The Beavers Back

[Beaverslayer]

Well here's the next step in the procedure for all that's taking notes. (There will be a test at the end)

When marking your leather to cut, I use a Gel Pen. They are great for marking on garment leather, as the marks will just rub right off when your done with it. I use a Pentech Fireworks pen, usually Silver in color as is shows up real good on black leather.

The hardest piece to layout and mark is the back piece. If you want, you can make a complete back template instead. If you only use a half template, then make sure you put marks on the centre line, so when you flip it over to mark the other side, you have something to line it up with.

Lay your leather out nice and flat, being careful not to stretch it, you just want it to lay naturally.

You can see that there are a few wrinkles showing in the picture, this will not be a problem, as they will not show in the final vest. If you were to try and get all the wrinkles out, you would have to stretch the leather and this would cause far worst problems.

Here's a picture of the Gel Pen

[Beaverslayer]

Next step is to make sure that the two pieces that you are going to join fit correctly. This is important as you don't want to apply the glue, then as your joining them together, finding out that they don't fit properly, and have to redo the whole thing.

Then cut some 5/8" strips of pigskin. These are to be used to join the two pieces together and add some structural support to the seams.

[leathercat]

that looks good i wish i could do that

[Beaverslayer]

Leathercat, if you keep going the way you are, one day soon you too will be able to make one or anything like it.Ken

Edited March 22, 2008 by Beaverslayer

[Beaverslayer]

The next step is to glue the two pieces together, this will be the same proccess with each time we have to join two pieces of leather edge to edge.I use a water soluable contact cement. It's the same as normal Barges and such, except it is water soluable. It is very strong and will hold leather together very well. The main reason I use this rather than Barges, is that it will just rub right off of the finished side of the leather with your thumb and not leave any residue. Also there is no foul oder.First you want to apply a small ammount of glue to the edge of your shoulder piece. Try not to use to much, as it isn't needed. I use a small paint brush to apply it with....NO Q-TIPS!!!

Next, do the same to the back panel of the vest.

On this piece only apply the glue to within 1/2" of the outer edge, as the last 1/2" of leather is to be folded over and is not glued to the shoulder piece.

Next, being VERY careful not to stretch the leather, and on a flat surface, join the two pieces together. Start in the middle where the tip of the shoulder piece meets the centre of the back piece. Using your finger nail or the edge of your thumb, press the two edges together. Use yoyr roller to roll back and forth across the two pieces to help bond them.

Then you want to take your roller and roll the seam together FACE DOWN. This not only helps to make the bond, but doing it face down will make the finished side of the vest even, as the tooling hide is a bit thicker than the garment leather.

[Beaverslayer]

Now we need to glue those strips of pigskin on to add strength to the seam.

I stick painters tape to the leather to make it easier to only apply the glue where I want it to be.

Once you've layed out the tape, use a wider paint brush and apply the glue, again don't go overboard with the glue, as you really don't ned that much, just enough to leave a thin filem

Then apply some glue to the strips of pigskin, cut them to length first.

Pull the tape off of the leather, then starting in the middle of the back, press the strip down following the curve of the seam. Once you've got both pieces pressed onto the seam, use your roller to bond the pieces together.

[Beaverslayer]

The last step for now is to mark where you will punch the holes for lacing.

Start from the outer edge of the shoulder piece and make a mark 3/16" in from the edge. From there place a mark every 3/8" apart until you get to the centre of the vest. Do the same thing on the opposite side. If you notice that one side is a bit different, this again is not a big problem, as you can adjust the spacing a bit as you punch the holes. I wish it was an exact science, but as yet it is not, very close though.

Now you are ready to punch your holes and do some lacing. Bear with me, and I will have the steps for doing this later tomorrow.

[Beaverslayer]

Okay, here we go with punching the holes. Use a punch that is 1 size smaller than the lace you will be using.

Start by placing punching a hole in the middle of the seam, this will be your starting point. Then following your marks, punch all the rest of the holes. You want them to be 1/4" on either side of the seam, this will give you a laced seam that is 1/2" wide.

Then when you get to the middle of the back, you will have to be a bit careful as to your hole punching, you do not want them to be too close, but then you do want them to be about the same distance apart. You will also have to punch a few holes that are not marked, like the one at the very bottom of the "V".

[Beaverslayer]

Now we can start to lace. I'm going to use 1/4" lace that I have cut from the same garment hide. You do not really want to use a diferent lace as this tends to look a bit funny. If you need help to make your own lace, I have done a lace making tutorial that can be found on the Main Front page of the Leatherworker.net website.

You will have to cut a piece of your lace 7 times the length of the seam, on this seam you don't want any splicing as it is a structural seam.

To begin with, you run your lace through the middle hole at the outer edge of the vest. Leave about a 1" tail on the backside, this is to be glued down in such a way that it will be held in place by one of the following laces.

Then, using a lace roller, roll the tail to make a good bond.

Now, run your lace through the second hole on either the top or bottom of the seam. Whichever you decide is okay there is no reason to use one over the other, just be sure when you start the other side you do the same as this side to keep evrything the same.

Pull the lace all the way through and snug, not real tight, just snug.

Then on the backside, run your lace throught the first hole and pull it snug again. This will not cross over but be in a straight line. Then on the front, cross over to the second hole on the front, and run your lace through again. Again just make it snug, not real tight, as you don't want it to pull the leather and make it wrinkle.

Then again from the backside, run your lace through the first hole like you just did previously, pulling it snug. Also you want to be sure that the lace is not twisted in any way, if it is, just give it a little tweek with your finger to straighten it out.

Now, cross over the seam again and run the lace through the third hole, then on the backside, back up through the second hole, on the front across the seam into the third hole, and so on untill you've reach the middle of the vest.

This is what the backside should look like, and also this is how your tail should be secured when you reach it.

[Beaverslayer]

When you've reached the middle of the vest, you will have to punch one more hole to be able to finish the seam. The placement is shown in this picture, circled in red. I will always wait till I've reached this point before I punch this hole, it sometimes has to be placed where it does not look like it should be. What I wll do is lay the lace down and see where it looks "Best" and then mark and punch the hole.

Next, using a piece of sandpaper lightly sand away any stain or dye and also the shiny finish of the garment leather between the seam holes. You need to do this to help the glue bond, as it doesn't like to stick well to shiny surfaces.

Now, cut the lace so that it can be glued down to the area that you've just sanded clean, apply glue to both the lace and the vest, and stick the lace down.

Take your roller and roll this tail to make a good bond. This tail will be covered byt the lace that comes from the other side of the vest, and will also be held down by it as well.