Some "& Such" projects from 2017

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WhiteKnuckle

Joined
Mar 9, 2016
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Unfortunately I didn't get too much time this year to work on leather, but I finally set up a workspace and have started to gear up for the holidays.

Here's some of the stuff I've been working on in the last month or so:

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Minimalist mahogany dress belt. No keeper, only one hole (hope I don't get fat)

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I made two of these belt pouches for a Halloween costume, as simple as possible. Frankly they are crap but I might put them on one of my packs simply to test how much abuse contact cement can take.


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These are called deckboxes, me and my friends play a very nerdy card game called MTG, and depending on just how nerdy you are you can spend hundreds of dollars on a deck of cards, so most people keep theirs in protective boxes.

So for Christmas I'm making a run of these for my closest friends, each one is going to be different, color, hardware, stamping, ect. The red one above was my prototype, you can see I used Chicago screws so that I could take it back apart while I was working on it. The blue one is the first from the "production" run that will be given away.

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Archery armguard for a friend's birthday. This was my first major stamping project, and while I made a ton of mistakes, I'm still happy with how it came out, and my friend loved it so I guess all is well.

The main piece is 8oz. veg tan with a fish scale stamp that was then dyed mahogany, straps are 4/5oz. and dyed Fiebing's Dark Red color, a dye that I just picked up but one I think I'll be using a lot, pics don't do it justice.

That's it for right now, if anyone is interested I'll post up the deckboxes as I complete them, but I know this isn't exactly the forum for it ;) And some time early next year I hope to make a quiver to match the armguard.

I hope everybody here had a great 2017 and has a better 2018!

-John
 
Nice job. Particualrly like the card boxes. Are they sewn?
 
Thanks guys.

The boxes are just riveted/screwed, no sewing or glue. Kinda designed them to be as easy/fast to make as possible since I have to make like 8 of them in the next couple weeks.
 
Know your pain! I've got 2 pair of leggings, 3 sheaths, 2 rifle scabbards and 2 pair of spur straps to do before I can breath too!
 
Horsewright said:
Cool have you tried making several at a time?
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Yeah, on the first few I was refining my measurements. This last one was put together only using those measurements, so I could punch all my holes at once before partial assembly. Obviously goes a lot faster that way, and this one went together without a hitch, so I know I've got it down.

So now I've got several pieces of leather dyed and drying, hopefully I'll be able to knock two or three out in an afternoon, assembly line style. But it's a little complicated by the fact that they are all unique, and the order of operations does vary a little bit depending on closure style.
 
Ya keep knocking em out and they will become second nature to you.
 
One more of the saddle tan...

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And this is the last one that's going to get made before Christmas:
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These were the distraction, now I've got a few days for the main event (purse for the girlfriend)

Nothing like leaving it to the last minute
 
Very nice work. Really like the even shades you are getting in your dyeing. See lapses in judgment like leaving the purse till the end is caused by still using that brain cell eating contact cement! Ya gonna have to try the green stuff. Easier on the head and works better.

Really nice work though make sure ya post picks of the purse.
 
Thanks Dave!

For me, dyeing is one of the most rewarding (and occasionally frustrating) parts of the process. While most of my stuff gets dyed in the "standard" way -saturating the leather and going for an even color- I do a lot of saddle tan stuff in a different way that uses a lot less dye but works it into the grain much more aggressively, and really highlights the natural properties of the piece.

This is for the purse I'm making:
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And this is a Christmas gift from a few years back, I literally finished it on Christmas morning before driving to NJ to deliver it (sense a trend with me and last minute gifts?) so I don't have any good pics of it:

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But in person it looked like a piece of polished, burled walnut.


And yeah, I need some of the green glue, it's been on my to-buy list since I saw you mention it in another thread.
 
Horsewright said:
Nice work. Hows the purse coming?
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Good(ish)

Got some stuff done last night, all the pieces are dyed and starting to come together...

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...and I'm getting out of work early and should hopefully finish it tonight. Wont be back to post pics until after the holidays, so in case I didn't say it:

Merry Christmas everyone!
 
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