Greetings from New Zealand! Thanks for the close-up of working with the tools. I got a whole mess of them from an online auction for $25 bucks - about 40 tools all up (including staps, punches, bevellers, scorers... uh...things and stuff I don't know the name of. Am trying to self-teach myself leather working and love tutorials like this!
Please introduce yourself at MHC, It is always great to meet other haunters. Leather work is a great skill to know. It really helps you not be intimidated by manufacturing processes and gives you more courage to make stuff!
Yes, similar techniques can be used. Look up a pear shader, that will be your go to tool I think. Double cap rivets and a hole punch are all you need for riveting.
Daaang! That's a ton of work for some leather armor. I never realized just how much was done. Kudos on the great looking craftsmanship here. I'll be visiting the local Tandy shop next week to get some tools and the like to start making my own.
Spray bottle is genius! May sound like a dumb thing but i've been using a paint sponge to wet leather, and on bigger pieces this will save me a lot of time, thanks!
Thank you for your tutorials, I just found this channel because I have just started up leatherwork, and I totally agree that it is very versatile. I especially liked your abstract mask that incorporated the soaking technique. I look forward to seeing what other leatherwork you might experiment with in the future.
You get a lot of your leather stuff from tandy because tandy is amazing. ^_^ I'm just starting leather work and I love it so far. I just love seeing other peoples work and knowing what they are doing. It is a beautiful skill. You do good work sir
I am a bit of a brute, so the rubber mallet gives me enough force to get through the lather but no go through my poundo board under neath. The acrylics do work great- i love the colors you can achieve with them.
Love the birds singing in the background. Bummed out that you aren't going to be at West Coast Haunters Convention. We miss you. You almost make me want to move to Texas. This tutorial was reminiscent of the foam Hannible Lector mask tutorial.
When i was a teenager I used to draw eyes, I was good at eyes. I was afraid to draw the rest of the face because I was not as good at that. I am not afraid anymore, now I want to finish everything- if it does not turn out the way i want, then I can make another. But I try to follow through on my plan all the way. Just because it looks good-does not mean it is finished. That is something I am getting better at- but Im not perfect. I am trying to work now so its better than good in haunt lighting.
Love the video! I've never worked with leather before, but I want to try my hand at it next month. You're very funny and your tutorial is going to help tons :)
Thanks for making the videos. It's always great to see how other people create their projects. If I may offer a comment, I think you over-wet your leather at times. You really only need to dampen the area where you are working. For example, you sprayed the whole piece just when you were making the neck area larger. Not a big deal, but I just thought I would mention it. I have learned a lot from watching this - thanks again!
Understood. I often think I dabble in to many things- woodwork, plaster, leather, foam, latex, and silicone. They all eat space. If I were rich I would have a seperate shop for each one.
I was talking about first an edge beveller and afterwards a slicker. Using Resolene to finish it protects not only your fine piece of works coloring, it also protects other garments from taking on surplus color from your piece. What I mean is: You have the skills, but you leave it in a rough state instead of perfecting it. Thats very different from what I see here in Germany. Maybe part due to us germans being known for this perfectionism, but certainly also due to leather being expensive here
Its great, that you whrite down, what you are doing, so I can understand it better (I´m a German and I can´t speak english wery well [you see it ;-)] ). The leather armor is awesome!
Different styles do not equal wrong. My channel is a costume and haunted house channel- I made armor for that purpose. different steps would have been taken if it were meant to fight it. I appreciate your input but I have been doing leaher work about 10 years now and have figured out a way that meets my needs in that time.
If you don't mind, that'd be great! Here's some of the stuff I've made just by mucking about. Most are leather. The headdresses are closed-cell (EVA) foam. A special thanks to my partner for modelling the headdress. :D There's a bad picture of a Necronomicon (just the back) in there - I made that using your tutorial for a girl who got her Masters in H.P. Lovecraft.
Which hobby, leather work or making haunt stuff? Either just takes finding people who need stuff made. I know Halloween is not as big over there yet, but it is growing I know. I meet more people from Australia each year who are at Transworld looking to buy.
