cbossio Report post Posted January 10, 2020 (edited) We had some VIPs come to my work and it's customary to give them gifts. This year I made the gifts. (my first paying leather work) The only conditions were that they had to hold a reporter size pad of paper, a challenge coin, and an over-sized personalized pen light. I tried to make each of these a little different and I got better as I went along. The pad on the left is for me so I didn't include a challenge coin pocket or the stupid pen. The biggest challenge was cutting large circles for the coins. Edited January 10, 2020 by cbossio additional info Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YinTx Report post Posted January 10, 2020 Nifty, a lot of design work on those. Congrats on the commission! YinTx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kiwican Report post Posted January 10, 2020 I like the idea of adding the challange coin Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
huttonbruce Report post Posted January 12, 2020 Very, Very Nice! Can I ask, how did you cut the circles? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cbossio Report post Posted January 12, 2020 2 hours ago, huttonbruce said: Very, Very Nice! Can I ask, how did you cut the circles? Cutting the circles was a beast. I tried (and failed) a bunch of different ways. Freehand, a compass with a blade attached where a pencil would go, spade bit... At one point I was scouring the hardware store for a hole saw out of desperation. They didn't have the size I needed so I don't know how that would have turned out. This is ultimately the setup I ended up with. I literally just screwed the leather to a scrap piece of wood, love tapped a spare hobby knife blade into the wood, and then spun the piece of leather around the screw. It was surprisingly effective. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fredk Report post Posted January 12, 2020 A. the notebook covers are very nice. The same but each slightly different, true OOAKs B. clever way to cut the circular holes C. What are 'Challenge coins'? Not something I've come across in the UK Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cbossio Report post Posted January 12, 2020 31 minutes ago, fredk said: A. the notebook covers are very nice. The same but each slightly different, true OOAKs B. clever way to cut the circular holes C. What are 'Challenge coins'? Not something I've come across in the UK Challenge coins started in the US military. It's a coin with a unit insignia. There's a whole tradition involved in the "challenge" that varies from unit to unit but are mostly just used as collectibles. They've since branched out from the military and are pretty popular in law enforcement. Here's an example of one we just got for our department. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
maxdaddy Report post Posted January 13, 2020 That's an interesting solution to circle-cutting. Necessity is a great teacher. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
