Leatherworking/Leather Craft Thread

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Cats

Cats

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kiwifarms.net
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17 de Abr, 2020
Hi i am interested in getting into making belts and sheaths etc out of leather and was thinking that there has to be kiwis who do leatherwork. Any pointers or tips you can give me would be greatly appreciated and also I thought there should be a thread where people could show their stuff they make. Some of the things I have seen on youtube are real works of art :]


My current goal is to make two different belts, a machete sheath, and three or four bowie sheaths. I like patterned stuff mainly with oak leaves etc. Kind of tired of basketweave. My old equipment was made by Texas murderer Darryl Craig at the Stiles unit. I want to learn how to do these kinds of designs on some new stuff.

leathers.png
gas case and radio case (I just put a new snap on the radio strap it looks black but its chrome)

gascase.png

radiocase.png


I have the handcuff case he made me somewhere around here too as well as a revolver holster and belt keepers. My old belt was a 2 1/4 inch basketweave duty belt that wasn't handmade so I want to make an oak-leaf belt that matches these as well as a heavy duty walnut-colored "going out in the woods" belt for my knives/machete and stuff. I was thinking since my main knife is pretty large I wanted a scout carry (horizontal across the lower back) sheath for right handed draw that can also double as a D ring dangler+thigh strap rig if needed.
 
Premium Gonzo dijo:
Oooh pretty i am not skilled in leather working but i am interested, at most experince i have is a kit i got for my partner and he never used so i did it instead !
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My biggest question is really like...so these here are the tools for stamping:

stamps.png

How the fuck am I gonna take those little teeny tiny shapes and make a giant oakleaf or an whole PATTERN, or some big flower or design?! lol

it looks so hard but I invested a bit of money into the supplies they should be here within the week. I know I can do it but damn if it doesn't look hard. Also I like thick leather so cutting it is going to be a pain. I went with 12oz (4-5mm thickness) for my stuff with some 5oz (~2.5mm thick) straps for all the...well straps...since 12oz is too thick for folding much. 5oz is usually stacked in pairs to make standard thickness leather belts you see in the stores and stuff so it's perfect for keepers/straps.

Here is the design I want for my main knife:


scout.jpg scout2.png

The knife is quite large handmade affair with a very long handle proportionally so it will likely take up the whole of my lower back:

main.png
(I actually recently re-sanded the handle since it was battered from heavy use so its stripped in that photo but I urethaned it a couple hours ago. The blade is 12" and overall 17.5")

The belt for that knife as well as the sheath will be dark walnut. These woods pieces are not gonna be too fancy because they will be getting beat up a little in the forest. My main knife actually has a wooden sheath already with cheaper grain leather wrapping it that I am gonna replace with my 12oz and add a strip on each side that I can sew it all through. Also want to make a black back mounted sheath for my 14" machete with pouches kind of like this (except black ofc):

machete.png

I'm not sure how that guy gets his finished product so shiny, I grabbed some neatsfoot oil hoping that will do the trick. I know the edges need burnishing. I have a whole kit coming my way with all the tools in it.
 
I make axe sheaths out of old leather bags. made a few things over the years too.usually when something can't be bought. learnt as a kid making a toolbelt with someone.

Cats dijo:
I'm not sure how that guy gets his finished product so shiny, I grabbed some neatsfoot oil hoping that will do the trick.
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polishing it. I'd also wager some photoshop & a spritz of wd40 right before the photo though.
 

This is one of my favorite tutorial videos that I have found recently I got this one saved off to the side to watch when I dive into my first project. His stuff looks like candy at the end it is so pretty. I really admire the ability to make some of this stuff. I always wanted to make my own custom duty gear back when I actually needed to wear the stuff even the gear made for me was never 100% perfect bc it was just written instructions. Hopefully will be able to get skilled at this. some people make bank off this stuff too like the materials are expensive yeah but high end goods can pull a great price. but more than that I want to be able to show it off here
 
Cats dijo:
My biggest question is really like...so these here are the tools for stamping:

Ver archivo adjunto 4538233

How the fuck am I gonna take those little teeny tiny shapes and make a giant oakleaf or an whole PATTERN, or some big flower or design?! lol
Presiona para expandir...
No idea but looking at it a lot of the time it's probably pre marked out and tooled out using the smaller tools to create the bigger effect, sorta like sculpting. This is a guess at best but tooling foam is the same effect.
 
@Cats Sorry I didn't get home to really late last night and I've just got up and I promised to help.

OK here is the first books out my collection I'm going to share and it's from 1904 but the technology and skills haven't changed since the iron age so still valid it's from Paul N Hasluck as well so it's even better.

I will post more later but this will get you started.
 

Archivos adjuntos


If Cats made a leather-bound tome full of Internet Cat Pictures with a section in the back for all his custom made cats and the stories that came with them, it would be one of the most powerful relics known to Human Kind.
 
So, looking for a bit of help sourcing something.

Got in to leatherwork recently. Made myself some axe sheaths and a few wallets for presents, luggage tags and did a 1-day "make a satchel" course that was pretty good.

Anyway, I have a keyring I'd like to replicate. It's just a piece of crappy painted leather but the hardware is what I'm interested in.

So it's a matched grommet/eyelet and shoulder screw/chicago screw that you string keys on. Has a couple of tiny washers and rubber gaskets as well.

I can find plenty of the above, but not matched sets that work well with each other. In the pictures you can see that the grommet has a machined recess that the shoulder screw and a rubber gasket sit into nicely without sitting proud of the surface.

Anyway, I've checked the usual suspects, including state side like weaver, tandy and a few others.

There's some similarities to bookbinding eyelets but again, no one seems to have matched sets with that recess.

Anyone recognize that kind of hardware from somewhere? The emails I've had returned suggest that it was a custom piece but I doubt it because it's just a piece of chinese tat.

Anyway, might be chasing my tail but thought I'd ask.

1.jpg 2.jpg 3.jpg 411O9g9h5kL.SS700.jpg
 
Slightly out of the blue have you check Ali baba and temu? you might find it there. If its been mass manufactured at any point it'll have passed through one of those online chink trash stores.
 
Premium Gonzo dijo:
Slightly out of the blue have you check Ali baba and temu? you might find it there. If its been mass manufactured at any point it'll have passed through one of those online chink trash stores.
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Yeah I've gone through page after page of eyelets, grommets, bookbinding, leatherwork etc keyword pages and they're all the generic style you see from Tandy or pretty much any leatherwork/sewing supplier.

I'm pretty sure I'm using the wrong searches, that they're a "wotsit" and as soon as I know the name it'll pop up. Like chicago screws, I didn't know what the fuck they were called, just what they looked like. Basically I got given a bunch of leatherworking tools and supplies by a neighbours wife after he died and I've just been screwing around watching videos etc. It took me an age to figure it out googling "screw that screws into itself" and shit like that until I hit upon the right terminology and now I can google chicago screw and be drowned in the options. I even showed the instructor when I did the bag making and he didn't recognize them, gave me some sites to check and nope, all just generic eyelets.
 
Premium Gonzo dijo:
Have you emailed leather working places and asking if they stock them with a picture? Its bloody frustrating not being able to find something without the correct name.
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Yup, I've emailed a probably a dozen or so hardware suppliers in EU/USA, no joy. It was PET here in europe that suggested I look in to bookbinding suppliers, which I did as well.
It's probably a waste of time, it's not like I have a real need for the damn things I just have the bit between my austistic teeth!
The universe is probably having it's fun with me and as soon as I stop locking what I want will appear.

Moving on anyway, our family secret santa is coming up so I think I'm going to make a tote bag for the person I picked.
 
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