Charles, I get your meaning- but the final destination of this piece is on an armor stand. It is not for anyone to wear, just set dressing. Armor patterning is pretty difficult kudos to you if you are good at it. I dabble in leather because I need to for prop and some costume work. I would not make armor for someone unless I did fit it to them as well as my skill would allow. Do you have leather armor videos on your channel?
I haven't done leather work in 40 years . really enjoyed the video. Hope to meet you at MHC this year. And by the way the grandson really loved the video on making vomit, we'll be making some soon.
Interesting! So If I make a cast of my chest to mold the leather I could essentially make a one panel armor like he's making here. Hmmmmmm. To the leather store!
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Another great video Allen, thank you so much for doing these! Though I have to tell you that I'm spending far too much time in front of my computer after having discovered your channel! LOL :) I'm loving watching you work! Any chance we could see the leather head monsters from your museum or better yet a tutorial on how you did 'em? You are giving me so many ideas for things to do for my haunt, I'm almost wishing I could start on NEXT year's haunt now instead of working on this one! LOL
Most everything I do is on a time crunch and for show as opposed to use. Its a prop as much as a leather piece- I could have made it from foam cheaper (and easier) just showing the techniques. I finished with Leather sheen from fiebings and I did burnish with a nylon slicker (attached to a drill). Do you mostly do leather work?
this is "real" leather armor. The style you are referring to is called cuir bouilli . There are as many styles and types of leather armor as their are cultures in the world. I did not boil it because that makes the armor brittle so it is a terrible armor against blunt weapons- If I am fighting in this (and I do) then I will be using dulled stage weapons or wooden wasters- both blunt weapons. unboiled leather will dissipate the blows but boiled leather would break. I made what suited my needs.
Leatherwork requires specialized tools, I do still avoid uni-taskers and try to get multi use tools. Video in a haunt is hard to get most of the time, and my haunt is not set up or running most of the time so it is a bit tough to see it all "in action"
Pretty much, yes. Mostly historical stuff, belts and pouches from late 15. century, but also fantasy things for our larp crew. Only as a hobby though. Totally not working with foam, since I dont have a workshop here and do my leather working in the living room. Much to my wifes chagrin ;)
Get a veg tanned double shoulder 8-10 oz. Call them. Also on their site their are three stores in OHIO. Cleveland, Colombus and Cincinatti. Call them, they will help you.
cut scales on leather this thickness tend to curl and look really silly after a year sitting on a shelf (this armors only job) tooling them was the best option. Texas weather is not kind to stored leather. that also would have taken three times the leather driving up the price. I understand your opinion, i just dont agree with it.
a nice sharp blade on a box knife paired with a poly cutting board works wonders to make clean, easy, beautiful cuts into leather, no matter how thick. Just be sure to use fresh blades.
Hello. Great work sir. Question for ya, I'm looking to make the muscle armor with scale print, which would you recommend I do first, muscle or scales? Thanks in advance for any help
what you could do to help your audio sound better is do all the instructions and tips with the head set. Then add it in where appropriate. To make it seem as real though you just thought of something write down all your ideas that come to you while working. That will then allow you more material to work with. Keep what you like (that you have time for) and ditch all other non important parts.
I saw your info for Tandy Leather in the description. I don't know if you're from Texas, or the Dallas area in particular, but I'm from Waco. Pretty awesome work there!
Another option is to find where the mic is located on then attach a megaphone shaped object (like a rolled up sheet of paper) to it. This in turn will narrow and focus the area where sound is picked up. Then all you have to do is speak loud enough to help drown out the background noise (the cone will pick up more of your voice). But don't yell if your video editing software can't change the volume of the audio. Give these options a try and let me know how it works. As I said I want to help out.
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
i'm a beginner so could you tell me what cowhide product I should buy from tandy's site and I need help with bevelers because I look it up on their site and just shows these leather stamps.
