Leather Key Fobs

[Tophee]

Still new, but these are my latest creations. Still cannot get the cuts all even.

[HandyDave]

Pieces look pretty good specially for just starting. If your planning on doing alot of key fobs and such smaller items I would suggest looking into some cutting dies. Key fob dies and similar small item dies aren't alot of money and will guarantee you a pile of pieces that are all cut perfectly the same. It is hard to get consistent shapes when cutting stuff like this by hand.

[JDFred]

Keep up the practice with your curves.  I don’t know what you use for a knife, but I had a hard time with curves when I used to use a utility knife.  To me the blade flexed too much and the slack between the blade and the handle made curves hard to cut.  I switched to a round knife an it helped me a lot in my cutting.  If you intend to make a bunch of fobs HandyDave is right about a die.  Fobs would be small enough I think you could use those dies with a mallet, if you don’t have a press.

[Hags]

I struggled trying to get even curves for fobs and other items using a knife. Not such a big deal for large curves. I had pretty good luck cutting the bottoms with a set of half round punches off Amazon,  about $20 i believe. Eventually I went with a die cutter (now have 2) for about $60. I use it on a 1 ton arbor press from harbor freight.  Also about $60. Great way to burn through a bunch of scrap.

[chuck123wapati]

i dress my edges up with a belt sander.

[Doc Reaper]

I use a dermal and then a burnisher I got from the leather tool maker

[Tophee]

On 7/7/2024 at 9:35 PM, HandyDave said:

Pieces look pretty good specially for just starting. If your planning on doing alot of key fobs and such smaller items I would suggest looking into some cutting dies. Key fob dies and similar small item dies aren't alot of money and will guarantee you a pile of pieces that are all cut perfectly the same. It is hard to get consistent shapes when cutting stuff like this by hand.

Im looking at a couple of those, but most are for presses I dont have a press I would need one I can use with a hammer.

 

On 7/8/2024 at 1:00 AM, JDFred said:

Keep up the practice with your curves.  I don’t know what you use for a knife, but I had a hard time with curves when I used to use a utility knife.  To me the blade flexed too much and the slack between the blade and the handle made curves hard to cut.  I switched to a round knife an it helped me a lot in my cutting.  If you intend to make a bunch of fobs HandyDave is right about a die.  Fobs would be small enough I think you could use those dies with a mallet, if you don’t have a press.

Yea I use a utility knife atm or a rocksheet knife as I tend to call em. Was looking at a knife off of Tandy thats on sale if I cannot find a a die I can use with a hammer since I dont havea  press.

[Tophee]

On 7/8/2024 at 8:34 AM, Hags said:

I struggled trying to get even curves for fobs and other items using a knife. Not such a big deal for large curves. I had pretty good luck cutting the bottoms with a set of half round punches off Amazon,  about $20 i believe. Eventually I went with a die cutter (now have 2) for about $60. I use it on a 1 ton arbor press from harbor freight.  Also about $60. Great way to burn through a bunch of scrap.

I do intend on picking up some other punches ill have to give it a look. I dont have a place to put a press atm even a small one so any die I get will be mallet use.

On 7/8/2024 at 9:17 AM, chuck123wapati said:

i dress my edges up with a belt sander.

I did try to sand another piece I made that I did not post here. But all it did was fray the leather and burnishing didnt help fix it. Maybe I was using too coarse a paper.

 

21 hours ago, Doc Reaper said:

I use a dermal and then a burnisher I got from the leather tool maker

I do intend to pick up a dremel, they seem to come in handy for all kinds of crafts and things.

[SUP]

The key fob dies can be used by hand. I used one last christmas to make dozens of keychains. about a 100 I should think and it was no trouble at all. 

Instead of sanding, I use a small Plane or planer or whatever it is called- -used by woodworkers. It evens up the edges well. Then for burnishing I use an old piece of denim..

 

[Mablung]

I haven’t tried using a plane, rasp, or Dremel, mostly because I’m trying to rein in my spending right now, but I find fine grits of wet/dry sandpaper used for painting to work very nicely. I got a variety pack of 220, 320, and 400 grit and find that gives a much cleaner edge. 220 does a pretty good job of cleaning up slightly frayed edges, and the other grits further clean and smooth the edges. 

