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Bruce Johnson 
Leather Tools LLC

Push Beaders and Push Bevelers

This page showcases two types of hand tools that are used in decorative leather work and carving. Some of these tools may be originally designed and intended for these purposes. Many leather workers in the past reshaped and modified the common tools for a special application. Push bevelers and push beaders were and still are commonly made from other tools such as edge creasers. I have been doing this by request for a few years and am now offering a few on this page that are ready to go to work.

Sections below include -

  • Push Beader
  • Push Beveler

Please click on the small thumbnail pictures to open them up in a larger size and read the description.

Push Beaders

Push beaders are used to make two parallel lines and a rounded "bead" between them. Beadlines are often used as a border for a tooled design or as a stand alone to create visual interest in a plain design. They are pushed or pulled on cased leather to create the burnished lines and as they work deeper the bead lines rounds up. Many leather crafters have modified an edge creaser to make a push beader. There are some tool makers who make these as well. I have repurposed several edge creasers into push beaders. Some push beaders are quite sharp and will cut the lines into the leather. I ran into problems with that style by cutting too deeply. The continual cutting while working the bead kept going deeper. . My modified push beaders are more blunted. They work well on thinner leathers, For a deeper effect, I advise to make an initial pass with the push beader. After that lightly cut the lines with a swivel knife. The blade tends to follow the beader lines very easily. Then you can go back and "work" the beadline to get a nice burnish in the cut lines and on the rounded bead. 

Push Bevelers

Push bevelers are very nice for smooth beveling longer swivel knife cuts like the borders on a belt or larger projects. They are pushed along to bevel one side of the cut line and are faster than hand stamping those longer runs. I am now making these in steep angle and low angle versions. For more information I have a tutorial on selecting and using a push beveler. Please check it out on the Tutorial page in the top menu of the page.    

   We are now changing the push bevelers to a continuously stocked item rather than an individually listed and uniquely inventoried tool. This meanswe intend to keep them on hand and ready to ship. Because these are uniform tools for your order we just need to know which side for the bevel and low angle or steep angle and we will pick from stock. Thanks! 

Push Double Bevelers

Push double bevelers are used in areas that a traditional double bevel may be used.When pushed forward through a swivel knife cut line they will bevel both sides of the line.  They are particularly suited to the cross-hatched line patterns used to make a quilted effect. The lines are cut, double beveled to give some dimension, and finally a small seeder is stamped at the intersections of the lines.