I could not agree more. It is a great skill both functionally and artistically rewarding. and not as dangerous as wood working can be.
Greetings from New Zealand! Thanks for the close-up of working with the tools. I got a whole mess of them from an online auction for $25 bucks - about 40 tools all up (including staps, punches, bevellers, scorers... uh...things and stuff I don't know the name of. Am trying to self-teach myself leather working and love tutorials like this!
Really liked watching this process. The tools and techniques were completely new to me. I can see plenty of haunt uses for this. Great job!
Just found this from a google search and wow.. what a find! Very useful for inspiring armour makers, bravo!
Was thinking of getting into this as a hobby but wasn't sure how to start but you make it look doable. Thank you so much for posting this
The foam and leather actually have a lot in common. I really loved the west coast show- next year for sure.
Please introduce yourself at MHC, It is always great to meet other haunters. Leather work is a great skill to know. It really helps you not be intimidated by manufacturing processes and gives you more courage to make stuff!
Yes, similar techniques can be used. Look up a pear shader, that will be your go to tool I think. Double cap rivets and a hole punch are all you need for riveting.
Daaang! That's a ton of work for some leather armor. I never realized just how much was done. Kudos on the great looking craftsmanship here. I'll be visiting the local Tandy shop next week to get some tools and the like to start making my own.
Hi, I'm from mexico and I think your videos are very helpful, they me help so much, thanks for your tutorials.
Spray bottle is genius! May sound like a dumb thing but i've been using a paint sponge to wet leather, and on bigger pieces this will save me a lot of time, thanks!
Holy Crow I didn't know you can do all this with leather!! I love the scales! I hope we see more leather work!
Thank you for your tutorials, I just found this channel because I have just started up leatherwork, and I totally agree that it is very versatile. I especially liked your abstract mask that incorporated the soaking technique. I look forward to seeing what other leatherwork you might experiment with in the future.
You get a lot of your leather stuff from tandy because tandy is amazing. ^_^
I'm just starting leather work and I love it so far. I just love seeing other peoples work and knowing what they are doing. It is a beautiful skill. You do good work sir
You are welcome for the follow, and that you for the Tutorials. I am still so grateful for what what I learned from you at scare school!
I am a bit of a brute, so the rubber mallet gives me enough force to get through the lather but no go through my poundo board under neath. The acrylics do work great- i love the colors you can achieve with them.
Another great tutorial! Now I want to try my hand at leatherworking!
leather is fun and easy, i love it.
Love the birds singing in the background. Bummed out that you aren't going to be at West Coast Haunters Convention. We miss you. You almost make me want to move to Texas. This tutorial was reminiscent of the foam Hannible Lector mask tutorial.
Me too, it is nice to be able to work with the garage door open, pretty rare in TX where I might freeze one night then sweat to death the next day.
When i was a teenager I used to draw eyes, I was good at eyes. I was afraid to draw the rest of the face because I was not as good at that. I am not afraid anymore, now I want to finish everything- if it does not turn out the way i want, then I can make another. But I try to follow through on my plan all the way. Just because it looks good-does not mean it is finished. That is something I am getting better at- but Im not perfect. I am trying to work now so its better than good in haunt lighting.
Most Tandy Leather stores have classes on tooling. they also carry kits that can help you graduate from simple projects to more complex ones.
It is 8oz leather so it has some blunt force as well as cut protection, but it does lend its self to costuming due to its flashy look.
you did a really nice affect on the leather. I did something alot like that for my nephew so we could LARP, but used cardboard instead
This is awesome. I am recreating a piece and needed to figure out what or how to get the design to work. Thanks. I got my answer.
Awesome! Nice alternative to cutting out individual scales and stitching, glueing or riveting on. I think I might try this on some cosplay bracers!
that is a possibility, I try to learn everything (surprise) and leather work keep coming back and being useful.
it's a very good very instructive very thorough video. I would very much like to see more of the videos that you have put out on leather crafting
Charles Armitage can't wait to see your leather working videos.
