Thread: Playing with leather

And for something a little different here is an ankle bracelet for my better half of braided leather. Note this is one single piece of leather offcut .
I have been thinking about how maybe I could incorporate this into a sheath maybe as edging to the sleeve...something like the last photo but not so large...
Any thoughts on this @hunter Al.7mm08 or anyone?
Too much maybe....?

I do heaps of wire rope braiding, on the web page that braiding is gold. Comes up nice.

So much awesomeness, I don’t know where to start!

@ Ftx325 & hunter Al.7mm08
What an awesome thread, being in a different time zone I wake up every morning looking forward to reading the latest revelations.
I asked for some pointers and I’m getting a master class.
You’ve all really inspired me to have a go at this, I can’t thank you enough, absolutely awesome information and display of talent
Keep posting guys, I’m living vicariously through you

@Ftx325
The modularity of your sheath carry options is very clever. Hunter is spot on with his comment about the base model ute and the options to customise.

@ hunter Al.7mm08
people’s ingenuity never ceases to amaze me. You must get a real buzz out of using tools that your grandfather thought up, made & used. I bet he’s smiling down on you.

@Gapped axe
I’m sorry to hear about your health issues. I’ve been going through a few hard times my self but this puts things in perspective and makes me appreciate what I have. You humble me sir. I too wish you the very best of luck in your battle

Your work is fantastic but I’m particularly drawn to the bracelet in your special projects section, very special, simple & elegant.

Just quickly threw this together... the leather is still the 3.5mm so a bit thick for what I was thinking but you get the idea. Could also be done on the bottom edge....
Thoughts anyone....silly idea?

@Ooops thanks for the comments mate,much appreciated @Ftx325 The braiding would definitely add another dimension to yout workperhaps something like this around th edge of the loop?.Or a vertical braid running up the centre,sorry can't find a pic to explain.

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A lot of my clients, friends and people who have helped me now have bracelets done out of copper wire. These bracelets are getting to be pretty popular and there are quite a few different styles for them to choose from. They can be femanine thru to total masculine, I normally wear 1 or 2 as its a very easy way to advertise them. I reakon this years spring Fair they will be a very hot item.

Just had a look on your page @Gapped axe ,bracelets are very cool don't think you'll have trouble moving them.
Sorry to hear about your situation mate,but glad to hear you aren't letting it get you down!

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Originally Posted by Ooops

So much awesomeness, I don’t know where to start!

@ Ftx325 & hunter Al.7mm08
What an awesome thread, being in a different time zone I wake up every morning looking forward to reading the latest revelations.
I asked for some pointers and I’m getting a master class.
You’ve all really inspired me to have a go at this, I can’t thank you enough, absolutely awesome information and display of talent
Keep posting guys, I’m living vicariously through you

@Ftx325
The modularity of your sheath carry options is very clever. Hunter is spot on with his comment about the base model ute and the options to customise.

@ hunter Al.7mm08
people’s ingenuity never ceases to amaze me. You must get a real buzz out of using tools that your grandfather thought up, made & used. I bet he’s smiling down on you.

@Gapped axe
I’m sorry to hear about your health issues. I’ve been going through a few hard times my self but this puts things in perspective and makes me appreciate what I have. You humble me sir. I too wish you the very best of luck in your battle

Your work is fantastic but I’m particularly drawn to the bracelet in your special projects section, very special, simple & elegant.

