Hatbands?

[Ebbtide]

I have a snake skin.
I have a leather hatband blank and buckle set. Probably 1/2" wide...
I have adhesives.

The question is...
Trim the snake skin at the edge of the leather or try to wrap it around the blank?

Any other tips, tricks or hatband discussion is welcome.

 

[sheathmaker]

The ideal method would be to cut the hat band base leather over size (width) and attach the shake skin to the flesh side using a quality contact cement and when cured cut out the final 1/2" strip. This method will yield nice even edges the full length of the hat band. The alternative would be to cement the snake to the flesh side of the already cut strip and then trim very very accurately with an exacto knife.

Not knowing the thickness of the snake, I would hesitate to suggest you wrap it. Also wrapping could cause some bias warping when the band is put to use.

Paul

 

[Ebbtide]

Thank you Paul.
Good food for thought... my gut said wrapping the band was trouble waiting to happen...
I'll post the results when I have some.

 

[Ebbtide]

It took me a while

I cut the snake skin about 2x the width of the band blank.
Applied 3M 465 (rubber cement) tape to the blank, double thick.
Snakeskin face down on the table with a straight edge just covering one edge of the skin.
Laid the blank down on the skin, carefully going along the straight edge.
That kept it from getting all wavy.
Trimmed it free hand while the straight edge was still in place. Switched it around for the other side.
(I make my living with a razor (matte) knife so the freehand cut wasn't a big deal. Some may want to use the straight edge.)
Always use a fresh blade.

I'm happy with it and hope this helps someone else to dive in on a project that they've had sitting for a while

 

[sheathmaker]

It did take a while, but the results are great.

Paul

 

[Horsewright]

I agree that looks great!