AndrewWR

Gottaay I prefer the recessed nut: Cleaner lines. Another great job of turning too.

Nice work on the molding. Maybe nice with a matching leather wrap to replace the red plastic sleeving?

The button was a ready made one spare from a leather upholstery project.(Not posted here because it's not really leatherwork if the only tool you need is a stapler) The cord is 3mm round leather thonging I had in stock. All the leather was pre-dyed.

Not humidors, Jack. The pale box is my collection of EDC penknives and the darker one is a shoeshine valet box. Good try... but no cigar :-)

A nubuck version of the traditional velvet smoking cap. Bridle hide trim and goat skin lining. Where the traditional design is round, I took the time to make a more anatomically accurate acrylic template (with my handheld CNC router and a sheet of 10mm plastic) and wet formed the top to roll the edge over. This project was really just a test for the template. This is the SVG file of the 61cm hat outline I reverse engineered from careful measurements of my favourite fedora. Hat outline.svg

Loving the way the curves intersect the grid to produce such eyecatching patterns. With you on the not standing it on end issue too. I usually use one of my shot filled weight bags to plonk it on. It stay where I leave it then.

Thanks to all for their support. @327Fed, Yep. Red on purple is much less obvious, especially when it dries.

Just finished a workshop apron for myself. Ths is primarily as body armour when woodworking, not for the relatively danger free pastime of leather working. The main material is 3-4mm thich bull hide with a nubuck, brushed finish. The trim and strapwork are bridle hide for contrast. The hardware is stainless steel. The straps are temporary, adjustable ones but, once I've settled on the exact length I want, I'll make sewn on, fixed length ones and lose the conwy buckles. I settled on the crossover strap design because it negates any need for a waist belt. The apron drapes naturally around the body. This leather isn't very stiff but its probably heavier than most people would use for this unless, like me, they've been hit by a kickback off a tablesaw. Not the most exciting leatherwork project but practical.

Just finished making a new strap cutter. For some reason I can't fathom, every strap cutter I looked at has a stickie-uppie blade that lies in wait for unwary fingers. Having cut myself once, I learned - quickly. No, I didn't learn to handle sharp tools with proper caution (I do that anyway, mostly). I learned to redesign the tool to be a wee bit safer. Not a world changing invention, to be sure, but a magnetically attached blade guard makes me happy. I'm easily pleased, obviously. The wood is purple heart so that's its natural colour and I think it really works well with brass fittings. Apart from being an attrctive wood, purple heart is one of the toughest, hardest, densest woods you can still getr in quantity. Its about 60% stronger than hickory and almost as dense as lignum vitae, so very practical for tools. Merry Christmas to you all.

Just a thought but I'd wet mould a piece of reasonably stiff hide over some plastic tubes (using them only as a former) then trim it to be a snug fit and not glue or stitch it in. It may be an advantage to be able to take it out if your daughter ever wants to. I've made an assumption that she's not usoing broadhead arrows, since we don't do boy hunting in the British Isles and broadheads just wreck targets. If that's so, basic target points wont snag or dislodge a push-fit insert.

Ok, so this stays off-topic because, in addition to a leather sheath, I've machined a carbon scabbard that has the capacity for IWB or invert (under arm) carry.

