We held another successful introductory leather class last night. We had 12 attendees, five of which were not members. Stan @StanSimmons snagged a couple of them and he indicated he might get them to be new members. Most of these folks came as a result of a newspaper ad. (I was unaware that the leather class was put into the paper.)
The class was a little crowded, but everyone learned a lot about the DMS tools, the leather types and left with a simple stamped leather object. One is going to use his for his key fob another for a coaster. All in all it was a great group of students.
Many asked for a more advanced class to cover more of the details of stamping. I may put one of these onto the calendar if there is enough interest. I welcome any others who would be interested in teaching leathercrafts.
Some students also asked for a class on building a more substantial project. Several of the students were interested in gun holsters, knife sheaths, purses, phone cases and masks. All of these would make excellent classes. Please let me know if you want any of these classes and I’ll put them onto the schedule. David @Photomancer the mask class would be an experiment in trial and error, but I’m willing if you are.
It was a great class, this leather working is becoming a very popular class and I think not only is there a demand for intermediate and advanced classes, projects etc., I think this is something that we may have just some work sessions that folks come to to work on their own projects in sort of a general social and work session.
Absolutely, I also think this would be an excellent project to test out on the laser for leather cutting in that it doesn’t have a lot tooling but does have a lot of stitching holes and curved shapes that need to match accurately. Maybe we can get together and try cutting and etching some leather to see what it looks like.
Idea: If the leather laser cutting and etching works out, we cut make some DMS Logo or “I’m a Maker” key ring fobs or coasters to hand out as freebies on tours with all the donated leather you brought in for give away.
@LisaSelk@themitch22 lots of cool leather, grabbed some, if the leather works we can make Midnight Maker Super Hero Masks!
In true Maker fashion Dan & I will also be getting together to cut more pounding slabs. He got a diamond blade saw, I’ll bring a circular saw and we’ll cut up some of the slab remnants/drop offs that Ira generously brought in from a counter top company.
May work with you on a design to better organize or at least corral the tools while working *think shallow wood tray with some dividers that can be used on the table for large groups.
I have some experience cutting leather on my personal laser. The hardest part is getting it to lay flat. My wife hates it when I cut or engrave leather because no matter how good the ventilation is, it still leave a lingering odor of burning flesh, which it is. Thin, sueded leather cut with a single pass on my 40 watt laser, but it took multiple passes for thicker leather. Laser engraving leather looks really good, and photos can really look cool, but for decorative leather it still doesn’t look as good as stamping and carving.
I’ve seen people cut and etch leather out in the shop. They recommend you give it a minute or two to evacuate the smell before opening. I’ve heard of the flatness issue. The lasers out in the shop are 100 or 100+ watts so they can cut faster and deeper leather. The burned edge is off course an issue that will impact some projects and not others.
Any help and advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated!
I was the guy stamping out that fish design and I thoroughly enjoyed the class. I’m definitely interested in using the laser cutter to make a wallet and would also like to make a knife sheath the old fashioned way. Please add some more classes!
Actually, Tandy has plans for several holsters. We could also create a
design of our own. The hardest part is molding the leather around the gun
which is pretty straight forward to do but would require people to bring in
their guns to the space since the mold would have to fit their particular
weapon. Actually, gun holsters and knife cases are some of the more
popular things to make. Wallets and belts are probably the most popular.
I actually own a holster very similar to the picture for my Colt .45 auto.
I could bring it in for an example/pattern.
I would certainly be interested in a holster design. The problem for me with belts is that I would have to admit how much larger my waist has gotten recently…
The leather sewing machine CA ordered is supposed to arrive today - I and others will be checking it out (it’s a used Pfaff heavy duty leather machine). Then we can go to town making items that require more precise sewing. This is a definite upgrade in capability.
We’ll schedule classes as it will be a “Training Required” item.
Not sure about rubber as it reacts with needles differently, it wants to bind against them. Will research and if you have any guidance references would appreciate it, we can experiment., will do heavy fabrics like upholstery and leather up to about 0.180"~0.200"
I have a holster for my .357 Ruger which I would like to duplicate. It is all leather and is very well made. It would require some stitching and I would like to see if our new sewing machine would be useful in doing this. I’m thinking about cutting the pattern from some of the leather I have at home and bringing it in to stitch. It is an interesting and comfortable design so I’d like to adapt it for my S&W .357.
I’m probably going to be out of pocket until after Christmas though. David, @Photomancer, are you planning to be at DMS the week between Christmas and New Years? If so I’d like to give this a try. If it works it is easily adaptable for other calibers. It is a belt mounted/hung holster with a safety strap across the top of the gun.
I also have a very nice belt and holster rig for a .44 mag I own, too. It is also all leather, but much more complicated to make since it involves places to put individual shells around the belt. More like the old western bandoleer style cartridge belts.
I’d be happy to bring all three in, without the corresponding firearm, so we can decide if we want to make one or more of them. Only the bandoleer has any stamping work on it.
A huge thanks to @Photomancer for making the leather sewing machine happen! He’s the man with the master plan. You are amazing. Hip hip hooray! He’s the leather daddy of us all…oh wait.
I want to say thanks to David @Photomancer, too. I’m looking forward to making some leather stuff with the sewing machine. Combined with the other leather tools we have now we will have some substantial leather working capability. Thanks to Nicole @uglyknees for supporting leather working. We should be able to make everything from coasters to costumes with all of the equipment and tools we have now.
