Middle Earth Ranger Forum

Alright, my parents got me this chunk of leather for Christmas because I'd mentioned wanting to learn how to work with it. I know I want to make a scabbard for my sword, but I'm not sure what else to do with it, and I don't know if it's even the proper thickness. If it is, should I save the rest for ideas that may come later, or do y'all have ideas on something more I could make? And what do I need to do for waterproofing & preparing it and such? I've never worked with leather before so my knowledge on the subject is mediocre at best.

[sword for scale]

Well, I will leave it to more knowledgeable folks than I regarding the specifies of scabbard construction as I've never done it myself but as for ideas, there are a multitude of Ranger items that can be made from leather. Pouches, quivers, bracers, etc. I'm sure a search of past forum threads will give a bounty of inspiration. As far are waterproofing goes, I've been told a mixture of neatsfoot oil and beeswax works well though I haven't tested it in the field myself yet.

There are many different tools that one could use in leathercrafting but at the end of the day, the only thing you really need to start is a sharp cutting tool, leather needles, an awl or chisel and thread. I recommend waxed linen thread over anything synthetic. A decent box cutter will suffice to slice and I really like these needles for my crafting.

https://www.fineleatherworking.com/leat ... s-needles/

There are different sizes and types of chisels and awls so you'll have to do a little research to see what you need and prefer.

For further discussion on building a leatherworking toolkit, I recommend these two threads. They really helped me out when I first started.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Leathercraft/c ... herworker/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Leathercraft/c ... herworker/

You could make a pair of bracers, as they do lend a certain "Ranger aesthetic" to a kit; here's a thread link to a set that I made a while back, and I honestly didn't know a lot about leatherworking myself, when I started....several projects later (some non-LOTR related), I have learned a lot.

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=4362

Rob

Very cool!

That leather looks fairly stiff - is that correct?

If so, I'd follow Cimrandier's suggestion for a quiver... and/or some kind of archery arm guard and/or bracers.
You can make pouches from a stiff leather like that, but I think you'll find a thinner/softer leather works better for those.


Regarding a scabbard: I think from that leather with that sword (wood? rubber/larp?) the best approach would be basically along the lines of a giant center-seam knife sheath:

Here's one tutorial that comes up on a quick search:
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/paleopl ... 24616.html

... and I know caedmon has one as well in one of the Edge of the Wild newsletters.

I'd take the leather all the way up to the crossguard, but prior to stitching it up either lace in a slit belt medieval-scabbard style (which could be kinda cool) - or just stitch on some belt loops or other strapping to hang it with.

Temonthe wrote: ↑Fri Jan 07, 2022 1:40 am Alright, my parents got me this chunk of leather for Christmas because I'd mentioned wanting to learn how to work with it. I know I want to make a scabbard for my sword, but I'm not sure what else to do with it, and I don't know if it's even the proper thickness. If it is, should I save the rest for ideas that may come later, or do y'all have ideas on something more I could make?

that looks like a nice piece of leather, I second Elleth that it looks too thick for pouches, but a larger need wallet might work? other than that, if you make a sword sheath and carefully plan how you cut into the leather there might be enough left for a quiver

Temonthe wrote: ↑Fri Jan 07, 2022 1:40 am And what do I need to do for waterproofing & preparing it and such? I've never worked with leather before so my knowledge on the subject is mediocre at best.

it is a ready dyed piece, if water soaks into it easily (just try a bit on the corner - also do you now if it is veg-tanned?) you should be able to wet form it, once you have finished your project multiple coats of mink oil (the clear sort) from a shoe shop should be enough to waterproof it and buff it to a nice gloss

if it is coated and water doesn't soak into it, you have two choices. The first is to make designs that don't require wet forming or tooling. The second is to use a solvent (isopropyl alcohol usually works) to remove the coating so you can make it wet but that can damage the color and might make the leather more prone to cracking, and if the leather is chrome tanned it won't work

on a different note, here's a set of vambraces I made with leather of a similar thickness:

viewtopic.php?p=42322#p42322

and a bit more information about how I did the leatherwork:

viewtopic.php?p=41996#p41996

obviously the metal isn't a requirement, and any similar designs should work with the leather you have, and there are lot's of helpful leatherwork video's on YouTube

Don't have much time, so I just rattling of a couple thoughts....

