Leather work

[Dan_Shade]

Does anyone here do any leather work?

I made a few formed guards for my timber framing chisels.

I used my fingers to wet mold the 11-12 oz leather for the top.

They don't slide off, and I'm happy with the look.

I dyed the leather with a walnut Behlen solar lux dye. 



 

[Walnut Beast]

Looks fantastic!

[Magicman]

I gave all of my leather tools to Radar67 (Terry Stewart).  He showed back up here in 2020, but it seems that he has dropped off of the FF radar (pun intended) again. 

[Erik A]

How did you make them? 

Machine stitched?

Cut to size then stich or did you trim after stitching?

They look very nice.

[Ljohnsaw]

Is that some thick, black plastic that the flat side rides on?

[Dan_Shade]

They're hand stitched.  I'll post details later.

The plastic is a piece of 1/16th ABS for the flat to ride on. 

[Tom King]

Those are the nicest chisel protectors I've ever seen.

[Dan_Shade]

Thank you for the kind words, Tom. 

@Erik A 

I cut the back to size, and gave extra width to the top section. 

After cutting to size, I soaked the top in warm water for 10-15 seconds, and pressed it over the chisel (wrapped in cling wrap) to mold the top. 

Then I let the top dry for a few hours, and trimmed it to match the back. 

The next step was to use a grooving tool to cut a groove for the thread along the top, and use a leather stitching punch to lay out the thread holes. 

At this point, I used contact cement to glue in the ABS piece, and the edges. 

After this, I dyed it using an alcohol dye from my woodworking stash. 

Finally, I saddle stitched it by hand, hammered the thread, and put some obenauf boot wax on it. 

[SwampDonkey]

Looks great, a fine job and seem to be doing the job.

Never tried leather work. No source of leather in these parts, just made products.