Dwight. It's not necessarily just about speed. TBM | Raised Belt (thebeltmakers.com) These guys have made a successful business for over twenty years, selling hand stitched English leather belts and their raised belts are £389 (over $400) because of all that hand stitching. They're still in business so there is clearly a market for that quality at that price point. Buying a machine for over a £1000 to speed up manufacture sounds sensible until you factor in the value drop. Nobody is going to pay $400 for a machine sewn belt. Since material costs remain the same, (lets be generous and call it $100 cost to the maker), if you can get $200 per belt, you have to sell 3 of those to net the profit on one hand sewn belt at $400. Yes, you can sew them up quickly, but the cutting, gluing, burnishing and finishing all take the same time. You're not going to be netting much more per hour of your time and you have to earn back the cost of the sewing machine before you see that extra. There is room for both processes in this wonderful world. There are a few people out there who want the tradition and quality of hand saddle stitching and can afford to pay us to do it. There are a lot more people who would rather pay less for leather just as good but less of our time. There is no real difference in durability so it comes down to choice. Choice is always a good thing. You hate do-over jobs? Me too. But pulling the handle on a Tippman Boss 900 times to sew a belt would feel even more repetitive than hand sewing and it wouldn't make me feel like a craftsman when I looked at the stitching afterwards. Grandfather taught me Jesus was a carpenter. He didn't shun menial work or think a manual job was beneath him. Every time my hammer rings out, Its because I'm following that best example, The carpenter of Nazareth. God bless and keep you.

4 hours is seriously good. Me 'at's off t'you! It took me over 6 hours to sew this one and I thought I was doing well.

I was wondering about the Michael Parkes connection too, because I thought I was familiar with his work. You made me take a close look at Night and Day again. Sure enough, the stacked triangles and the spiral are there but they're hard to notice with that rather lovely young woman in the way ;-) Nice bag too.

I posted the blade in the off-topic section last week but here's the sheath. The form fitting, achieved simply by dunking the sewn sheath in water and working over thei inserted blade with a burnishing stick, isn't just decorative. The moulding into the fuller is acting as blade retention too. This only works because the tactical letter opener in only 32 grams. The lack of belt loops is because this particular sheath is sized to fit in the pen pocket of my favourite blazer. The whole thing isn't heavy enough to sag or bulky enough to show. The reality is, I'm not gonna carry this anywhere. It was an exercise in 'can I make one of those?' but it'd be illegal anwhere outside my house and, while not super sharp, it is sharp enough to shave a couple of years off my life if I was dumb enough to carry it. It was a fun build though and John Wick says it's better than a pencil ;-)

Very neat work. I always look at the stitching first and yours is worth looking at. What core material did you use?

I'll do a proper post when I've made the sheath but I'm calling this a tactical letter opener because SHIV has such negative connotations. Its 250mm long, 50mm wide and machined out of a 5mm thick carbon fibre plate. The edge bevel is 15 degrees (a 150 degree chamfer bit) and I left 0.7mm of material at the 'edge' but some hand sanding could put a cuttin edge on it. Being essentially plastic, it wouldn't hold any edge but its the sort of thing you'd only need to be sharp ONCE. Or, like me, just leave it on the hall table for opening letters. The hole pattern is my maker's mark: AWR in morse code.

A raised bridle hide belt. 38mm (1.5 inches) with a single hole to fit me. I always feel a single hole is the thing that really says 'bespoke' about a belt. The leather was 1.5-2mm thick, giving a final thickness of about 5mm. Odd habit: I'm a stitch counter. This belt was exactly 900 stitches. That a lot of hand sewing just to avoid cutting into a thicker hide. It's also made using just two pieces of thread, starting at about six metres (20 feet) each, from the tip, because I hate joins in a seam. The hardware is stainless steel . I photographed it with two belt keepers but I probably won't use the second one because the tail of the belt is 3 to 4 inches past the first loop on my pants (depending which pair ). It does look pretty with two though.

A rod case would be amazing. I use an old aluminium one t osafely store all my thinner carbon strips, rods and tubes, and a bundle of piano wire in different gauges for spring making. My carbon supplier does big-bore tubes up to 2000mm (call it 80") long. All the IRL feedback so far has been variations on the theme of 'Ooh! Pretty!'. Except for a pal who shoots English longbow responded to my arrow case suggestion with one of his own that I decline to try, on the advice of my proctologist. Apparently, traditional archers prefer traditional materials. Got to say, the fly fishing community might be of a similar opinion. I've decided I need another, smaller version for just one small kite. A case that will fit in my suitcase for travelling with. This time, I've ordered some tube in that marbled carbon that's become popular. I think the matt marbled tube and black bridle hide combination will be good. I'll show you guys when it's done. Thanks for all the feedback and support, guys.