Hi @Ooops thanks for the feedback. Just pleased to know that you are finding this helpful.
As I have said before there's so much talent around hidden in bsck sheds , @Gapped axe being a damn sight better example than me!
I may have a wee project brewing for/with gapped axe so I may be able to do a photo walk thru of how I do my sheaths....if gapped axe doesn't mind seeing my dodgy techniques that is ...lol
The following photo is of a few of the pewter sculptures I used to create for a jeweler locally which I have seen for sale in tourist shops all over the country on the odd occasion. I would carve them out of wax and he would cast them into pewter. The tuatara for example took nearly 12hrs to carve and it's only about 3 inches long. I ended up giving that up as he wouldn't pay me sod all for the original and nothing at all im royalties for each unit sold. I must have done nearly 20odd designs for him including a map of NZ in the top of a teaspoon handle...including carving out all the mountain ranges and lakes.
Then I did pet portraits for a while. People would give me photos of dogs etc and I would draw them... but being a glutton for punishment I would draw them in dots using a Biro then lightly colour them with coloured pencils...the dot technique was the only way to get the detail I wanted , but lord it took forever... The hawk photo is one I did for myself nearly 20yrs ago so the colour has turned a bit orangy but if you look closely you can see the individual dots...

I have some other copies of my drawings kicking around if anyone's interested...but enough of that for now...this is supposed to be a "playing with leather"thread....

Originally Posted by hunter Al.7mm08

@Ooops thanks for the comments mate,much appreciated @Ftx325 The braiding would definitely add another dimension to yout workperhaps something like this around th edge of the loop?.Or a vertical braid running up the centre,sorry can't find a pic to explain.

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That's basically how I did the ammo holder on the 45/70 along with the sling and scabbard. On the edges of the ammo holder and sling I spaced the loops out a bit further though. Purely for decoration but the scabbard is actually held together by the loops.

@hunter Al.7mm08... this is the sort of thing I would like to try carving into leather , say the sleeves for example , to make the sheath a bit more individual. I have been carving this into an old piece of fibreboard since our chat about the designs into leather as an example of what sort of thing I was thinking. Believe it or not I just finished colouring the wood with shoe polish hence the uneven colouring... I couldn't find any stain... desperate times call for desperate measures lol

Mate...Thats bloody awesome.I would suggest trying a single rose first as you may find that design a little tricky to carve on leather.Some of the lines may be a bit fiddly.That said you obviously have an artists eye so I'm sure you could modify the design to work.
You might want to get some Antique paste too.You rub it over the carving to accent the shaded areas.


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Crikey that is most impressive, the detail in the birds head is unbelievable. My d2 knife is shorter by about 2”, and is my 2ic I suppose. Will try photos later, not really fused which knife gets resheafed as they are both working knives

A couple of Kowhai flowers would look cool, sort of that bell look. Kowhai flowers were pretty popular once in a copper medium.

Originally Posted by hunter Al.7mm08

Mate...Thats bloody awesome.I would suggest trying a single rose first as you may find that design a little tricky to carve on leather.Some of the lines may be a bit fiddly.That said you obviously have an artists eye so I'm sure you could modify the design to work.
You might want to get some Antique paste too.You rub it over the carving to accent the shaded areas.


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Thanks Hunter. The roses were actually the missus idea. I told her what I was up to with the carving but she didn't like my skull and crossbones plan...lol. she suggested the roses so she could hang it on the wall and she's the boss after all. I may wear the trousers in this house but she tells me which ones...ha ha

Originally Posted by Gapped axe

Crikey that is most impressive, the detail in the birds head is unbelievable. My d2 knife is shorter by about 2”, and is my 2ic I suppose. Will try photos later, not really fused which knife gets resheafed as they are both working knives

I have a few ideas I would like to try out after talking to you chaps (and @hunter Al.7mm08 in particular)... I quite like the idea of bordering the sleeve with lace for example like the 45/70. I might get out the magic teaspoon and see what other tools I can experiment with for designs/drawing into the leather and have a play on some scraps.
Probably the longest and deepest/widest bladed knife would give me a bit more space. If I use lace I might make some more antler beads too maybe... depends on how much use you intend for the sheath as to how carried away and ornate I get I suppose. I have a habit of getting a little carried away...but I would like to try and make something a wee bit special for you if I can. Can't be just a plain boring old sheath for a man such as yourself. We can discuss the details when I know the knife intended for the sheath.