DJole

I stand corrected -- apparently the number of surviving scabbards (a rare find, I believe) that are leather is greater than the wooden scabbards. I wonder also if it's a difference in earlier vs. later medieval swords, or even location? Wood would have been cheaper and more plentiful than leather back in medieval Europe, but if you had a sword back then, leather would not be a problem for your budget.

You might be able to get a helpful shoe repair person with a hefty machine to stitch it for you, depending on the thickness of the leather, rather than hand stitch it. You don't have to dye it if you don't want to -- you should realize, however, that treating your leather to protect it will change the color somewhat. That's what leather scraps from the same piece of leather are good for.

You could do an art piece. Here's one that I did: <http://djole.altervista.org/djole/Publications/Leather/NativityPix/LeatherNativity.htm>

The odor of leather is a known intoxicants -- long term exposure to it makes you want to purchase more of it and add it to your leather stash. Beware! Children of America are being led astray into the dangers of leatherwork even as we speak! ;-)

The contact cement holds everything together while you stitch. The welts are leather, too. Usually sword scabbards (historically) are built from wood, which is then covered with leather. That doesn't mean that you can't have an all-leather scabbard if you want-- just realize that it's going to be rather floppy rather than rigid, and won't provide as much blade protection as the wooden scabbard. Looking at your sword, I guess you aren't looking at strictly historical scabbards, so you can do whatever you'd like, as long as you like the results! Here's one site that discusses how to construct one type of scabbard: <http://www.yeoldegaffers.com/project_scabbard.asp> (I am informed by experts that the stitches used there are not historical, in case it matters). Some other things you might need: Are you going to dye the leather? If so, there are many threads on this forum discussing dye types, dye colors, and so on. It seems like you're going to hand stitch this -- if so, you'll need to get expert opinion (not mine-- I am no expert on this!) on what thickness and kinds of thread will be good for this. You'll need some kind of finish to protect the leather from rain and sun (and dirt, and mud, and etc.) I remember reading somewhere that if you make an all leather scabbard, you shouldn't store your sword in it over a long period of time. The chemicals won't be friendly for your sword.

That looks like a great opportunity for people who live in the LA area, Jess. I hope you and the right leather worker can get connected!

Have you contacted Osborne for advice? Check their Website. They might be able to help. I know that I can't give you any tips!

I like the idea of the side handle on the shower bag. I'd like to see a clearer shot of that! Some nice clean design there-- the folks on this forum do inspire each other to up their games! Off topic from leather: Where in N. Wales do you live? When I was studying Welsh for a summer down in Lampeter, Dyfed, I took a bank holiday to see Snowdonia, Caernarvon, Bangor and Anglesey.

Maybe this book will work for you: https://www.amazon.com/Leatherwork-Manual-Al-Stohlman/dp/B000HM96YW First published in the 60s, it's basically a leatherwork "course," with pretty basic instructions to the basic tools, heavily illustrated with drawings and black and white photographs. Here are the chapters: leather (overview of what it is) preparing the leather for tooling and transferring the design the swivel knife the basics of using standard "floral" style tools (camouflage, pear shader, beveler, veiner, seeder, backgrounder) leather fabrication (cutting, snaps, linings, thonging chisels, skiving, gouging) structural assembly (6 types of lacing) dying and finishing the leather. three projects (key case, billfold, handbag) However, it does NOT discuss stitching at all. It's not comprehensive, but it's the basic background. I found a copy at a used bookstore; the lacing directions alone were worth the 8 bucks I paid for it. I list it here because it's inexpensive and assumes that you don't know some of the basic info. A more contemporary and highly recommended text is Val Michael's The Leatherworking Handbook. <https://www.amazon.com/Leatherworking-Handbook-Illustrated-Sourcebook-Techniques/dp/1844034747/ref=pd_sbs_14_img_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=T3T2T5QJFXVTX3NX8XVQ> Color photos and very high quality work -- it's a nice book, an updated version that covers much (and more, actually) of what Stohlman's old book does, with less "old-fashioned" design (and stitching information).

