Turning Leather On A Lathe

[PMAZZIO]

Hi,

First post, I would like to make some leather items turned in a lathe, maul handles and such. Has anyone here done it? Specifically when making the blank do you glue the layers together and if so what kind of glue? I was also wondering about what speed to turn at and if you would just use regular wood tools? All input is truly appreciated.

Thanks

Phil

[Dusty Leather]

Hi,

First post, I would like to make some leather items turned in a lathe, maul handles and such. Has anyone here done it? Specifically when making the blank do you glue the layers together and if so what kind of glue? I was also wondering about what speed to turn at and if you would just use regular wood tools? All input is truly appreciated.

Thanks

Phil

[Clay]

Phil,

I do a lot of leather turning. What works for me is to use the stiffer leathers from the back and butt of a side and stay away from the belly leathers or streachy leathers. I make a lot of pens and pencils with leather. I use contact cement and a vice to press the leather together. I usually turn it like I would a soft wood start out slow then for the final polish fast as it can go. As for the tools I generaly use the flat skew to shape it then medium grit through very fine grit sand paper to smooth and finish. Wax polish works good to get a good hi gloss finish and a little neatsfoot oil for color.

[PMAZZIO]

Phil,

I do a lot of leather turning. What works for me is to use the stiffer leathers from the back and butt of a side and stay away from the belly leathers or streachy leathers. I make a lot of pens and pencils with leather. I use contact cement and a vice to press the leather together. I usually turn it like I would a soft wood start out slow then for the final polish fast as it can go. As for the tools I generaly use the flat skew to shape it then medium grit through very fine grit sand paper to smooth and finish. Wax polish works good to get a good hi gloss finish and a little neatsfoot oil for color.

Thank you that is the exact type of info I was looking for. I'll let you know how the first project goes.

Thanks Again

Phil

[rlh3]

Phil,

I do a lot of leather turning. What works for me is to use the stiffer leathers from the back and butt of a side and stay away from the belly leathers or streachy leathers. I make a lot of pens and pencils with leather. I use contact cement and a vice to press the leather together. I usually turn it like I would a soft wood start out slow then for the final polish fast as it can go. As for the tools I generaly use the flat skew to shape it then medium grit through very fine grit sand paper to smooth and finish. Wax polish works good to get a good hi gloss finish and a little neatsfoot oil for color.

Sorry to resurrect such an old post, but I gotta ask, do you punch the leather for the pen tube before gluing or do you drill after glue-up? I can see advantages and disadvantages to both... Hmmm, must experiment...

Edited July 27, 2010 by rlh3

[Clay]

Turning Leather On A Lathe

(Making a Stacked Leather Pen)

I got the idea for the stacked leather pens after my first trip to the Rocky Mountain Leather Trade Show in Sheridan. I was amazed by the quality of leather work and also the tools that I saw there. One of the items that intrigued me the most were the mauls made by Barry King with the stacked leather handles. After talking with Barry and learning that they were turned on a lathe I decided that I was going to find a way to make some thing with stacked leather. Upon returning home I made a trip to my wood working supply store and found my project. The supply store had kits for wooden pens. I bought several and went to work trying to figure out how to make a leather pen. The first ones I made were not very good but I eventually came up with a way to do it that works good for me.

When picking out the leather try to avoid any soft or stretchy leathers. Fleshy leather or belly leather is not good either. I like to use the firm leather from the back area of a side. I also like to use leather that has already been tooled like projects that have mistakes or practice pieces. The swivel knife cuts make for interesting marks on the pen. Using different weights of leather is another option. Once the leather is chosen I cut it to similar size pieces and begin to glue it together.

The staked leather needs to be slightly taller than the tube that will hold the leather blank.

Before applying the glue I use a leather rougher to scrape both surfaces of the leather to insure the glue has a good bond. The last thing you want is for the piece to come apart on the lathe as you are turning it.

I use a mallet to pound the pieces together as I am gluing it up.

　

Once I have my leather "board" built I use wood clamps to press it together. I find that it helps again to keep the pieces from coming apart when turning. From this point some wood working tools are needed to continue.

