/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>409959
>ME SPECIAL
>NO SPEAK GOODLY

>>333842
Also, do you tan the hides yourself? Any experience in this?

I've never tanned my own leather. My hunting buddy and I are planning to brain-tan some deer hides, once we manage to bag something.

Would love to get my hands on a coyote pelt, too... Gotta get out and hunt more.

>>333842
For thinner leather like a fur-hide, saddle stitching is awesome but overkill.

For the pouch in the above picture, the actual sack panels were repurposed from a cheap leather jacket. The tightest, most effective stitch I could manage was whip-stitching. So keep that possibility in mind.
I'd bet that's going to be your best option.

>>333827
Definitely start with a practice piece. Just from fabric, so you can get a good idea on how to get the proper shape.

If you sew with a machine, that'll be fine for the fabric, but I wouldn't use that on the leather. MIGHT be okay for thin, garment-grade leather, but I'd play it safe and stitch it by hand.

I wish I could offer more help, other than "find a pattern", but it's a pretty specific project.

Sewing is a pain in the ass. This is why I generally stick to saddle-stitching and thicker leather. Pic related.

>>333834
Can't tell if troll.

I've never seen a hat where that piece folds down.

>>333819
Bird-watching.

Now your pic is related.

>>333821
They don't cover your mouth and nose...

They're ear-flaps. When tied/strapped in the down position, the flaps wrap under your chin.

If you want a face-covering, you're thinking of a balaclava.

>>333813
Breath easy? What?

There's no reason you can't fold either of them up, unless the red one lacks a strap to do so.
And OP, seriously, what kind of skill level do you have going into this? Can you sew? Do you want it to be a fabric hat lined with fur? Do you want it all leather?

I'm tempted to tell you to search online for a pattern, and go with it. If you can't sew from a pattern or hand-stitch leather, you've got a ways to go before your skill level can produce a wearable hat that won't get funny looks for being shoddy.

Do you have access to some hair-on-hide fur?

Can you hand-stitch at all?

Before bed, apply a salve available at most stores (I get it at Walmart).

It's called Mineral Ice. It's a thick, blue gel kinda stuff. It's very cooling. I use it on my elbows in the winter, keeps them from getting rubbed raw against flannel bedsheets.

>>282133
You're asking a lot.

Get off your computer and walk your ass down to the local library. Find books on:

>Plumbing
>Woodwork
>Auto maintenance
>Residential electrician certification

It takes WORK to gain the knowledge and skills to properly fix a lot of things that go wrong around a house. That's why professionals exist in the first place.

There isn't room in this thread to try to explain how to diagnose and fix all the problems you might encounter.

>>281491
The actual process of turning skin into leather is 'TANNING'. So that's a start.

As for tutorials, google that shit.

I mean, think of what you want to make, and just look for a tutorial on it. Satchels? Shoes? Sheaths? Clothing? It's all out there.

Just remember, due to the cost of tools and materials, it's an expensive hobby. It takes a LOT (years) of trial-and-error and practicing to get your work to a point where you can earn any money from it as a hobby.

I've been doing it in my spare time for probably 4 years, and I'm just about getting there. Still not clean enough to be comfortable selling it (plus I specialize in sheaths, which is a very built-to-fit kinda thing, so you can't really build a stock).

Plus, I don't even TOOL the leather (cutting and pressing patterns and designs into the surface). I stick to a solid hide surface, so I don't even do have the work associated with a lot of leather products.

>>280132
You're a moron. It's broken. Do you not get that?

That's NOT a tomahawk head. It's a hand-axe. A tomahawk has a larger, ovoid socket that allows a tapered haft to slide through from the top. Same way a pick-axe does.

This does not that have that kind of socket, otherwise fixing it would be easy-peasy.

>>280152
DO NOT carve your new haft from green (live) wood.

The wood must be cured. Otherwise, as it looses moisture and shrinks, your head will fall off and the handle can warp.

You're better off buying a new handle online. Look on Amazon, just make sure you get the right type to fit the socket.

>>278522
Probably a dozen sheaths.

And no, I never really make Halloween costumes. I've always been stuck working.

