Angster

It definitely looks like some sort of lining leather or very thin calf leather. I imagine it was first stitched on the front, edges together, grain to grain. Then it was rolled over. I'm not sure if they simply glued it on the back, but you could stitch the back, running the stitches just below the fold on the front edge. The fold would tend to 'hide' that second stitch line. I'm probably being confusing and if you need clarification, I could probably come up with some drawings to try and explain myself better.

Don't worry about making the first one perfect. Just get it close and you can adjust from there. Besides, I always love handmade items with character. And ugly pumpkins to carve for Halloween... My wife is still drinking out of the second mug I ever made (going on 6 or 7 years, I guess). On hers, I decided to make the handle using a 'mystery braid'. Looks cool, but I didn't leave enough on the top edge of the handle to stitch it very securely. So, now her handle wobbles a bit... I'm sure I'll get around to making her a new one. It sounds like you're having fun with this, and I think that's the whole point of leather craft. Most all of my items tend to stem from the "huh, I wonder if I can make that" realm. If I have to make over 5 of the same thing, I hesitate, procrastinate, drag my feet... Really irritates the wife, but I love always trying something new even if it's only a little different that something I did before. Keep up the great work!

Looking good so far! I'm eager to see how the final product comes out. Oh, just a reminder, if you wax-saturate the leather, it's going to turn really dark brown.

If you're not planning on drinking anything hot, you can get away with just doing beeswax. It's relatively inexpensive and easy to find and food safe. If you saturate the leather with the wax, it will strengthen the leather to where it's almost like plastic. If the lining ever cracks or develops leaks, it's pretty easy to reline. The wax lining is also fairly easy to maintain. Simply rinse it out after use with lukewarm water. I use the beeswax/brewer's pitch mixture for sealing my mugs and bottles, but mainly due to the fact that the pitch helps make the wax seal more flexible so it doesn't crack nearly as often (my skull bottle in my avatar pic was dropped off of a second story balcony and still doesn't leak). But unless you're planning on making a bunch of tankards, you don't really need to purchase the pitch. You can also go with the epoxy/resin route, but I can't really give any hints or tips in that direction.

Nice to hear from you! No, all of the filigree work was done by hand. A laser cutter definitely would have made it easier! We met at the Colorado Renaissance Faire this past June, didn't we? We're planning on going back again this year at some point. Hopefully we can arrange to meet up again! Cheers!

Joel, No, it's a stage sword, so the edges are at least 1/16", but the point is quite pokey. The leather I used was 4-6 oz leather. Before I started, I marked on the back where the sword was, so after tooling and before doing the filigree, I took a V-gouge and did 2 passes around the blade to help the leather 'fold' around the blade. This really helped in keeping the scabbard from 'curling' and the stitching along the back helped to keep it straight. Now, that's not to say without the sword the scabbard is quite wobbly. However, this isn't a problem for us, as this is mainly for show and not used as a functional piece. She wears this when we dress in pirate gear at different events and Renaissance Faires. Thanks for all the comments!

Oh, she's already known that for years! Thanks!

Always the problem with long skinny items. Hard to get a good picture of the whole thing. I've added a picture of the scabbard alone. The top image is the front of the scabbard, and the lower image is the back. You can start to see scuff marks on the back edge of the scabbard. As my wife prefers to wear the sword across her back as opposed to hung from the end of the baldric, I'm going to have to deal with the increased wear on the scabbard.

It's been awhile since I posted anything here. This project started several years ago when we purchased a sword for my wife's pirate gear. She told me she wanted me to design a scabbard that was filigreed so you could see the blade through the scabbard. Well, after about a year of waffling back and forth about how to accomplish this, I started redesigning her entire look. I came up with a rosette and ivy pattern for her design, and started with the design for her baldric. Then I finally had the inspiration I needed. Taking just the ivy/rosette design from the baldric, I'd use it to create the filigree pattern for the scabbard. The scabbard wraps the pattern around the blade. It's solid up the back of the blade where the scabbard is stitched. After I was able to complete the baldric and scabbard, I recreated the design for wrist cuffs. I've also got a belt pouch for her with the same motif. I think all I have left is to create a new mug for her... Will probably need to get to work on that soon as Ren Faire season is almost upon us!

