The requirements were specific: They wanted their logo on the belt with the same writing that they use around their logo! I warned that writing that small (1/4") with tooling is not easy - especially seeing that I had a severe time limit.
I used a swivel knife for the logo outlines, but the writing was just done with a checkered beveler only.
The holsters hold 5 Hour Energy drinks! (In my youth as a programmer, we ran on coffee, good old fashioned cafeeinated coffee - the good old days!)
I am reluctant to take on prototype projects, but the challenge of carving a lion was just too much! [A lion's face does not have many swivel knive cuts and is tooling wise not easy.] I embossed the lion face slightly, but did not leave a plug in there, so the embossing is quite subtle.
Further more, the bag is for a Ram's Horn, like in the Old Testament, but it is not one used in a Jewish community - as in a Hispanic Protestant Church.
So, as with all my projects, I did quite a few practise pieces to see how things would work.
This paid off, because I got the best background dye around the lion's head with the new Pro Waterbased Stain! So all the veg tan leather was dyed with this new stain.
A little gold acrylic added a bit more prominence to the lettering.
["The Lion of the Tribe of Judah"]
I decided to use the same opening as for the Huarachi pouch, as it lies flat, but the challenge came in that there was now lining and padding inside the pouch as well and the bag was also stitched inside out and turned in.
And there it is - all done!
I just put a cow horn in there to show how the horn would go into the bag opening.
Inside | |
 | I first constructed the box by gluing the four sides together and holding them in clamps. Then The hollow box is then sawed in half - top and bottom. On the inside of the bottom sides, I glue The lid is of course and absolute perfect fit, because it used to be one piece with the bottom |
| The next step was to plan the inside - the placement of the tools and the layers of cork that would give them a place to lie. I embedded strong magnets into the cork and glued it down with epoxy glue. |  |
 | I lined this box with pre glued felt from the local woodworking store (used for lining jewelry boxes), but never again - the adhesive is very strong and is very difficult to work with on the uneven surface - next time I will line it with garment pigskin. |
| Next was the enjoyable part of the project -putting the design on the leather - here the whole design has been carved and one half of me wanted to stop right here! |  |
 | I begin with the zulu shields and progress to the Trevor Jones Bars at the top and bottom. The Zulu shields are symbolic of the oldest use of leather in Africa and I just liked the design. The Trovor Jones Bars are dedicated to a master leathercrafter in Natal, South Africa, The elephant was just another nice design I wanted to use in any Africa setting and the Strelitzia flowers |
| I sometimes use a magnifying glass on a stand when I do fine dying work - I just find it so much less stress on my eyes in artificial light. |  |
 | At long last the dying is done and the leather is glued onto the box lid. |
| A final scan of the finished design. | |
September 2011 Update: Those Fiebings dyes faded completely and now this box is totally monochrome! There is a seperate posting in this blog about that : Fading Dyes
This is what that lid now looks like (Feb 2014) :
Because the leather was glued onto wood, I thought it would be a good idea to heavily coat it with neatlac - so if I were to re-color it, I would have to strip it very agressively. This time I will definitely use the regular Eco-Flo dyes.
Two postings ago I showed the Huarache sandles I made. Well, on a recent barefoot hike I realized it would be nice to have my huaraches with me when the going gets tough.... But, I want to carry as little as possible. So I am going to try this pouch that will hang from a belt.
The construction took some carefull planning - I wanted the pouch to be quite flat and so sewing in the veg tan 'mouth' of the pouch was done in stages, first attaching it to the front, then closing the body of the bag and then stitching the back of the mouth to the back of the bag. Lastly the flap was sewn on and the two d-rings riveted in.
In the photo above, my huaraches are actualy in the pouchand it stays quite flat.
Here is my huaraches peeking out:
I made these very simple Huaraches today. They are also known as Tarahumara Running Sandals, used by many long distance runners.
My aim was to use leather easily available at a Tandy store, some contact adhesive, and a hole punch.
Here are the steps:
First draw a pattern for the soles - there are many videos on YouTube that show you how to do this.
On this pattern you will see the dot I marked between my big toe and the rest as well as the two marks on either side of the heel to show where my ankles are. I then used the scribe awl to outline the patterns onto the leather. I used a 4-5oz veg tan (tree bark tanned) leather - you can get a single shoulder or a belly for the job.
Make sure your two patterns - one for each foot - faces up so that left is left and right is right. Have the grain side of the leather facing up so that you will be walking on the smooth leather.
These upper soles are then cut out of the leather on those scribed lines. You do not need a fancy knife like this - a sharp utility knife will work well.
Where I marked the spot between my toes, I punched two holes so that I can cut two lines to form a slot between them. One hole was where I marked the spot and the second hole is more towards the front of the sole.
I got 60" latigo saddle strings from Tandy - 1/2" wide - they are nice and soft and very strong. One tip went through the cut slot in such a way that when I take the strap to the outside of my foot, the grain side will be on top. On the next photo I have applied contact adhesive to the tab of saddle string sticking out on the bottem of the sole as well as to the sole where the tab would fold flat.
The tabs are bent over to glue them onto the bottom of the soles. Now the soles are glued down onto another layer of leather - flesh side to flesh side.
This makes the soles a bit stronger and the grain side should wear a bit better. You could just use a thicker leather to start with, but that would mean that you cannot hide the tabs of the saddle string between the two layers of leather that form the sole.
The bottom layer of leather is now cut out to shape according to the top sole that had been glued to it. Careful not to cut through your saddle strings.
The last step is to make slots for the strings on the sides where your ankles are going to be. I made them about 3/16" from the sides, through both layers of leather. The strings need to slide through these slots freely so that you can adjust the fit of the huaraches.
There are many videos on YouTube again to show you how to tie these to your feet - basically the method I used was from the toes to the outside of the foot, through the slot, round the back of the foot to the other side, again through the slot, then to the string running from the toes, around your ankles and tied down.
In the back view you can see I need to trim these guys a bit - the soles are too big. Rather too big than too small.
I wore them this evening for a few hours - very comfortable and very secure!
A friend liked the cell phone case I tooled for my smartphone and wanted to see it, but I did not like the design too much - so I decided to come up with my own design. It took a few doodles before it took shape in my mind and on paper and on the right hand you can see the final design on paper with the tracing film and leather with swivel knife cuts on the left.
As soon as I took the first photo, I decided to use the timestamp on the digital camera to record how long this little project took me to complete. So to reach the stage above and below, probably about 45 minutes.
39 minutes later and I had the basic beveling done, as seen below. (Total 84 minutes)
34 more minutes got the extra few decorative stamps and the backgrounding done. (Total 118 minutes)
Another 30 minutes (without drying time) was used to apply Eco Flo Highliter and spray with Supersheen. (Total 148 minutes = 2 hours 28 minutes)
email me if you want a copy of the pattern : leatherworker at gmail.com
If you really want to do nice work, make something for someone else and speed through it at top speed!
That is how this check book cover got a quick, but very effective, double whip stitch edge - no time for double loop lacing.
Digital photography once again conceals the true beauty of the dye job. I used a dauber ful of red dye to apply Saddle Tan Gel Antique and then sprayed it with supersheen.