My last job was in security. I spent three years all alone in a little shack, all damn night. On holidays when the plant I guarded was empty and I had even LESS to do, I'd bring all my leatherworking shit in and just make stuff.

That kukri sheath was made at work, in the course of an 8-hour shift (except for the final grinding, dyeing the edge, and finishing the edge).

Shit. It's late. Off to bed, work in the morning.

Good luck, bro. Just remember, you can get addicted to this shit.

If you strip out the screw from trying to get it out, and if it's as stuck you you say that's a severe possibility, you'll want to look into an "easy-out".

Imagine a drill bit, reverse the twist, and than taper it. First you drill into the head a little, then tap this tapered reverse-screw into the hold in the stuck screw/bolt/stud. The harder you twist it, the more it grips into the hole and you slowly pull it out.

You'll probably need to replace this screw once you get it out.

>>278504
Naw, I generally work with thicker stuff, focusing on sheaths. Never had to make gloves, for some reason I magically FIND them... It's really weird.

Only thin leather I worked with was whip-stitching the sack-panels for that belt pouch.

Also had to wrap a poplar sword-scabbard, but couldn't find good leather. I opted to use a leather automotive chamois. They're very thin, but pretty strong and inexpensive.
Dyed it brown with simple fabric dye, and while it was slightly damp I sprayed the core with spray-adhesive. I stretched the leather around it, and cut the seam even at the back.
I then gave it a slick treatment with the Mink Oil.

Pic related. Everything in this pic I made by hand, except for the blade (an Albion-marked Del Tin Cinquedea blade) and the chape (the metal scabbard tip, also from Albion's moat sale).

Also, this is making me nostalgic for my college apartment.

>>278501
Attached to pack.

>>278500
MOLLE-compatible!

That shit is a PAIN IN THE ASS. Seriously, leather PALS webbing isn't common FOR A REASON.

Works awesome, though. The whole concept was to be able to have it on my thigh, or use some attachment clips to attach it to the side of a Maxpedition Condor II pack.

Sheath for my Scrap Yard Dogfather. Thick leather drop-leg rig with leg-tie (not shown).

The hard part about this sheath was that it is.... (drumroll please)...

Another sheath, for a WWI issue kukri.

>>278493
Well, pretty much everything I've learned was from online sources and trial-and-error.

My edges are done as follows:

>Cut out design with ~1/4" extra material on all sides.
>Glue pieces with hide glue (ie: common tacky glue).
>Clamp (clothespins) while drying.
>Stitch.

Now that the basic shape has been achieved (make sure all markings are in pencil on the outside, so you can see where inside edges are after its all sewn together but you can still wash them off), we move on to the actual edge treatment.

>Grind down final shape on bench grinder.
>Dampen the edge.
>Find grain direction, and smooth out edges with polished object (glass orb).
>Keep doing this until it looks good.
>This really takes awhile.
>A really long while.
>It's going to piss you off.
>Once it's good, let it dry.
>Apply choice of leather dye and fixative (fixative is a treatment after the dye to prevent it from bleeding out. I use Tandy's Carnauba Cream).
>Treat all exposed leather, once dry, with Mink Oil.
>Pay extra attention to the edges.

For hardening leather, you can also dip it in molten wax. Or use a brush to apply melted beeswax, then use a heatgun to make the leather wick it up into the surface.
Waxing is how leather bottles are made.

Pic is an older sheath I made. Fucked that up royally, but it still works. The pouch is made from a leather jacket from a Salvation Army. Picked it up for the sole reason that the leather matched my good and expensive leather jacket from Schott NYC. Good to have for patch material.

>>278488

>>278480
I would, but everything's packed away from when I moved.

>Knife
>Needles
>Overstitch wheel
>Razor scraper (from the hardware store, used kind of like a ghetto skiving knife to thin out thicker leathers)
>Bench grinder
>Glass orb
>Tacky glue
>Clothes pins
>Drill and bits

I also have a rivet setting tool for Copper saddlery rivets (as seen in the leather sheath I posted prior), as well as a setting tool for Sam Brown studs.

For scrap leather, check your local Salvation Army. You can find beat up and stained leather jackets for a pittance.