The Process, Step by Step

Tolkien's Ents believe that "Anything worth saying is worth taking a long time to say." Everything that I make, takes a long time to make. Even the smallest items like a coaster or a key-chain will go through a multi-day process due to the long drying times between each step.

Some of my simplest items, featuring no decoration or stitching can be put together a few days faster than this. The process outlineed here will follow one of my hand engraved and sewn items.

Vegetable Tanned Leather on the Layout Table

On day 1, the raw material is first rough cut down into basic shapes, slightly oversized for their finished dimensions.

Leather is not a uniform material. As I talk in more depth about elsewhere, different parts of the hide are best suited for different sorts of projects. As I am laying out the many pieces that will be cut from each hide, careful consideration is given to the optimal use of the material, working around the different items to be made, the differing properties of each portion of the hide, and in cutting around any major blemishes on the hide. After breaking down the hide, the stacks of rough cut pieces are then dunked in their first bath of water and conditioners. This will loosen the fibers in the leather and make it much more workable. With the fibers softened, I then stretch the leather. Pre-stretching the leather like this makes for a much more stable finished product which will not go on to stretch later in use. Then the leather is put onto the rack to dry overnight.

Sketching out the design

On day 2, once the pre-stretched leather has dried I will trim each piece down to final size.

After trimming, I take a regular graphite pencil and draw directly on the surface of the leather any designs or layout markings I will use later as a guide for carving and tooling. The pencil markings last just long enough for me to use, but they are worn away by the end of the crafting process.

Then I send the leather back into a fresh basin of water and conditioners, but not for nearly as long as last time. Here I am preparing the leather for tooling and carving, and that calls for much less water than stretching. One could begin tooling right away, but for the best results we want to wait until the leather has had the chance to really soak in that water and get the material uniformly wet, all throughout.

To do this I place the leather in an loosely sealed case overnight and let the dry center of the leather wick moisture from the outer layers.

Freshly carved and tooled leather

On day 3, after taking it out of the box, the leather has been "cased" and is ready to carve and tool. Properly cased leather will take on incredibly fine details from stamps and carving tools.

Following the guidelines I drew yesterday, I then carve and tool the leather with whatever designs the project calls for. Then the leather goes for another night onto the rack.

On day 4, I treat the leather with hot neatsfoot oil to replace the tannery oils forced out and displaced by the water baths in the previous steps. These oils are essential to keeping the leather soft and flexible and this step alone adds years to the serviceable life of the leather.

Like before, you could go straight on to dying the leather, but just like before, for the best results I need to give the oil the time it needs to work its way through the whole thickness of the material.

After the first dye process.

On day 5 the leather can be given its first coats of spirit dye. These are alcohol based dyes that soak deeper into the leather and excel at creating uniform base colors. Just after applying the dye, the leather always appears much darker than it will after drying. Only after another night on the rack can you see the final result to determine if another coat of dye will be needed to get the desired result. On day 6, if I am happy with the color, I apply a thin coat of a clear acrylic finish to seal that color in and to prepare for the next step. This finish needs to cure overnight.

After the second dye process

On day 7, when the clear-coat has dried, a second, different sort of dye is applied. This is called an antique, it is a thicker paste that aims not to soak deep into the leather, but to collect and to darken both in the natural texture of the leather and inside of any tooling or carving I have done to the leather to create variation and contrast. This too needs time to dry. On day 8, a quick polish buffs off any excess antique to brighten up the areas I don't want darkened, and the leather is ready to be airbrushed with the final layer of acrylic clear-coat. This adds a degree of water and stain resistance and protects the antique from wearing away with time. As before, this finish needs to cure overnight.

On day 9, the many components can be brought together for assembly. First any internal edges I won't be able to reach later on are dyed and polished, and then the individual pieces are glued together. Again, this glue needs time to cure.

On day 10, the glued up projects can be sewn together, either by machine or by hand as the customer has ordered. Once sewn, the outer edges can be trimmed to their final dimensions and to crisp, straight lines. The outer edges are then sanded and polished to a brilliant shine.

Only now, 10 working days after we started, the whole project can be given its final quality check, and it is ready to be boxed up and shipped out. That is assuming I was able to work on every step the very next day. Working at scale and juggling multiple orders, not every piece can be moved along every day.

The keen eyed reader will notice that several whole days of time can be shaved off if you're not concerned with the lifetime performance of the product. (or more generously, if you're a newer maker and you just don't know any better)

Stretching and oiling especially make no visible difference at first, but a few years in, taking the time to have done those extra steps will have make all the difference in the world. The process of dying and clear-coating can also be sped along, doing it all on the same day, but this too produces an inferior product with a much less durable finish in the long run.