HoneycuttMachine

I think its fabulous! A true heirloom, that case not only beautiful but heavy duty. I love the cable in the flat strap, diesel! I think the flat strap is the way to go, with a laptop, notebooks, books, etc. that thing can get heavy. The wider strap will help with shoulder rubs and distribute the weight better. You may even consider a sheepskin on leather adjustable pad for her should it dig into her shoulder when loaded. A fantastic job for an experienced leather worker, you taking this on as a first project is inspirational! Great work and thanks for sharing. Jerry

A Leather/scratch awl I made from a piece of persimmon wood that was trimmed from a neighbors tree. A 1/2" piece of copper pipe and a copper rivet rove. The awl itself is a spoke from a 1955 Harley Davidson motorcycle wheel. I used a wood rasp, files and sandpaper to shape the tool. The finish is wiping oil and paraffin. The natural defect in the wood was accentuated and used as an index for consistency when working leather. Once annealed and shaped and sharpened I re-heat treated and tempered it. It is very sharp, very smooth and goes through the thickest leather with ease. Hope you all approve! Jerry (Newbie Leatherworker)

I would get the end of the tool blank up to a temperature where a magnet will no longer stick to it then in one smooth motion, with a gloved hand, hold the tool over the desired patterned file. One smart blow with a ball peen hammer should form a very nice pattern in inverse on the tool. The doublecut swiss file , coarse, would be a great reproduction of a checkered backgrounder, see file examples for further ideas! Even a little can of the smallest ball bearings one could find would produce a nice pattern, let your imagination go.My main effort is to convey the idea of heating the end of a tool blank and then impressing the imprint of whatever is desired into the hot & malleable steel. Enjoy!

I wash mine with a little dawn dishwashing liquid on a wet sponge then wipe off with a cotton rag. this puts just enough moisture in the rag to get the saddle soap a little frothy, rub hell out of both sides, let dry a minute and then case leather, I spray mine with the kitchen sink sprayer ever so briefly just to wet, I then lay skin side down on a towel. , drying the hide side with another dry towel. this after maybe touching up a few dry spots with the sponge (now rinsed of dawn) will let me work the leather for quite a while in an air conditioned shop before re-wetting. I have found that leather properly treated and not needing a drink is less likely to pickup errant nail or tool marks before you want them to. I happened upon this by pure accident, I had put a long diagonal scratch somewhat deeper than the ones you show, I had a glass of Iced tea with me, I looke down, shrug and grab a big ice cube out of the cup, suck the tea off of it and then rubbed the scratch right up and out of the leather by burnishing lightly with the ice cube.

Does anyone know how the middle of this sheath was tooled? If so, what tool was used? I thought about taking a piece of drill rod about an inch long, welding a handle on it to form sort of a long inverted T shape, then using a metal cutting blade or hacksaw cutting slots in it to replicate what I see here. I just dont know about the different sizes of indentations that are tooled into the leather. Looks like three different sizes of tool were used. Opinions? Were the indentations made with one type of tool and the striations made with something else within the indentations? All comments solicited and welcomed! Thanks Jerry