SnappingDragon

Thanks guys

I work primarily with veg tan so I really have almost zero knowledge regarding other types of leather. Over the years I have been fortunate to have 3 different people give me giant boxes of leather scrap. At this point I have so much of it and I'm trying to figure out what to do with it all. I have assorted colors, weights, types and sizes of scraps. There are some suedes in there, also some that I suspect are faux leathers. I haven't the foggyiest idea as to what most of them are (one woman who provided me with a box told me there was deer and elk in there among other things). I certainly don't expect anyone to tell me what they all are but I am wondering if anyone has a link to some good resources on identifying different types of leathers preferably with photos as well. Any info is appreciated. Cheers! :D

Hi Eirewolf nice to meet ya! I'm pretty much a newbie too even though I've been a member for awhile. I don't post here too often. It's a great resource however. Look forward to seeing more of your masks.

I ended up ordering elastic that was listed as 2.5 mm. When it arrived it was slightly thinner than that but I think it will still work out great. Have tried it on all my new masks and have determined that it is much better to use elastic than ribbon - so much easier to put on, plus it's more secure. I'm pleased all around with my decision to switch to elastic. Now I just gotta figure out what to do with all the ribbon I have left over. Thanks again leatheroo.

Hi there, I don't get a chance to post here very often but when I do it's usually in the mask forum. Good to see another mask maker on board. Cheers!

That is glorious! Just made my first dragon and boy does this put mine to shame. Wow, just wow!

Thanks so much for your reply leatheroo.

Hi there, If you use elastic as the ties on your leather masks what thickness do you use? I'm looking to make the switch from ribbon to elastic but realize that elastic comes in many thicknesses. What I'd be looking for is something like round black elastic cord but I wasn't sure what mm to go for as I'm shopping online and can't test it out. Any pointers you may have are muchly appreciated. Thanks guys.

Hi there, I'm wondering what would be the best glue to attach leather to leather (light weight leather). I need something that is permanent, flexible and preferably without nasty fumes. Something that has one of those pointy applicator tips for fine work would also be a bonus - I know, I don't ask for much right Thanks so much, cheers.

Thanks so much for your pointers guys. I'm off to read the thread you linked to. Thanks for taking the time to answer I really appreciate it. Cheers

Hi please excuse the possible simplicity of my questions as I am a sewing machine noob. I usually work with tooling leather but I was given a very large box of thin garment (?) leathers and I'm trying to figure out what to do with it all. I have a regular home sewing machine that mostly gathers dust but I brought it out and decided to try my hand at sewing leather with it. I bought some leather machine needles so I'm all set there but when I started to try and do a very simple practice project of sewing two pieces together I already ran in to problems. What kept happening time and again was that the layer that was on top kept getting pulled along and thus it wouldn't line up with the bottom piece. I was reading a bit on the interwebs and saw something that made it sound like I should be using a leather sewing machine foot rather than the regular foot I was using. Is this the missing piece here? Or is there something else obvious I'm missing? Obviously you can't pin the 2 pieces together because it would leave holes. Many thanks to anyone with pointers for me. Cheers

I've been using ribbon. Some people don't like having to tie something on though and I've been thinkin of switching to elastic.

Thanks for your reply letheroo.

Hi there, I was just wondering what everyone does to the backside of their masks? Someone that was working my booth at a show recently spoke with a fellow that was dancing in a leather mask that was unfinished on the inside (not one of my masks) and the mask started to lose its shape due to the amount of sweat. I use acrylic paint to color the outside of my masks and any parts that you can see from the side or back on the backside. The part that touches the face I have been leaving unfinished as I find that is the most comfortable for wearing. Hearing from this fellow had me thinking I should be putting finish on the backsides though. I was wondering if you do put finish on the backs what kind of finish would be best. I wouldn't want anything that had a lingering smell to it. I sell at festivals where people are wearing my masks dancing and I wouldn't want someone to have one of my masks collapse on them. (Also in case it's relevant to your answer I mostly make masks out of 4-5oz leather).

Akkk sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you I don't stop by this forum very often. These masks were made out of 3/4oz leather. I find this weight to be a good compromise between stiffness and weight. I've made masks out of 7oz and I just found it too be too heavy. I like my masks to be light and comfortable and not weigh down on your face.

This isn't a new piece for me, I made it in my first year of leatherworking (about 5 years ago). It remains however the work I am most proud of and I have yet to offer it up for sale as I am quite attached to it. It currently hangs in my bedroom. I thought I'd post it here as few people have seen it. I'd love to hear any feedback that you have. I came up with the pattern myself. It measures approximately 19" by 15"

I haven't been to this forum in awhile but thought I'd stop in to get some feedback on my new mask styles. Lately I've really been trying to manipulate the leather a lot more, creating ridges and eyebrows and such. Here's a couple of my latest so you can get an idea of what I'm working on. The third mask is one of my older masks which can give you an idea of how much more I'm trying to manipulate the leather. I'd appreciate any feedback that you may have. I'm feel there is lots of room for improvement in the coloring of the masks (especially on the green one). I paint by hand using leather acrylics as I don't have an airbrush.

It was a bit stiff although the tentacles were thin so they were easy to mold. I could see that it would be difficult to include any major manipulations to the leather with a thicker hide like that. I'm not too pleased with how heavy it ended up being. It would be fine for just a small mask probably but with a big mask like that it got heavy. My next attempt will be a tooled mask, I've been wanting to try that for awhile. I'll probably use heavy leather for that too, but it will just be a small half mask. Awun

I used 3 colors mixed together - blue purple and green for different parts. The blue and green were eco flo leather paint I got from Tandy. The purple was just a regular acrylic paint I got from the craft store.

Hi, I'm new to this forum and have thoroughly enjoyed checking out everyone's work. I thought I would share the latest leather mask that I made. This was the first time I used more than one layer of leather in a mask. I usually make masks out of 3/4 oz but I ran out so I made this one out of 7 oz thus it's a bit heavy, I don't think I'll do that again. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it Awun .

Awesome, very cool!

Wow! Well done!