Love the video! I've never worked with leather before, but I want to try my hand at it next month. You're very funny and your tutorial is going to help tons :)
Thanks for making the videos. It's always great to see how other people create their projects. If I may offer a comment, I think you over-wet your leather at times. You really only need to dampen the area where you are working. For example, you sprayed the whole piece just when you were making the neck area larger. Not a big deal, but I just thought I would mention it. I have learned a lot from watching this - thanks again!
So glad I came across ur page bro, I've been interested in taking leather work up as a hobby!
Thank you for continuing RUclips Wednesdays!
i think leather work is a terrific skill i am just starting to learn at the ripe age of 47 thanks for the vid
YEah I use leather work all the time for haunt costuming, the more materials and techniques you know the bettter your work will be- in my opinion.
This is very cool, i'll be trying out that dragonscale pattern on some of my scrap, might have to make myself some armor as well.
yeah bracers would take a lot less time. Glad you liked the video!
I love this! So creative, amazing job once again!
it was 8oz leather, and you could absolutely attach plate or scales wherever you would like.
Understood. I often think I dabble in to many things- woodwork, plaster, leather, foam, latex, and silicone. They all eat space. If I were rich I would have a seperate shop for each one.
Aw man...that takes a lot of work.Almost as much as actual lamellar armor.Good stuff
I was talking about first an edge beveller and afterwards a slicker. Using Resolene to finish it protects not only your fine piece of works coloring, it also protects other garments from taking on surplus color from your piece.
What I mean is: You have the skills, but you leave it in a rough state instead of perfecting it. Thats very different from what I see here in Germany. Maybe part due to us germans being known for this perfectionism, but certainly also due to leather being expensive here
Its great, that you whrite down, what you are doing, so I can understand it better (I´m a German and I can´t speak english wery well [you see it ;-)] ).
The leather armor is awesome!
Jaybo, I would love one. I have a lot going on, as long as you dont have one of those pesky jobs to get in the way.
Different styles do not equal wrong. My channel is a costume and haunted house channel- I made armor for that purpose. different steps would have been taken if it were meant to fight it. I appreciate your input but I have been doing leaher work about 10 years now and have figured out a way that meets my needs in that time.
If you don't mind, that'd be great! Here's some of the stuff I've made just by mucking about. Most are leather. The headdresses are closed-cell (EVA) foam. A special thanks to my partner for modelling the headdress. :D
There's a bad picture of a Necronomicon (just the back) in there - I made that using your tutorial for a girl who got her Masters in H.P. Lovecraft.
Which hobby, leather work or making haunt stuff? Either just takes finding people who need stuff made. I know Halloween is not as big over there yet, but it is growing I know. I meet more people from Australia each year who are at Transworld looking to buy.
Lol, the best tips are always the ones that make you smack your forehead and wonder why you had not thought of it sooner.
Cool, I would love to see pics!
Charles, I get your meaning- but the final destination of this piece is on an armor stand. It is not for anyone to wear, just set dressing. Armor patterning is pretty difficult kudos to you if you are good at it. I dabble in leather because I need to for prop and some costume work. I would not make armor for someone unless I did fit it to them as well as my skill would allow. Do you have leather armor videos on your channel?
As I was saving it to m computer I realized I did not have that in there, then I thought "will any body catch that?" of course you you guys did.
I have been told that leather armor was sometimes back with woven silk to stop arrows this is really cool.
I haven't done leather work in 40 years . really enjoyed the video. Hope to meet you at MHC this year. And by the way the grandson really loved the video on making vomit, we'll be making some soon.
Interesting! So If I make a cast of my chest to mold the leather I could essentially make a one panel armor like he's making here. Hmmmmmm.
To the leather store!
Can't wait! I'll be at the Old World Names Shop. But I will look for you.
Do you have a catalog from them? If you have their catalog I could pull mine out and talk you through it on the phone. Are you wanting to make armor?
Wondeful! Thank you so much for introducing me into leather modeling.
+Gabriel Maragda cool, what have you made?
