mfaley, I picked up most of my tooling by watching ebay...they have a huge leather working category...
As far as stitching machines..I bought a used "heavy duty" Rex machine from a local garment shop that was closing down...with the proper needles it works very good...used dedicated leather machines are few and far between and usually bring a premium price...
I've found that using a "Stitching Pony" and hand sewing is easier and faster unless you are making leather garments...
Thanks. I will have to look at ebay a bit more. I have been out there a few times and it seemed like much of what was being offered was the same as you can get from a store for about the same prices.
To be fair I have not spent much time looking so I will give it a second look.
thanks for the advice on the stitching pony. I think I will give that a shot first.