

"The softening of leather is helped and rendered thorough by working them for some time in the stocks…

This illustration shows an early form of a glove, used to cover the hands. This glove was likely made of goat or sheepskin.

Early Glove

This illustration shows an early form of a glove, used to cover the hands. This glove was likely made…

A glove from the Elizabethan era.

Elizabethan Glove

A glove from the Elizabethan era.

"Another workman in a similar way with a fleshing knife removes the fatty compounds and flesh from the flesh side." —The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1910

Fleshing Knife

"Another workman in a similar way with a fleshing knife removes the fatty compounds and flesh from the…

This illustration shows a Georgian glove.

Georgian Glove

This illustration shows a Georgian glove.

This illustration shows a glove from the time of Napoleon I.

Glove from the Time of Napoleon I

This illustration shows a glove from the time of Napoleon I.

This illustration shows the glove of Henry VI.

Glove of Henry VI

This illustration shows the glove of Henry VI.

This illustration shows the glove of Oliver Cromwell, a 17th century English military and political leader.

Glove of Oliver Cromwell

This illustration shows the glove of Oliver Cromwell, a 17th century English military and political…

The skin of a beast, either raw or dressed.

Hide

The skin of a beast, either raw or dressed.

A glove from the middle 19th century.

Middle 19th Century Glove

A glove from the middle 19th century.

This illustration shows a glove of the present day.

Present Day (20th Century) Glove

This illustration shows a glove of the present day.

A punch or perforating instrument.

Puncher

A punch or perforating instrument.

"Another machine now largely used by curriers is the scouring machine, a level table or platform freely movable in all directions, having mounted over it a reciprocating frame in which are fixed brushes and pieces of slate or thin stone. These, with a small jet of water, scour and brush the entire surface of the leather lying on the platform, effectually scouring out bloom and all soluble impurities." —The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1910

Scouring Machine

"Another machine now largely used by curriers is the scouring machine, a level table or platform freely…

A man making shoes.

Shoe Craftsman

A man making shoes.

"A hammer with a broad and slightly convex face for pounding leather on the lapstone to condense the pores, and for driving sprigs, pegs, etc., and with a wide, thin, rounded peen used to press out the creases incident to the crimping of the leather." -Whitney, 1911

Shoe Hammer

"A hammer with a broad and slightly convex face for pounding leather on the lapstone to condense the…

A diagram showing the manufacture of a shoe.

Manufacture of a shoe

A diagram showing the manufacture of a shoe.

"In this machine the knife or cutter a is an endless band of steel which revolves at considerable speed with its cutting edges close to the sides of a pair of rollers through which the leather is fed and pressed against the knife. The lower of these rollers is made of short segments or rings, each separately capable of yielding to some extent so as to accommodate itself to the inequal thickness of various parts of a hide." —The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1910

Splitting Machine

"In this machine the knife or cutter a is an endless band of steel which revolves at considerable speed…

"Striking machines are now very generally used for the operation. These consist of a drum or cylinder having a parallel series of projecting knives, or plates of gun-metal, set angularly across its surface. Underneath the drum is a brass bed, fixed on a yielding cushion, which can be pressed up or eased by means of a foot lever, according as the leather operated on is thick or thin." —The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1910

Striking Machine

"Striking machines are now very generally used for the operation. These consist of a drum or cylinder…

Leather making consists essentially of the skins of animals chemically altered by the vegetable principle called tannin or tannic acid , so as to arrest decomposition.

Leather Making, the Tan-yard

Leather making consists essentially of the skins of animals chemically altered by the vegetable principle…

"In the case of limed stock the hides, at the proper stage, are withdrawn from the pits and stretched over an unhairing beam." —The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1910

Tanner's Beam

"In the case of limed stock the hides, at the proper stage, are withdrawn from the pits and stretched…

"The handling consists of lifting the hides out of the pit by means of a tanner's hook, piling them on the side till they drain, and returning them into the pit, the hide on the top in one handling going to the bottom in the next." —The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1910

Tanner's Hook

"The handling consists of lifting the hides out of the pit by means of a tanner's hook, piling them…

"With a working knife a workman partle scrapes partly shaves off the hair and scarf-skin." —The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1910

Working Knife

"With a working knife a workman partle scrapes partly shaves off the hair and scarf-skin." —The Encyclopedia…