When the glue is good and dry I use a band saw to cut my blanks. The kits come with instructions and dimensions that the blanks need to be cut to and they vary from kit to kit. For this kit I am cutting the blanks at ¾ inch by ¾ inch.

　

When the blanks are all cut I then prepare them for turning.

The blanks are turned on a mandrel and they need to be drilled. Each pen kit has different size tubes and the blanks need to be drilled so that the tubes fit tightly. They are drilled through the center.

After drilling out the blank I will insert the tube. I use sand paper to rough up the outer surface of the tube then apply contact cement and push it into the blank with a tool.

The blanks are turned on a mandrel so that they can be done uniform and precise. Again each pen kit has different size requirements. The mandrel has three bushings that you turn the blanks down to. I turn the leather until it is just a bit bigger than the bushings. Then I will sand the banks the rest of the way.

I start out with a coarse paper usually about 100 grit and work my way to 2000 grit paper so that I get a super smooth surface on the blanks.

I use neats foot oil and a lacquer to color and finish the blanks. They are then assembled according to the kit instructions using a vice to press the pieces together. When the parts are assembled an ink cartridge is inserted and the pen is done.

ClayM.

[rlh3]

Thanks for the great how-to. I have quite a bit of experience on the lathe, I have been turning for almost ten years, I had just never thought of combining my leatherwork with the lathe...

a couple of questions:

Do you use contact cement for all of the gluing? (you mention it on the tube insertion, but not on the "board" assembly.)

Have you tried this with a 7mm tube? the pen in your photos looks to be a bit larger tube. The only kits I have on hand are some Woodcraft Europeans.

Lastly, is your finish a1:1 mix of lacquer and Neatsfoot?

Thanks again for the write-up, it helps alot.

rlh3

[Clay]

Thanks for the great how-to. I have quite a bit of experience on the lathe, I have been turning for almost ten years, I had just never thought of combining my leatherwork with the lathe...

a couple of questions:

Do you use contact cement for all of the gluing? (you mention it on the tube insertion, but not on the "board" assembly.)

Have you tried this with a 7mm tube? the pen in your photos looks to be a bit larger tube. The only kits I have on hand are some Woodcraft Europeans.

Lastly, is your finish a1:1 mix of lacquer and Neatsfoot?

Thanks again for the write-up, it helps alot.

rlh3

Yes I use the contact cement for gluing up the boards. I have used this procedure for making several different size pens so it should work just fine for the 7mm tubes. On the neats foot and lacquer I first put a little neats foot on a rag and apply it to the blank while it is turning on the lathe until I get the color I like. You dont have to press very hard for this. I do the same thing with the lacquer. When doing this be VERY carefull not to let any part of the rag get caught up on the lathe.

ClayM.

[rlh3]

Thanks. If i get all of my ducks in a row, i will post a pic or two of the finished product.

rlh3

[gtwister09]

Phil,

Somehow this one got past me.

Just a couple of things to add to Clay's notes. Clay gave you lots of great tips and techniques on leather selection and so forth. I have made lots of handles and more than a few pens with leather. It has been a while since I made them (over 10 years now). Somewhere I have a special tap-off that marks the outline of the holes centered on the piece. A clicker die would have been a GREAT thing to have that would cut both holes.

Here's some things I do differently for speed purposes for handles.

• I punch mine with an arch punch so they start off round. Like I said a clicker die would be great rather than two whacks with punches.
• I use a piece of all-thread to compress the layers of leather(A LOT) - All-thread size is same as handle base or pen (7mm/5mm). Compressing the layers seemed to have a very positive impact in turning them.
• I hit both sides (flesh/grain) with a belt sander with 30 grit to rough it up. This is LOTS faster than a leather rougher.
• I dip the leather circles in wood glue like Titebond II and use waxed paper for easy clean-up on the bench.
• On leather maul handles and such I use the all-thread to turn the handle after in conjunction with a template/follower. There are lots of followers available for turning pens as well. For the handles they had to be made specifically for each size.

Regards,

Ben