Hmm... any indication of pay scale or rate?

Lovely tooling there, great stitching and nice accents with the "dots." That's a lot of work to tool and dye inside the knotwork lines, and it looks great! The only thing I can say here is that the flat ends, where the wrist and elbow go, are going to dig into your arm. I have some bracers from long, long ago which have the same problem. A concave curve to those edges will help avoid that.

I have used acrylic paint, no specific brand preferred (my artist wife has a bunch of various paint colors and brands available). I prefer dyes, but when you need white, you have to use paint for it. I haven't had any issues with flaking or peeling, but the painted pieces aren't wallets that would rub constantly on cloth. I have some wear on a rapier hanger which has gold paint on parts of it, but that's to be expected since it is part of a sword belt that is worn while rapier fencing. Have a good flexible sealant over the acrylic, and that will help.

Perhaps Angelus dyes has a better brown? I don't have a brown from them to show you a sample, unfortunately.

Hello fellow Washingtonian leather artist! I'm down by Tacoma.

Applause! That's a lovely piece of work! I'd love to see a photo of the other side, too. I bow down to your skills! The textures of the hair and twigs are spot on.

Yes, I (for one) would LOVE to see more of that lid, from different sides and angles. My mind boggles at how much time it must have taken to do that.

I second your notion of taking a picture to find out what you still need to do! It's amazing how we can look right at a project, spending hours on it, and miss something that should be obvious! I bet taking pictures at every stage of the project might help catch my problems while I can still fix them! As for your blackbird, yes, I think leaving the background alone is the right thing to do. Also, the dye on the cattail looks unfinished, kind of blotchy. Is that a deliberate design choice?

I used a leather toggle and loop to close a pouch. Maybe something like this? It's likely too light for a heavy thing like an axe. (In the first photo, the red bead is a slide toggle to tighten the pouch. It does NOT go through the loop!) Here's the leather toggle and its accompanying loop. The loop is shaped like a greek Omega. There are two slits on the face of the pouch that the "feet" pass through to the inside, and the circular stitches mark where those "feet" are sewn to the pouch.

Perhaps colored Sharpie markers (which use a permanent, spirit-based ink) may work for you? I haven't ever used them, but I have heard that they can be used.

An unusual piece of hardware design. I can't figure out, from the photos, just how that cam lock *closes* the jaws together, since it's not clear how the end opposite the cam lever is attached to the wood.

That is VERY nice work! The color and finish and attention to detail are excellent.

Here's 3 cents of thinking for you: It looks flat. Not enough tooling to make everything look dimensional. What you have there seems like a shader and veiner and beveler just stamped on top of the design. That's not a design problem, but I think the design is affecting how you are using the tools. Perhaps make those shaded (with the pear shader) areas bigger and more subtle, taking the time to tool the whole space rather than just the center. It looks like the beveler was used to outline rather than actually bevel or create a 3-D image, except in that center leaf vein. That looks much more dimensional than the other edge bevels. I'm not a Sheridan nor a floral style tooler, but I think the overall design is too linear rather than circular or spiral. Most of the horizontal lines in the center, between the two end flowers, are too gently curved. The curves need to be sharper, and overlap more.

Ah, I didn't think to look at where you are posting from! Whoops... Well, a quick search finds some Canadian sources for you: <http://www.longviewleather.com/angelus-dyes/> in Alberta Amazon.ca has Angelus dyes for sale also. Look on this thread for some more possibilities:

Those are pretty good lists. They are very similar to Ian Atkinson's list: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1pAMZQpYFA

You need to go look at Angelus leather dye (https://angelusdirect.com/collections/angelus-dye-1) Their Rose and Light Rose might be the pink you needed. I have a growing collection of their dyes, since they come in a wide variety of colors which cuts down on the mixing, and I think they match Fiebing's in good results. I only keep Eco-Flo stuff around for working with kids.