I will always be a Brimage fan . I miss the days when this sub shared my affinity . Didn ' t he post here at one time ? <| sep |> I get it , I ' m having a hard time finding the money myself . And cheap leather isn ' t something often mentioned since most people here are advanced enough to value quality over price . Unfortunately I ' m in the EU so I don ' t know where to get the good deals in the US , but if you search this sub and leatherworker . net enough there ' s an abundance of US suppliers you can go through . If you ' re hooked on using exotic leathers definitely go for that , but otherwise veg tan is cheaper and easier to learn on . Pig , goat and sheep skins are also a good cheap option . They ' re small and thin , but if you ' re focusing on wallets they ' ll work great for that . Stay away from upholstery and clothingnappa skins . Those are cheap but unusable . And don ' t be afraid to ask anyone you can find in your area or online for scraps . If you can find someone it ' s a good way to get an assortment of smaller pieces for a good price . For the board , anything that ' s thick and rubber should help . Building supplie stores will probably have something you can use and they ' re great for a lot of other stuff you can use . Cork might work if it ' s stiff enough I use a cork block meant for wrapping sandpaper around . I find punching more than two holes at a time gives me ugly holes on the backside , but it would probably be better if my chisels were a lot sharper . Make sure you hammer above the tableleg , the table will bounce a a bit otherwise , which will lessen the force but also make it louder . Last note is utilise ebay and aliexpress for everything you can . It ' s not perfect for tools , but for stuff like sandpaper and glue clamps etc it ' s a huge money saver . sorry for the ridiculously long comment , I ' m just a fellow beginner with a passion for money saving haha .