leather virgin

[singe1986]

Okay ill start from begining my leather skill are none existent and never tried working with it so my knowledge is limited to none on subject ive been reading this forum an picked up the odd bit but for sake of argument I know nothing, now im wanting to have a go at a axe mask and have a 18' by 12' piece of cowhide 3mm thick looks dyed black on one side, first question is this suitable? Next what else do I need? Also I want to make a design on it and toughen leather up as its quite pliable

Cheers for advice

 

[Dave Budd]

I got all excited for a moment there 'leather virgin' irate:

do you mean 18' or 18" ? There is quite a difference!

If its very pliable at 3mm then it is likely chrome tanned and the only way I know to stiffen it would be to soak it in molten beeswax (in which case it will be hard, not stiffer). The easiest way to make a mask would be to copy an existing one, at least in style. In terms of tools, you will need a knife to cut it out, an awl (or small drill bit) to make the holes and a needle and thread; other tools can be used as well, but they are not needed The design can be painted on with acrylics and if you have veg tan or its soaked in wax then you can tool it with a variety of blunt tipped sticks (or modelling tools if you have them), though carving it could be an option too.

I'm sure others will elaborate and have others suggestions too

 

[dwardo]

There are a lot of guys more leather handy than me but my two peneth.
You need some decent linen thread and some leather needles. You can use any needle really but leather needles tend to be the only ones with a bug enough eye that will take the heavy weight thread. You will need an awl for making the stitch holes too.
A stitch wheel is handy as this will make all the stitches a nice neat distance from each other but you can use a fork or just mark them using a ruler.

Your leather sounds thick enough but its hard to say if it can be wet formed as we dont know if its been treated with anything so tooling might be out.

Make your self a paper or card pattern constantly measuring it against the axe until you are happy and then take it to the leather. Dont make any stitch holes until you are happy with the way all the bits fit together and around the axe. Search here for different types of axe mask there are loads to choose from.

Remember, a man who never made a mistake never made anything

 

[dwardo]

Oops Dave beat me too it. Much better leather worker than I am.

 

[singe1986]

Lol yeah a fair bit of difference its 18 inch by 12 inch. So judging by it im better off with some vegitan? And what is wet forming exactly? Also what would I use the leather I have for?
Again cheers for the info guys

 

[leon-1]

Lol yeah a fair bit of difference its 18 inch by 12 inch. So judging by it im better off with some vegitan? And what is wet forming exactly? Also what would I use the leather I have for?
Again cheers for the info guys

ou could make a basic soft pouch from the leather you have.

Wetforming. Can be done with veg tanned or oak bark tanned leather. Leather once wetted can be shaped.

There are a couple of ways of doing this, one is to make something like a sheath and soak it. Place the knife into the sheath and then mould the leather around the handle of the knife. As it dries the leather will harden and retain the shape of the knife handle.

The other way is to make a form. The form is made of two parts, the main body (the shape that you wish the leather to take on) and the frame. The frame is made to quite tight tolerances to try and maintain the shape of the main body. The leather is dampened and laid across the main body of the form,it is then tacked in place. The frame is then put into place and compressed down evenly around the main body using g-clamps. Once the clamps have compressed about as far as they can then just leave to dry out in a dry room, you don't want the room to be hot as this could cause the leather to shrink or possibly even crack.

If I get a chance I'll get a picture of a form placed up here.

 

[Fraxinus]

All I can say is when you make a template for your project work out which way/face is outermost...I started a knife sheath around 6 months ago and it wasn't until I was ready to start stitching it I realised that it was now a left handed sheath instead of right check and double check.
Hope your project goes without any hiccoughs.

 

[greensurfingbear]

3mm sounds thick enough for an axe mask. draw around the axe head then made a mask out of cardboard to make sure i was happy with the shape. check it double check it and then cut the lather around the card bopard pattern.

tool wise the basics, leather needles, strong thread and a awl or drill, which ever you have.

More importantly have fun with it. Don't stress about how it looks etc its a learning curve