kINGPINS noob to leathercraft thread.

[kINGPIN]

(Sorry if the title is a bit seft indulgent.)

I've posted a load of basic questions in other threads and everyone has been really helpful. I've got a tonne of other questions coming up, so in an aim to not cluttering up the forum I thought I would just stick them all here from now on. Also I'll use this as a random diary of how various projects are going. It should be useful to myself and hopefully to any other noob that stumbles across it.

First lesson learnt:

Diamond awls are delicate, treat them carefully!

My first day of leatherwork today and I snapped my awl.:ashamed: Got a new one coming as I can't fix it.


Apart from that hitch, I've had a great day cutting leather to shape and my sheath is coming along nicely. Making the template on an old cereal box was easier then I thought (cheers to the Canadian!).

[kINGPIN]

A little question for the future guys. Do you clean your wool daubers or just throw them away? If you clean them, what do you use please?

Cheers

Andy

[CanadianMike]

Yup, they are delicate. I've always run a round awl, until the time I misplaced it and bought a diamond awl........ preference, round awl...... mostly it get used for scoring ruler marks on my kydex prior to cutting. Lol

I throw them away, but depending on the type of dye you use (alcohol this applies to), you can put in a baggie and store in the freeze til next time.

I prefer balled up paper towel for dye application, find daubers soak too much in too fast. I prefer the daubers for flooding gun bluing on my knife blades.

[kINGPIN]

Yup, they are delicate. I've always run a round awl, until the time I misplaced it and bought a diamond awl........ preference, round awl...... mostly it get used for scoring ruler marks on my kydex prior to cutting. Lol

I throw them away, but depending on the type of dye you use (alcohol this applies to), you can put in a baggie and store in the freeze til next time.

I prefer balled up paper towel for dye application, find daubers soak too much in too fast. I prefer the daubers for flooding gun bluing on my knife blades.

Cheers mike, I'll do a test with both and see how it goes. It proves that theres more then one way to skin a cat.

I have a round awl but its way too wide and leaves a massive hole. The awl I bought has threaded tips so they are easy to change- and I bought a few extra as I don't think it will be the last time. :)

Heres what I managed to get done so far today. A lot of work to to still but I'm glad I managed to get the front and back lined up (still need to do the middles though).

http://i1252.photobucket.com/albums/hh579/ProtienandIron/IMAG0054.jpg

[CanadianMike]

Thing about leather, it's made of crossweave strands. Push a round awl through it, it leaves a large hole, easy to sew, but the leather seals the hole up, simply because you aren't making a hole per se, you are just stretching the fibers out of the way leaving a hole. Is part of the reason you wet the leather when sewing, helps push the leather to seal itself. Hence the use of the lock stitch, leave the knot in the middle of the hole, the leather goes back to it's original state and locks the linked loops together inside. ;)

[AL...]

Lookin good KP

Cheers
AL

[biker-bri]

Are you sure you haven't done this before, that's to good to be a first attempt, where are all the bits you mucked up, come on show us - where are they.
T^ from me mate. cheers Bri

[kINGPIN]

Thing about leather, it's made of crossweave strands. Push a round awl through it, it leaves a large hole, easy to sew, but the leather seals the hole up, simply because you aren't making a hole per se, you are just stretching the fibers out of the way leaving a hole. Is part of the reason you wet the leather when sewing, helps push the leather to seal itself. Hence the use of the lock stitch, leave the knot in the middle of the hole, the leather goes back to it's original state and locks the linked loops together inside. ;)

Thanks for the advice Mike.


Lookin good KP

Cheers
AL

Cheers Al. Its such an enjoyable craft, I'm glad to be doing it.


Are you sure you haven't done this before, that's to good to be a first attempt, where are all the bits you mucked up, come on show us - where are they.
T^ from me mate. cheers Bri

Thats very kind of you, but yes its my first try. I used to be a carpet fitter which I think helped a bit as I'm used to using a stanley on thick material. Apart from breaking my awl, there hasn't been any major mistakes so far, but I've got a long way to go in the project yet.

I've got a new awl and some snaps andd rivets coming, so I'll wait for them before I continue.

[CanadianMike]

Working with leather like this is always about planning the layers, as in what has to be sewn on first, second, etc. before closing it up. Last thing you want is to find you've sewn your sheath but forgot to sew the retaining strap in before closing it up. At least thread can be sliced apart to start over. Lol

[kINGPIN]

Funny you should say that, I came very close to forgetting to even make a retaining strap. :D

[CanadianMike]

Hehehe, experience makes us smarter.......... ;)

[RobbC]

Actually that reminds me, ive totally forgot about the sheath for the knife im making. What tool do i need? because if i follow a few of the youtubers advice im gona have to spend a couple of hundred on tools, and i dont have that kinda cash ;)

Robb

Edit- didnt mean to hi-jack the thread, i was more wondering what tools you have used

[CanadianMike]

He has a previous thread that goes over all the tool recommendations suggested and what he ended up buying......... only a couple weeks old actually.

http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?3760-Beginner-tools-for-leather-work&highlight=kingpin

[kINGPIN]

I spent quite a lot on tools, but I a think lot of it depends on how complicated you want your designs to be. Punches to make holes, and rivet setters seem to cost a lot, so just by avoiding them, you can save a load.

[kINGPIN]

My rivets and awl arrived today- super fast delivery from english knife supplies.

Tryed out dyeing for the fist time today. I used Fiebings dark brown oil dye and the results seem to be better then expected. I've got some tan kote, and some carnauba creme coming in the post over the next few days so to put something back into the leather I applied a bit of Neatsfoot Oil to the back of all the pieces. I'll be Tan Koting the inside, and applying carnauba creme before piecing it all together and stitching.

For drying out the pieces I made myself a washing line out of paracord, and used unraveled paper clips as mini hooks along with some mini bulldog clips (for the pieces that didn't have holes). This was hung up temporarily between two kitchen door handles. I took the idea off Ian Atkinson from Leodis Leather, his YT videos are fantastic.

[kINGPIN]

I finally finished my first project today, a sheath for my modified MOD knife. The reason it has taken so long is that I was constantly waiting for things in the post at every stage. I'm really happy with the results, but hopefully it will be a lot quicker for my next sheath as I now have a good selection of materials, finishes, and rivets. :)

http://i1252.photobucket.com/albums/hh579/ProtienandIron/IMAG0097.jpg

http://i1252.photobucket.com/albums/hh579/ProtienandIron/IMAG0098.jpg

Thanks to everyone who posted in this and my other threads for your help answering my stupid questions, it would have all been a lot harder without your input. :)

[AL...]

Great work KP real solid lookin sheath and its gonna do the job for a lot of years to come .
Well done mate

Cheers
AL

[kINGPIN]

Thanks Al I really enjoyed it. My next project is a sheath for my Ontario Cutlass machete (12") as it didn't come with one. I used it for the first time on a camp a couple of nights ago and it performed so well it will be accompanying me on many more. If anyone has any interesting ideas for a machete sheath, I'll be interested in seeing them.

[FishyFolk]

I really like that sheath. There are so many talented craftspeople in this forum, that I feel like a right bumbling bushcrafter :-)

[kINGPIN]

Thanks very much Fishy. Its funny you should say that because that is exactly how I feel when I see some of the great projects other people do on here. Thats what I love about bushcraft, there is always so much to learn. I feel that this leathercraft lark has opened up a whole new world.

[AL...]

Yup I think the very same as you guys

Cheers
AL