Jiminey Crickets!!! That’s amazing.
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Do you mask your leather when engraving? I found it makes a world of difference!
I would HIGHLY recommend adding leather working to your woodworking! I’ve done wood working for quite a few years now and just took up leather working about a year and a half ago and it has opened up a whole new realm for me. Then add in the GF on top of both woodworking AND leather working and you’ve got endless ideas rushing through your brain! GO FOR IT!
I have treated it with Tokonole which is normally used for burnishing the edges… but I’ve discovered that it makes a good sealant for the engraved areas. I’ll also give it a couple of coats of a leather finish once I find which one I have that doesn’t change the color of the leather too much. Once I’ve got the finish applied… I don’t think it’s going to be too much of a problem. And I’m PROBABLY going to park it in a rented locker once we get to the park. I’m in the process of designing a leather fanny pack that I’ll wear around the park all day. The backpack will hold snacks and sunscreen and other larger items we don’t need to lug around with us. The fanny pack will carry the smaller items we need more often. OH… as I mentioned above… I would HIGHLY recommend jumping into leather working… it’s a LOT of fun!
And… thank all of you, again, for the kind comments on the bag!
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What did you start with? Obviously you’ve built up your skillset to do something like this, but curious to see how you got started doing leather work.
I bought myself an inexpensive “starter kit” off of Amazon as well as a fairly gnarly piece of leather (as inexpensive as I could find) off the internet. The first item I made was a book cover for my daughter and I got TOTALLY hooked. I decided to dive in and made a backpack and then a couple of hats and other bags. I bought all of the patterns I used off of Etsy from DieselPunkRo (a guy name Tony) that had “how to” videos that went along with his patterns. So I’d watch how he did it and then I’d go into my shop and try to do the same thing. Once I knew I was hooked, I started to buy better punches and tools that made the work a lot more efficient. The thing I really enjoy about leather work as opposed to wood working is that I can let my mind wander while I’m doing the punching and/or stitch work. If I make a mistake it’s not likely to cost me a finger like letting your mind wander with wood working might! I know from experience… had an accident while using my table saw making a bunch of repetitive cuts and my mind started drifting! On top of that… it’s a LOT less messy! No sawdust flying everywhere!
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This is freaking AHHHHH-MAZING!!! Such a neat and classic timepiece for a memorable event. A+
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I think you’ve convinced me! I’m going to give it a go!
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As a newbie leatherworker please keep in mind that everything designed to cut leather is also designed to cut you and prep accordingly. Leather is fabulous stuff. You’re going to have so much fun!
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I think you’re going to really enjoy it!
You know what?.. that’s some pretty sound words of wisdom! Sharp and pointy things will, indeed, cut right through skin!
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never heard it put quite like that before. but spot on. 
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I have been shocked at the number of first time leather workers who hold up a bloody hand and say some version of “but why did it cut me??”
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This is over the top OUTSTANDING!! PROBABLY THE BEST I’VE SEEN
That is ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL! You probably could pay for trip in full if you make those and sell them! You are very talented!
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Thank you both for your very kind words! It is very rewarding to have fellow artists review my work in such a positive manner.
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I know whereof you speak! I had to have micro-surgery performed on the pointer finger of my left hand. Dragged it right across the spinning blade of my table saw when not paying close enough attention to what I was doing… and no, I don’t have a Saw Stop!!!
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I do and left me tell you, when that brake engages, it scares the beejezuz out of you. Set it off twice, but not from my fingers. Metal “allegedly” came in contact. Once with some framing material that had a metallic coating, the second time was when it supposedly came in contact with my miter gauge. The brakes are like $80 and the cost of a new blade. Better that than a finger. Although I did have a straight router bit grab the wood once. I was cutting a thru channel for a bolt. I had the bit just a hair proud of the wood which saved my finger. It threw the wood about 25’, and dragged my finger across the bit. Just sliced/mangled it a little. Went to sick call the next day and they didn’t even put stitches in. Ironically, this was about 30 minutes before I gave the safety class to newbies. 
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HAHAHA… now that IS ironic! Glad you survived!
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I love this!! Do you ever sell any of your designs? I would buy this in a heartbeat!!
Well… the bag design (the leather pattern) is by DieselPunkRo on Etsy… I believe it is called Mokoto 2 if I’m not mistaken. The original design has two straps on it that look really nice. But, since I wanted to show off the GF work… I eliminated the straps.
As far as the engraving… I just bought a few svg graphics I found on Etsy and threw everything together. The compass was one design, the maps another, the swords another and Mickey was the 4th. Fortunately, I found graphics that matched up pretty well with what I had in mind for the backpack… so it was just a matter of throwing it all together. I broke the project down into several different passes. I engraved Mickey and Disney first… then cut those figures out of DraftBoard and covered those two engraved areas… then proceeded on with engraving the map and the compass and the other figures. I used the same method on the sides as well as the front… engrave the main image… cover it up and continue with the rest.
I appreciate the compliment of your interest to buy the design… but I really have nothing to sell that would be of use to you… it’s just a bunch of random svg files that I bought off Etsy.
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That looks brilliant. It is beautiful.
Enjoy your trip. I’m sure you’re going to be asked where you got it.
Congratulations.
Regards, Michael