Funny! For those who don't get it, CNC is an acronym for Computer Numerical Control and is a way to remove human frailty from the process of cutting stuff out. Its a practiacally skill-free technique but quick and accurate. As a hand stitcher, I feel I'm allowed a little mechanical help in the tool /jig/pattern making stagres. It's not like I'm using a sewing machine ;-)

Back in January I took delivery of a handheld CNC router and it's kind of displaced leatherwork for a few months but now it's got a place in my leatherworking tools too. It's fabulous for mould making. I needed some end caps for a 100mm (4") carbon fibre tube, to turn it into a kite case for my stunt kites. Like the poster tubes that archer repurpose as arrow cases. Sure, I could have bough one of those poster tubes from Rainforest Retail or Big River Supplies but where's the fun in that? No, my friends, Carbon fibre and black bridle hide is a much classier combo. The other end is almost identical, lacking only the 'handle' I made out of a footman loop. I considered press studs but a Sam Brown makes for a simple, and low profile fastener.. By the way, that carbon tube is 1 metre long with 1mm walls and weighs under 500 grams. So I needed to wet mold leather for those caps. Wet moulding is easy but making accurate moulds isn't. Enter the Shaper Origin handheld CNC router. and, in less than ten minutes a sheet of 10mm acrylic sheet became this: A 100mm circular mould (with a 2.5mm roundover) and a plug with 3mm clearance all round. That and some clamps made the two moulded ends. I reinforced the end caps with some 1mm carbon also cut with the CNC. ... and it cuts EVA foam beautifully to cover the carbon in the caps and give anything dropped in the tube a soft landing. The leather tabs that hold the D rinds and sam browns are sewn right through the carbon tube. I punched the stitching holes in the leather before gluing it to the tube then ran a 1.2mm drill through the holes to puncture the tube. The risk with this is that the carbon could eventually cut the stitches (even though the holes were deburred with 600 grit wet and dry) My solution, which has worked on other projects wher I use carbon and leather together, is to paint a coat of epoxy resin over the stitching inside the tube. Now it just nees a shoulder strap (boring!) I'll definitely be making more wet moulds for leather now I can do then more accurately. Perhaps a cigar case mould would be a nice challenge. Andrew W-R

Getting my Xmas making done early, this is a pencil case/make-up bag for my favourite twelve-year-old. The leather is Mama Pink , digitally patterned 0.6mm sheepskin from Pittards, for the bargain price of £19 for a whole skin (5-6 square feet). The lining is pearl white 0.8mm goat skin, also from Pittards. I'v got loads left over so she's probably going to get a matching phone case and maybe even a tablet sleeve too.

Y'know, looking at that open bag shot, the age of the leather is working for you. It looks much more genuinely vintage than new leather with an 'antique' finish and everyone knows leather gets better with age: It has that in common with wine, women and songs. Those perfectly straight stitching lines are eye catchers too. Nothing speaks of quality like good stitching. Congratulations on the recognition and commercial success ('cos money beats ribbons.)

@jcukThe whole hide wasn't enough. I ended up ordering a second one. They're Packers hides too. I don't know if one of them is a 'celebrity' hide but my coffee shop pals have nicknamed this bag the Joey Pouch.

@TomEIf you're making horse tack commercially, just remember that you can't sell kangaroo leather in California. they got a rule 'gainst it. Edging: I've used beeswax to burnish a lot of bridle leather but for this I'm using black Tokenole because I want to try out how resilient it is as a finish. I haven't put any edge crease on this strap yet because I may line it if it proves too slippy on my shoulder, in which case it'll get a stitch line instead. But if I don't line it, it'll either get a crease or some broguing.