First, it looks like your sword is a LARP sword? If so it's already so thick, that I wouldn't do a normal wood core scabbard. About 15 years ago there was a guy over at ArmourArchive.org making really thin cuir boili scabbards for SCA swords that looked awesome.

Looks like the leather is an oil tan or something similar. I don't think it work well with wet forming. But you should give it a try. Cut off a 5cm square and leave it in warm water for a while. If it's suitable, it will be floppy and be able to be pressed into shapes that it will hold once dry. My guess is that it will be unchanged.

If it's not right, then it would be very good to use if as bracers, quiver, shoe soles, armor. I'd go for a 3-5oz veg tanned shoulder which should be in the $35-$40 range (Sorry, all US terms... don't know how well they translate)

While it could be a drum-dyed vegtan, I suspect caedmon is right that it's some kind of chrome-tan or oil-tan (oil-tan itself being a chrome-tan with some extra steps)

So bad news, likely not period appropriate. (chrome tanning is a mid-19th c. process)
But GOOD news - that doesn't matter in the slightest. Eventually yeah, you'll want veg-tan tooling leather as the closest we can generally get to the old stuff. But at this point, you're just wanting to work up your skills and play around with patterns enough to get a feel for what shape of pieces you like and work for you.

Chrome leather works near enough to veg-tan of similar weight most everything you learn will carry over seamlessly.

Here's one of the first pieces I ever did, a "forest pouch" of sorts - The leather was cheap modern-tanned suede out of the Tandy bargain bin, it was sewn with that horrible nylon artificial sinew stuff... I think I used a scrap of board, a flattened fork, an old carpenter's hammer, and an awl for the holes. Crude as anything - but it was educational! My brother ended up stealing it for a sporran.

Anyhow, I think in your place if I wanted "rangery" things, I think I'd do something like this... (positions, sizes very approximate, of course. Best I can do scrawling on a photo. )

(oh - also plain old grocery store posterboard works great for mocking up patterns. Newspaper a bit less well, but since you can get sales circulars for free... )

Temonthe,

Hey, welcome! I saw that Iodo was the last person to comment and I thought she was the original poster! Please, ignore my attempts to convert to UK measurements. Soldotna eh? I see you're in my neck of the woods. I'm up in Palmer. Also Elleth used to live here as well. (So there are lots of us Alaskans represented)

Ok, so yeah, don't know the leather selection in Soldotna, but if you ever get up to Anchorage, the Tandy on Lake Otis & Tudor should have the right leather for under $40, with a lot left over for other projects.



-Caedmon

last thing - TOOLS.

Here's a decent-enough starter list.
Links are to Amazon, but Tandy and Springfield leather are both good retailers, and you probably want on their mailing lists anyhow at this point -

craft knife of some kind
https://www.amazon.com/X-Acto-XZ3601-X- ... B005KRSWM6

cutting surface - you can use stacked cardboard or old boards, but I use this glued down to a board now:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0025189VE

awl for opening up stubborn holes:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0036LNXEA
this is one of those "you really gotta have" things.

needles:
https://www.amazon.com/RMLeatherSupply- ... B01NAW5CTR
( mine are szize 2 and work just fine )

waxed linen thread:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/109836221/ ... ply-strong
... for period projects, I'd recommend white or natural: pre-industrial dyes don't take that well to linen



hole chisel set for thicker leather (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MMTYMYQ) 3-4mm size.
4mm is a bit chunky, 3mm might be a bit fine: I'd err to 4mm
you don't actually need the whole set - I got by with just the 4-prong, 4mm for years and years.
or again - just a fork and an awl is fine.


hole chisel set for lighter leather (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071FG86WK)
I use this for goatskin/belt pouches now. You can use the heavier stuff above just fine: this is just a bit tidier

mallet https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KL2NRW
(though a three dollar polymer one from Harbor Freight will work just as well)

There's lots more out you could get... but pretty much every piece of work you see out there, you can do with just what's above.





