Gave Leather a Try

[mbroberg]

I bummed some scraps off of a leather tooling friend of mine and tried a leather blank. I didn't have quite enough to go the whole length of the tube so I added some pick guard. I think it would have looked better without the pick guard, but it is what it is. I'll be giving this back to my friend as a bribe for more scraps.

C & C welcome.

View in Gallery

 

[mark james]

Oohhh! That came out nice. I suspect better than you thought. The red does "shine" a bit, but not to distract from the other segments, IMO.

Well done.

 

[Dalecamino]

It's been a long time since I saw one of these come around. You did good Mike!

 

[Dale Allen]

Nicely done.

 

[Jim15]

Looks great.

 

[TonyL]

Awesome job Mike!

 

[mbroberg]

Thank you all. I wasn't too unhappy with my 1st attempt at leather. I just think it would have looked better without the red accents.

 

[leehljp]

It has been a loong while since I saw anyone post leather. That looks GREAT!

I go to a leather shop in Springfield MO on occasion visiting my daughter and they have all kinds and some real thick leather too. Surely Columbus has a leather shop to get some for more. I think there just might be lots of pens just waiting to get dressed in leather after seeing yours! :biggrin:

 

[magpens]

That's very nice, Mike !! . I think the red adds a lot of appeal.

How did you finish it ?

 

[its_virgil]

Nice job Mike. I like your color choices, arrangement and thicknesses. These are fun to make and produce a unique pen. I've made a few...need to make another or two. Thanks for sharing.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[Talltim]

Personally I don't think the red does it any harm. I rather like the accent.

 

[TattooedTurner]

That's an awesome and beautiful pen! I think the pic guard makes for some nice accents myself.

 

[Yankee Remedy]

Something different. I like it!

I assume that would still be called stacked leather and is probably is done the same way a stacked leather knife handle is made.

I like the pic guard also. When you see the high end knives with stacked leather handles they always have different color spacers usually by the guard and pommel, but sometimes in the middle too.

 

[OZturner]

Excellent Pen Mike,
Great Leather Blank, I agree with those who like the Red Pick Guard, It Blends Well and provides a Colour Break.
Well Done,
Brian.

 

[stuckinohio]

Nice. I like it!

 

[mbroberg]

Again, Thank you for all the kind words. I considered entering it in a contest at the MPG, but decided against it due to the pick guard. Perhaps I should have.

That's very nice, Mike !! . I think the red adds a lot of appeal.

How did you finish it ?

Mal, I occasionally soaked the leather with thin CA throughout the turning process. When it was where I wanted it I applied only 2 coats of medium CA, attempting to maintain some of the leathrey (is that a word? Oh well, you probably know what I mean :biggrin feel and texture. I lightly sanded with Abronet starting at 320 up to 600.

I assume that would still be called stacked leather and is probably is done the same way a stacked leather knife handle is made.

I know nothing about making knife handles, but yes, the leather is stacked onto the tube.

 

[Mr Vic]

Looks great Mike.

I did one a few years back for someone here who cut up his old belt after great weight loss. He didn't ant to try himself. Thought he would have posted it after sent it back complete but oh well. It had aluminum inserts similar to what you did.

 

[thewishman]

The pick guard adds to the design, to me. Nice work!

 

[MRDucks2]

Like Gary, the pick guards make me think of some of the leather knife handles which would use some combination of red, white or black spacers in them. I like it.


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[Woodchipper]

Chiming in a bit late but the pen looks great. The red contrasts with the leather and, IMHO, complements the leather. Looking a doing some pens with leather. The wife got some leather scraps at Hobby Lobby yesterday. Another source for leather would be a show repair shop. We have one in town- get some leather scraps and make a pen for him as payment.
Thanks for the "tutorial" for your method.

 

[Glenn McCullough]

Nice job, Mike, looks great! Did you drill holes in it first? That sounds like a challenge in itself . Or did you build a blank, then drill it?

 

[mbroberg]

Nice job, Mike, looks great! Did you drill holes in it first? That sounds like a challenge in itself . Or did you build a blank, then drill it?

Glenn, I was looking back through some old threads and see that you asked a question that I never saw. I cut the leather into squares and used a 3/8" leather punch to punch the holes. I then stacked the leather squares onto the tube, gluing with CA as I went.