Leather Crafting.

[Chako]

I was just looking through some old photos stored on Photobucket when I came across some of my old work. I haven't touched leather in around 5 years now, and last summer, I wanted to make a western belt and holster for a Colt 45 SAA. I think that just might happen this summer.

Anyways, here are some of my old projects.

This series of photos show the steps into tooling the leather. This was a work commissioned by someone locally. He had wanted a gift for his dad showing his cottage. This is what I came up with.











A small handbag I made for someone at work.



A Ranger belt.





Another belt showing a simple geometric pattern.



A coin purse I had made for a friend's daughter.





Another made for a fellow colleague.





A belt made for a train enthusiast.













And another for a friend's dad.





Another belt.



This was my last large project, back in 2011, when I made this back quiver from scratch.





Yeah, after looking at all these old projects, it just might be time this summer to do that belt and holster after all. 

[Gohard]

Love your work there Chako

[zoidberg]

Love your work there Chako

+1      

[Poncho65]

I always remember being in awe of your work back then

Can't wait to see what that belt and holster come out looking like

[SteveC]

Wow Chako !   beautiful work   

[Gohard]

Chako, if I may ask, what back grounder do you use. Looks real interesting.

[Aloha]

Nicely done 

[Grathr]

Fantastic leatherwork chako!

[Subterranean]

That is just beautiful! 

[Chako]

I use quite a few different backgrounders, but I always seem to gravitate to the real small ones, even if I have to cover large areas. I find they tend to give the most consistent results.

My favourite is the A888-2 Craftool Background Stamp which you can find from Tandy.

[Gohard]

I use quite a few different backgrounders, but I always seem to gravitate to the real small ones, even if I have to cover large areas. I find they tend to give the most consistent results.

My favourite is the A888-2 Craftool Background Stamp which you can find from Tandy.

Thanks Chalo


Gohard

[Fortytwo]

Necroposting. I've been wanting to take up some leatherworking and have been doing a little but I've been lacking the tools to get the results I want. I'm not looking at making anything fancy or anything but I want my seams to be neat etcetera. So I watched a couple of tutorials and contemplated what tools I needed. Sourcing leathercrafting tools locally (as in, in Sweden) is a really expensive thing so I placed an order from China. No package or anything since they always seemed to include plenty of tools I had or otherwise didn't want. Now most of that order has arrived and the quality is as expected, far from perfect (at times not even usable).



So, a combination edge beveller and seam cutter, a set of forks (1, 2, 4 & 6 prongs) and a bevelling knife (actually a pedicure knife but who's really looking). The forks where pretty good straight out of the pack (how wrong can you go in making one, really?) but the other tools are a little lacking. The combination tool came with a crudely made handle and the ferule came loose almost immediately. Oh well, the handle is clearly functional and there's glue for the ferule. The adjustable distance guide needed a bit of a bend to make it closer to square, easily done. The edge bevellers where horribly blunt, no way they would cut (I have a fancier one that I could compare to) but they quickly sharpened up to decent on a bit of sandpaper. Luckily the seam cutter came sharp because I have no idea how I would have gone on to sharpen that thing.

Lastly the bevelling knife had a tendency to get stuck since the piece holding the blade in place was a bit to thick, so I gave it a bit of a bevel with my Proxxon.


Suddenly a working set of tools. Not great tools but certainly working (and at a fraction of what they would have cost me).

[Chako]

You might want to get a swivel knife and a basic set of stamping tools along the way. 

[Fortytwo]

So, my older pictures have died off so instead I'll update with some of the stuff I've been working on with the tools.

The first things I did was a couple of leather sheaths for some Classics and Executives. This didn't really use that many of the tools, but the forks came in handy, as did a Delemont Nail Clipper for the rounded corners.


Yesterday however I came upon a slightly more involved project. Like most people here in Sweden and hipsters everywhere I have a Fjällräven Kånken backpack. Now, I have the slightly larger 15" laptop version but it's still not by any stretch a big backpack, in fact, a jacket will fill it up quite a lot so I started working on a solution.

The first step was cutting out four squares from a bit of leather I had. The edge beveller can hardly be called sharp even after the sharpening I did but it worked out all right, so did the insert for cutting furrows to embed the stitching in.



Next up I cut out some holes for a pack strap to go through and burnished the edges, the burnishing wheel can be seen attached to my Dremel in the background.


Lastly I sewed the patches on, two layers of thick leather as well as a fairly substantial fabric was tough without some aid so my SOG P³ helped out with pulling the thread through. In hindsight I should have marked it out better and then glued the patches before stitching but it came out pretty good in the end despite moving a little. So now it's ready to carry a jacket on the outside, freeing up space for all the rest of the stuff one might want for a trip.

[ducttapetech]

Nice work!

[rivercity]

Cool to see some fellow leather craftsmen on here! 

I used to make pool cue cases and other assorted leather craft.   

[Chako]

Nice work guys! 

[MadPlumbarian]

Wow, I know my basics but dang, Chako that's some nice work, and rivercity those pool cue cases are beautiful!
JR

[ducttapetech]

Nice work!

[Fortytwo]

Cool to see some fellow leather craftsmen on here! 

I used to make pool cue cases and other assorted leather craft.   

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That's some mighty fine work you have there!

[zoidberg]

Nice work guys.   

[rivercity]

 

 

[Gerhard Gerber]

 

[WoodsDuck]

Very cool leatherwork, but...

You have a SAA? Modern or antique? Pics?

[Chako]

Yes, I have an Uberti SAA in .45 Long Colt. I also have a .22 LR SAA Cimarron Plinkerton.



It has been a couple of years I have been meaning to make myself a western gun belt for them. I just never seem to have enough time to do it. I have this book which contains a nice pattern for such a belt.

[WoodsDuck]

Yes, I have an Uberti SAA in .45 Long Colt. I also have a .22 LR SAA Cimarron Plinkerton.



It has been a couple of years I have been meaning to make myself a western gun belt for them. I just never seem to have enough time to do it. I have this book which contains a nice pattern for such a belt.

Sweet! 

I'll be very keen to see some pics if you start work on the belt/holster too. The pattern looks great.

[MadPlumbarian]

This was one of my last leather projects, I had to gather rust, (they said to take a cheap steel wool pad and let it sit in vinegar until it's dissolved) but I didn't have one so I had old screws and other stuff and let them sit in the vinegar for about a week then drained the fluid and kinda cleaned it out by pouring it through a paper towel. Anyway, that's how I got the color of the leather to turn black, needless to say that thing stunk so bad, I left it in the window(outside)! But it's a neat little sheath made for my custom sak. I'm more of for duty and use rather then looks.
JR

[MadPlumbarian]

This was one of my first sheaths, and fav. That setup I carried for like 5yrs and must say a great carry!
JR