[SUP]

@Mablung The plane I have is tiny and works for me for edges. It cost not even $5 on Temu. I have one for straight edges and one for curved edges - total less than $10 last year. Do try Temu. One needs to be judicious about buying things there and search a bit to get the best price. Shipping is free and as long as you are ready to wait a couple of weeks, it is convenient. I have not bought anything big from them, nothing ever more than $10. I have rarely been disappointed. Returns are free, if delayed  beyond date of expected delivery they pay you $5 as penalty. Good service. I know many people don't like the China aspect of it but even the things we buy here are often made there. We just don't know that, for the most part. These days I only buy from Amazon if it is available from Vine!

I tried sanding before that and it made a mess, like @Tophee said. That is when I searched around and I think one of the people who teach burnishing used a plane. As for burnishing, I bought 2 new ones of different sizes and still find myself reaching for that piece of denim!

 

Edited July 9, 2024 by SUP

[Mablung]

Agreed that sanding can make a mess of edges. In my admittedly limited experience, it can be avoided if the right grits are used, but not always. Really clean cuts help, of course, but sometimes the whole point is to clean up a less-than-ideal cut. I’ll look into small planes at some point. 

[Tophee]

I appreciate all the advice. Alot of things for me to try out in future projects. Im focusing on smaller things at the moment but will work my way up to bigger projects as I get better.

[Dwight]

On 7/7/2024 at 4:25 PM, Tophee said:

Still new, but these are my latest creations. Still cannot get the cuts all even.

 

Let me suggest to you that you spend just a medium amount of money . . . buy yourself a small laser engraver.  I cannot vouch for the machine I'm picturing as mine are both different brands . . . but this 30 machine should cut your leather very easily . . . set it up so it does it in 2 passes . . . you will want a air blast kit with it . . . you can put the designs on it first . . . then let it cut it out . . . 

Cutting leather stinks . . . need to do it in a well ventilated area . . . or fix up one like I did . . . but the end results are fabulous . . . 

May God bless,

Dwight

 

[SUP]

Just an FYI, @Tophee, These are the key chains that  I cut with a hand held die I got from Amazon last fall. They are the discards that I have around the house.  The leather used is the embossed scraps lot from The leather Guy. Those dies work.  

[fredk]

I have a few key fob dies. I use a mallet and a piece of wood to cut the leather. Scrap piece of leather on top of die blade and belt the piece of wood to cut it

This one cuts the stitching holes as well

Two other uses for the key fob piece

1. two pieces together to make a magnetic book/page marker

2. The right shape can be used as the strap loop on shoulder bags

 

[Tophee]

On 7/11/2024 at 3:04 AM, Dwight said:

Let me suggest to you that you spend just a medium amount of money . . . buy yourself a small laser engraver.  I cannot vouch for the machine I'm picturing as mine are both different brands . . . but this 30 machine should cut your leather very easily . . . set it up so it does it in 2 passes . . . you will want a air blast kit with it . . . you can put the designs on it first . . . then let it cut it out . . . 

Cutting leather stinks . . . need to do it in a well ventilated area . . . or fix up one like I did . . . but the end results are fabulous . . . 

May God bless,

Dwight

 

Thank you for the suggestion. I am short on space though, so like the presses suggested by others I wont be able to go for this. But it is something I will keep in mind for the future. 

 

On 7/12/2024 at 3:26 PM, SUP said:

Just an FYI, @Tophee, These are the key chains that  I cut with a hand held die I got from Amazon last fall. They are the discards that I have around the house.  The leather used is the embossed scraps lot from The leather Guy. Those dies work.  

Looks good, I have a couple die's saved in a list for when I get some funds to spare.

 

On 7/12/2024 at 3:56 PM, fredk said:

I have a few key fob dies. I use a mallet and a piece of wood to cut the leather. Scrap piece of leather on top of die blade and belt the piece of wood to cut it

This one cuts the stitching holes as well

Two other uses for the key fob piece

1. two pieces together to make a magnetic book/page marker

2. The right shape can be used as the strap loop on shoulder bags

 

I have this exact die saved in a list on amazon at the moment. I tried making a book marker out of leather, did not think of a magnetic one though.