Would it be possible to build up to that thickness? If you're wanting to mold the leather to have that shape, you could accomplish it with thinner leather, just using several layers. What you'd need to do is form the first piece, keeping in mind you'll lose some of the shape as you add additional layers. Then leaving the first piece on the form, add the second, then possibly the third layer. After all of the leather is dry, you can then laminate the separate pieces with leather cement to form a very sturdy, rigid and thick, leather breastplate. You might be able to get away without boiling the leather with this method, as the lamination will help keep the molded shape. Everyone else's advice is sound, though. Practice with smaller pieces first to get the techniques down for making armor. Good luck and we're all waiting to see your finished product! Ohhh, just had a thought. Use the thicker leather to create the initial shape. Emboss a thinner piece of leather to create the muscles, and laminate that to the thicker leather. Just need to make sure the embossed leather has the voids filled with something fairly solid to absorb impacts... Might be an option...?

That looks incredible! If it is sized for a paperback, that'd be a cool way to carry it around a Ren Faire and still be in costume! Question. The loops (?) on the edges. I'm assuming it's for a cord or strap that will hold the two parts together and allow to carry? Again, great work as always! Ah, nevermind. Read down through the replies on the other forum. Woven cord. Got'cha.

Have been wanting to make some more armor, and finally got a few days to do it. It's not finished, need to rework some of the straps and I want to replace the shoulders with solid leather. The tooled celtic dragon on the chest gave me the idea to have the straps go across the back of each leather square, but coming up at the edges to tie everything together. However, due to lack of time (and dinging my slot punch), I changed the rest of the armor to keep the straps across the front and use rivets instead. I actually kind of like how that turned out. This is my son-in-law modelling the armor. I'd be way too dorky in it.

I haven't done anything quite that drastic, but here's something you might try. I'll take veg tanned leather and wet the surface. Then I'll abuse it (fold it, twist it like I'm trying to wring it out, and so on). This will give you all of the fold marks and wrinkles. Flatten it back out. Then I'll take a rag, get some dye on it, and rub most of the excess off on a piece of scrap leather. That allows me to 'dry brush' the dye onto my wrinkled leather. The dye will only be picked up by the high spots on the leather. When doing this technique, it's important to remember to get most of the dye off of the rag. You can always do it again to apply more dye, eventually getting the look you want. However, it almost looks like the belt was dyed then sanded(?) to remove the dye from the surface ridges. Not sure how well that would work or if something else was done along those lines. Hope this helps.

Skye, With dyes and stains, the wax hardening is going to change the color. If I'm trying for specific colors, I'll use acrylic paints. I haven't seen the wax saturation process alter the colors any (even metallics for the most part) and the process acts like a sealer for the paint. Of course, you'll need to make sure the paint is completely dry before waxing, and I'll even thin the paint a bit to make sure the leather 'grabs' it well enough. The skull bottle I use as my profile picture was done 6 years ago (I think, maybe 5). We've taken it with us around the country and it's been under waterfalls, bouncing in the surf, dropped off 2nd story balconies (not on purpose). Over the years it has started to develop some scuff marks that has removed some of the paint, but that's about the only way you'll get the paint to come off. Hope this helps!

These... are... AWESOME!!!! I'm intrigued by the 'flip' you did at the top of the handle on the standard mug. I imagine it makes it quite comfortable to hold. The kantros looks so authentic! Wow, 64oz... Get a couple of margaritas out of that bad boy and you'd be 'done'. And BMoD... We'll have to introduce it to my Beelze-bob bottle... It's a smaller skull bottle I made with leather horns sown on to make him look somewhat demonic, but he's just too cute. Love what you did and am eagerly awaiting your next projects!!!

Excellent work for your first attempts. Keep it up with the tooling, I think you're on the right track. I love the rugged look even if it is a by-product of your learning the craft. Again, great job!

Thanks for the additional information/advice. A couple of things, though. I apologize if I gave the impression that I was trying for historical authenticity. I'm not trying for authentic and already have several of my friends that would wear the helm as part of their dwarven armor sets, I guess also not authentic. However, thank you for providing the information. The reason I bartered for the horns is that I think they would look interesting on a leather helm. I have no need to make drinking horns, as I make leather mugs and bottles. Good point on the foam, that would be, ummm, upsetting if I were to go through all the work just to blow out a horn. Eldorado, great meeting you as well. The world is such a small place and you never know who you'll meet if you just get out there! Again thanks everyone for your tips, advice and information!