And also.... gosh I envy you the Kenai. It's just gorgeous up there.

I've used corrugated cardboard from old boxes (after crushing the corrugations flat by walking on it) for mock-ups of heavy leather items.

If you're using leather that heavy and are going to buy any tool, get a lino knife or a proper clicking knife. Like this..... It's about a Fiver


My cuts with a Stanley (boxcutter) were never as clean as they are now I use a hook pointed knife

Awesome! This'll be a big help.

Caedmon, thanks for the info, had no idea there was a Tandy leather that close! (usually seems like most places that are actually cool are confined to the lower 48.) That'll definitely be useful.

Thanks everybody, if I don't muck it up I'll let you all know how it works out.

caedmon wrote: ↑Fri Jan 07, 2022 7:02 pm I saw that Iodo was the last person to comment and I thought she was the original poster! Please, ignore my attempts to convert to UK measurements.

LOL, thanks for the thought but don't anyone ever bother to do that for me, I buy half my crafting stuff from the US and work in an old factory that mostly uses imperial, if it's a measuring unit that exists I'm probably familiar with it

Elleth wrote: ↑Fri Jan 07, 2022 7:10 pm There's lots more out you could get... but pretty much every piece of work you see out there, you can do with just what's above.

Ha Ha, yeah, I get this, I know leather-workers who say I need to get all sorts of tools, but I can honestly say I have never found the need, the only thing I would add to the list if your planning to work with thick leather, if you can afford it, is a dremel with the tiny drill chuck adapter, if your making knife sheaths etc... and having to sew through three or more layers of heavy leather you get fed up with hammering holes very quickly

obviously don't get this unless your sure you're going to stick with leather-work, but dremels are quite a common tool, if you have one, or know someone you can borrow one from it's probably worth getting the following just to make life a bit easier:

https://www.dremel.com/gb/en/p/multi-ch ... -4486-v215
https://www.dremel.com/gb/en/p/precisio ... t-628-v218

and most large hardware stores stock dremel accessories so you can probably find them close to home

Iodo wrote: ↑Fri Jan 07, 2022 9:43 pm

caedmon wrote: ↑Fri Jan 07, 2022 7:02 pm I saw that Iodo was the last person to comment and I thought she was the original poster! Please, ignore my attempts to convert to UK measurements.

LOL, thanks for the thought but don't anyone ever bother to do that for me, I buy half my crafting stuff from the US and work in an old factory that mostly uses imperial, if it's a measuring unit that exists I'm probably familiar with it

I can't imagine measurements in French, if somebody says "Its about a centimetre thick" I have to convert it to 3/8 inch because I know how big that is.

Please don't think that you folks 'Over There' have to convert sizes for us, most of us still use (or at least understand*) Inches and stuff .

Iodo: Barleycorns?



*..... Apart from your little pints

ForgeCorvus wrote: ↑Sat Jan 08, 2022 4:51 pm Iodo: Barleycorns?

not quite so familiar with that one, I can't quite remember if it's 1/4'' or 1/3''. if it's the width of a barely corn it's most likely to be the second? I know it's still used in shoe sizes tho

3 Barleycorns = 1 Thumb
3Thumbs = 1 Shafthand
3 Shafthands = 1 Natural Foot
Or
4 Shafthands = 1 Saxon (or Northern) Foot

A Rod (Pole or Perch ) is 20 Natural Feet or 15 Saxon feet..... 16 1/2 Imperial