Walking staff wrap

[Gezzer]

I did this for a  fellow and I am not happy with it and I doubt he will be . The shape of the staff did not lend itself to a constant taper ( which is what I have done ) , it seems to have been choked by a vine. So it has many different diameters  . I wet formed 6/7 oz and once it dried removed it and punched holes for stitching , loose stitched it and slid it back in place . I was sure to mark everything so I could get it back where it was . Used a fid to tighten up the stitches and  this is how it turned out .  

 

Is there a better way to do this ? How would you go about it ?  If I could talk him into letting me remove a little wood under where it goes and get a more cylindrical shape to it I think I could do a nicer job .

[K5HEP]

I have two walking sitcks that I wrapped with paracord. I have thought about doing the same, but using some sort of leather lace - just a thought...

 

[fredk]

46 minutes ago, Gezzer said:

Is there a better way to do this ? How would you go about it ?  If I could talk him into letting me remove a little wood under where it goes and get a more cylindrical shape to it I think I could do a nicer job .

Just a thought; I would drop to 1.2 - 1.6 mm (3 to 4 oz). lightly glue one edge of a piece to the stick. Bring it around and trim the other edge to meet to first. Lightly glue that edge down. Mark matching stitching holes. Remove the leather and use leather lace to stitch it. Put it back on the stick then wet mould it

[Gezzer]

4 hours ago, K5HEP said:

I have two walking sitcks that I wrapped with paracord. I have thought about doing the same, but using some sort of leather lace - just a thought...

 

Those are very nice , I love the Turks head knots .  Lace would be a good option except he wants a little carving on the wrap . Thanks

4 hours ago, fredk said:

Just a thought; I would drop to 1.2 - 1.6 mm (3 to 4 oz). lightly glue one edge of a piece to the stick. Bring it around and trim the other edge to meet to first. Lightly glue that edge down. Mark matching stitching holes. Remove the leather and use leather lace to stitch it. Put it back on the stick then wet mould it

3 or 4 oz would be better but I don't have any . I'll find out tomorrow if I can alter the staff , if not I will try your idea ( except maybe I have  a piece of 5/6 0z big enough ) .

Thanks

[fredk]

btw, the method I described was basically the way I used to re-cover sword and dagger grips in my medieval presentation group. The underlaying  wood was often shaped

[tsunkasapa]

You might try wetting the leather before you stitch it. You might get enough stretch to close the gap.

[Handstitched]

14 hours ago, fredk said:

Lightly glue that edge down

I have done something similar to wrap the handle of a knife . The leather was approx  1 " wide roo hide. Approx. 15- 18" in length.   Although there was no stitching until the very end, I carefully applied adhesive as I was wrapping it. A bit of a laborious job, but effective.  Some of the components on handle helped to keep the leather in place as well. 

 

14 hours ago, K5HEP said:

I have two walking sitcks that I wrapped with paracord.

I like those. Perhaps round  leather lacing  would do the trick? 

Hs

[Gezzer]

Thanks guys !!!!!!  

I have gotten to a place that I am satisfied with it . @tsunkasapa put me on the right track , with a sponge I started wetting the center directly opposite the stitch line , and kept at that until the water migrated almost to the stitch line . I was afraid that if say I just dunked it in water my holes would tear out , but this let me get as much stretch as possible . Still had to use the fid and tighten twice but managed to close it up pretty well .  Again Thank you all for helping !!!!

Side note :  My hat is off to the saddle makers every where !!! Whole different thing trying to tool something that is not flat and you don't have to  "stand on your head " to get the right angle 

 

[johnnydb]

47 minutes ago, Gezzer said:

Thanks guys !!!!!!  

I have gotten to a place that I am satisfied with it . @tsunkasapa put me on the right track , with a sponge I started wetting the center directly opposite the stitch line , and kept at that until the water migrated almost to the stitch line . I was afraid that if say I just dunked it in water my holes would tear out , but this let me get as much stretch as possible . Still had to use the fid and tighten twice but managed to close it up pretty well .  Again Thank you all for helping !!!!

Side note :  My hat is off to the saddle makers every where !!! Whole different thing trying to tool something that is not flat and you don't have to  "stand on your head " to get the right angle 

 

I was thinking the very same solution as you tried and succeeded with.  

The only other thing that I was thinking about was that you probably needed to do some skiving at the top and bottom of the leather to make the transition less between the leather and wood.  A longer and more angled skive would do that nicely and be more comfortable by hand feel.   Not that what you have done is bad or even ugly.  It would provide a more finished look to the job you did.  And I really don't want someone to discount your great work because of something as trivial as the ends.  

[Gezzer]

1 hour ago, johnnydb said:

I was thinking the very same solution as you tried and succeeded with.  

The only other thing that I was thinking about was that you probably needed to do some skiving at the top and bottom of the leather to make the transition less between the leather and wood.  A longer and more angled skive would do that nicely and be more comfortable by hand feel.   Not that what you have done is bad or even ugly.  It would provide a more finished look to the job you did.  And I really don't want someone to discount your great work because of something as trivial as the ends.  

Yes , I think it would have been better to skive  the ends . I just didn't think of it  but will be mindful of it on future projects .  At this point maybe trying to hide my misstep with a Turks head top and bottom might help ..... I'll see . I thank you for the kind words  , no great work but certainly a challenge  at least for me . I had done a couple of wraps before but they were on smoother more constant shapes .  

[Gezzer]

Finished finally    I like it and hope the guy will  too .

 

I had 2 colors of paracord  to pick from , this and orange .  5 bight 3 lead Turks head

 

Edited October 24, 2022 by Gezzer

[tsunkasapa]

Very nice! Glad I could be of assistance.

[toxo]

Cut the leather oversize by about half inch either side. Glue all the length leaving 1 inch either side dry. Wrap all the way from top to bottom using low tack masking tape. At this stage the two sides are overlapping. When the glue is dry, using a straight edge cut straight through the middle of the overlap leaving a dead straight line. 

Of course any tooling will be done when the leather is flat. Simps

[Gezzer]

4 hours ago, toxo said:

Cut the leather oversize by about half inch either side. Glue all the length leaving 1 inch either side dry. Wrap all the way from top to bottom using low tack masking tape. At this stage the two sides are overlapping. When the glue is dry, using a straight edge cut straight through the middle of the overlap leaving a dead straight line. 

Of course any tooling will be done when the leather is flat. Simps

Great idea  , I have double cut seams in other materials  in the past but they were  flat and large enough to really get a  bite on the straight edge .  I am afraid I couldn't do that on this particular item ,  my seam would look more like a zipper  unless I could clamp it all solidly  some how . Thank you and the double cut does makes for a tight seam .  

[fredk]

Scrap leather used with plastic cable ties are great for holding leather to round things