As the horns are carved, I don't think I'd want to attempt them to stand up to abuse. However, I'm thinking of filling them with expandable foam (as some spots were carved down fairly thin). With creating a 'base' plug for the horn then screwing through the helm into the plug, is there any concerns of 'horn wobble'? I guess that would be contingent on how thick the leather of the helm is? These are some great ideas, thanks guys!

Ok... I have a new project to play with, but need some advice. I've got a friend that carves bone and horn, and I bartered some leatherwork for a matched set of wonderfully carved horns. I want to use them to make a viking style helm, but I'm not sure to attach them where they'll be snug and secure. My thought is to start with a spangenhelm base, then add 'viking' flavor to it. Any ideas on attaching the helm? Thanks in advance!

No, I haven't noticed any loss of tooling. I think it's because the leather is not in the wax long enough for it to 'soak', I guess...? And I tend to be a bit subtle when tooling (I just don't hammer as hard as others), so I'd think it would be more apparent for me. You should be fine.

Had a custom order to make a leaf blade sheath with frog. Ok, I said, not much to that. Ummm, not really. In order to make a leaf blade sheath work, while mirroring the shape of the blade, is to have one edge partially open so you can draw the blade. Normally frogs cinch around the upper half of a sheath so that it will hang properly from the belt. But that's where the opening is going to be. So after about a week of head scratching and mumbling to myself, I think I finally have it figured out. Hope you enjoy!

Can't resist... I do know that there is in existence several leather replicas of the crown of the King of Burger... Sorry about that. From the research I've done in the past, I know of examples of leather headgear from helms to hats to some fairly ornate, ummm, headbands for a lack of a better term. However, in the lack of ever reading about it, I would assume that leather wear to signify position or royalty would probably not have been very common, as part of the sign of position would be the wealth to have metal smiths fashion those sorts of items. Not much actual help, but I couldn't help myself with the picture.

Sorry it's been awhile since I checked this forum... As for the pitch/wax percentages, I aim for a 50/50 mix because it's easy. If I add pitch, add some wax. I believe I probably add more wax than pitch at times, so maybe 55/45, 60/40 in favor of the wax. I can't remember where I first read it, but I've seen some instructions where they talk about a 4/1 ratio (I'm assuming wax over pitch here). Anyway, The mixture is to take advantage of the better points of each (the strength of the wax, the flexibility of the pitch). You should be fine dropping the amount of pitch to a minimum, just be aware that you're increasing the chances of cracking the seal. As for molding the faces, I used sculpey clay to make the face, then molded the leather to it. When dry, I kind of 'tack' stitched the faces onto the mug (a couple of stitches in 4 or 5 places around the edge of the face). For the sun face, I stitched along the edges of the sun rays to hold the face to the mug. On both, there's an empty space behind the face. I just rely on how stiff the leather becomes after it's been wax-saturated.

Thank you for your kind words! I'm happy to share what I know and love to see how others take my ideas and run with them. Let the imagination flow! As far as the amount of pitch/wax you need for a mug... Since I saturate the leather with wax first, you'll need more wax than pitch overall. Roughly a pound of pitch will be enough for 15 - 20 mugs. For that number of mugs, I think I'd go through 5, maybe 6 pounds of bees wax. So I would suggest that you start with a single pound of pitch and a couple of pounds of beeswax. As you make more, you'll probably need to get more wax. Then with the taste issue, I've not noticed any flavor from the beeswax/pitch mix. However, I think some 'flavor' may be influenced by the slight smell of a freshly sealed mug. The wax/pitch has an oddly-pleasing, faint scent of honey-flavored pine trees. But this scent seems to disappear in a day or two as the seal becomes 'seasoned'. This is about the same amount of time it takes for the seal to loose any of its remaining tackiness. I LOVE the idea of using the plastic frosting can as an insert! That's awesome and I'll have to try it out. Loves me some frosting, too!

Personally I've not used parrafin for mugs, although I'd think it'd be ok since parrafin is used in canning and such. The only thing I can think of is for a lining, parrafin seems like it would be fairly brittle. The mugs I have for personal use tend to see a lot of abuse. I imagine if I weren't using the wax/pitch blend, which is a tad more forgiving, I'd have developed cracks in the seal. However, this is something that's easily fixed, so don't know how much it applies. I'd say give it a try and if it works for you, then have at it.