Trying something new

I seem to get stuck in certain modes, so I’m trying to branch out and try new things. Made this with PG leather…the last of the pieces that came with the Glowforge. I have ordered some more. My first mistake here was that I made this way too large to fit me. I’m still having a difficult time figuring out how to size these correctly…especially to account for any weaving or braiding (which I’ve also tried), but by damn, I’ll get it eventually. Anyway, my husband could easily wear it as he modeled it here for me, but that remains to be seen. At least I had the experience of making it and thus another learning opportunity. After I’d peeled off the masking, I used a Minwax furniture stain on it. Cool product…in the form of a marking pen in several colors. It’s actual stain, too. This color is red oak. The red strip was colored with a Copic marker. The lacing is just some leather jewelry cording. Took me a while to weave it all together. It definitely has potential.

79 Likes

Very nicely made. I hope to have 10% of your creative talent when :glowforge: MacGlowforge finally arrives.

12 Likes

Oh! I love that! The different textures of the cording and the ribbon look awesome together in that weave! :squeeee:

10 Likes

Cool design! You could make them up in all kinds of colors. Maybe even engrave stuff along the edges. I’ve been hoping to see more things done with the leather, I’ve been kind of stumped what to use it for. It’s such pretty stuff. Thanks for sharing!

11 Likes

This is the first time I’ve ever worked with leather, in any capacity, so it’s certainly a new direction for me. These bracelets though, sort of use up a lot of real estate quickly on those small pieces that were included. This weight of leather seems to be a bit difficult to find, too…everything I found was heavier, making it harder to manipulate with a design like this. I had two of the narrow strips cut and colored different colors to use, but it might have been a tight fit for both of them, so I opted to use the lacing.

12 Likes

I just thought to let folks know about some fantastic veg tanned leather that I ordered. Granted, shipping was sort of a killer…about the cost of another entire piece of leather… but the stuff is beautiful…smooth & blemish free. I need to mask it myself. PG @.046" and this stuf f@.049"…very close to the same weight, which I’m finding is difficult to find.

https://www.theleatherguy.org/pre-cut-natural-leather-cow-hide-veg-tan-12-x-12-project-piece-2-3-oz-smooth

13 Likes

To measure for your wrist, use some of that cord and wrap it around, then measure the length straight. Make sure you give yourself room at least 1 to 1 1/2" gap between the ends so you can tie it with the cord in between…

10 Likes

Great looking project. I know others do it, but I can’t imagine cutting all of those slits by hand. I can say with absolute certainty that the edges would be uneven and some of the strips would be wider than others if I tried it with a blade. There is also a 50% possibility the project would involve stitches if I cut it manually. :fearful:

8 Likes

maybe you have a “gift” for leather, like @dan was told when he showed a leather person the laser wallet he made :laughing:

6 Likes

Really nice!!

1 Like

I’m looking forward to leather, among other materials. I’m not that crafty, but always enjoyed working with leather before. I also have a Tandy and a couple other leather shops not too far away.

3 Likes

I appreciate the tip. That will work great for a straight tie-on bracelet, or even with a snap, but I also recently tried a ‘mystery braid’ bracelet and found a calculation for allowing for the extra material taken up by the braid. It said measure wrist (7"), add 1"x 1.3. That came out to 10.4"…which was huge when I got finished! Do you know any better calculation for a braided bracelet?

1 Like

Just showed my wife. And I was telling her how much I appreciate you diving into new mediums and being so awesome at them!

Nice work! Can’t wait to see what increased leather experience brings you!

1 Like

So, looking a little more. Obviously, we don’t want the chromium-tanned leathers. Would oil-tanned leathers likely be ok?

1 Like

The only thing I actually know for certain is that we can use veg.tanned. I have no knowledge other than that. Perhaps make a post to @morganstanfield who is one of our resident leather experts. I’m sure there are others, but names don’t come to mind.

2 Likes

Search is your friend. An old thread with answers:

Dan says oil tanned leather is a ‘hot mess’. Be sure to google on ‘hot mess’.

3 Likes

Mental note…hell, written note:

search.
Search.
SEARCH!!!

before asking a question and making yourself look dumb.
:laughing:

1 Like

There are no bad questions. Just bad searches on the internet.

11 Likes

Thanks for linking that search. I should have done that.

2 Likes

Glad to be of use. The only reason I don’t start topics is because all of my questions have already been answered in some old thread! Ya just got to wade through some slop. But my species enjoys that.

8 Likes