A great leather breastplate that worked just perfectly for making a barbarian cosplay!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Another great video Allen, thank you so much for doing these! Though I have to tell you that I'm spending far too much time in front of my computer after having discovered your channel! LOL :) I'm loving watching you work! Any chance we could see the leather head monsters from your museum or better yet a tutorial on how you did 'em? You are giving me so many ideas for things to do for my haunt, I'm almost wishing I could start on NEXT year's haunt now instead of working on this one! LOL
I do over wet, it is one of my many bad habits. I might cure that if I ever get a few weeks to concentrate on leather alone...so much going on.
Cool, I will see ya there!
Most everything I do is on a time crunch and for show as opposed to use. Its a prop as much as a leather piece- I could have made it from foam cheaper (and easier) just showing the techniques. I finished with Leather sheen from fiebings and I did burnish with a nylon slicker (attached to a drill). Do you mostly do leather work?
this is "real" leather armor. The style you are referring to is called cuir bouilli . There are as many styles and types of leather armor as their are cultures in the world. I did not boil it because that makes the armor brittle so it is a terrible armor against blunt weapons- If I am fighting in this (and I do) then I will be using dulled stage weapons or wooden wasters- both blunt weapons. unboiled leather will dissipate the blows but boiled leather would break. I made what suited my needs.
I have been making props as a hobby for a couple years and i love it. I was wondering how would i get into this industry within Australia.
Leatherwork requires specialized tools, I do still avoid uni-taskers and try to get multi use tools. Video in a haunt is hard to get most of the time, and my haunt is not set up or running most of the time so it is a bit tough to see it all "in action"
Pretty much, yes. Mostly historical stuff, belts and pouches from late 15. century, but also fantasy things for our larp crew. Only as a hobby though.
Totally not working with foam, since I dont have a workshop here and do my leather working in the living room. Much to my wifes chagrin ;)
cool, glad you like it.
Any tandy leather will have this color. It is the color of veg tanned leather. ask for Vegetable tanned leather- then pick the thickness you want.
Get a veg tanned double shoulder 8-10 oz. Call them. Also on their site their are three stores in OHIO. Cleveland, Colombus and Cincinatti. Call them, they will help you.
I could do a plant tutorial, that is not a bad idea. For a mask, go for a 3-4ounce leather.
Great job. Need the patience of Jobe. Thanks.
you could, but that also makes it more brittle cuirboulli is pretty hard to get right and do evenly.
Beautiful work and really informative, subscribed!
lol that's redeeming. I need to get my planishing hammer set up then I will be able to do a tut for that.
I used a head set mic that i use to record podcasts and call ins. In the shop there is air compressor noise, fans, and all manner of back ground.
thank you. I am glad you like it.
I will attempt to not forget it again.
cut scales on leather this thickness tend to curl and look really silly after a year sitting on a shelf (this armors only job) tooling them was the best option. Texas weather is not kind to stored leather. that also would have taken three times the leather driving up the price. I understand your opinion, i just dont agree with it.
No, you can stain and paint leather pretty easy.
Thank you! Found this very inspiring! Tandy all the way
a nice sharp blade on a box knife paired with a poly cutting board works wonders to make clean, easy, beautiful cuts into leather, no matter how thick. Just be sure to use fresh blades.
You should make a tutorial for a full set of leather armor( Helmet, Bracers, pants, etc...)!!!
do you have any videos of your haunt? i would love to see the monster museum / the lab you talked about
Hello. Great work sir. Question for ya, I'm looking to make the muscle armor with scale print, which would you recommend I do first, muscle or scales? Thanks in advance for any help
I have a few other leather working projects I need to do this week, I will tape them and put them up as well if you think it will help you out.
Yes, Yes you will.
man, such a cool look, when you spray the leather and scales just pop
what you could do to help your audio sound better is do all the instructions and tips with the head set. Then add it in where appropriate. To make it seem as real though you just thought of something write down all your ideas that come to you while working. That will then allow you more material to work with. Keep what you like (that you have time for) and ditch all other non important parts.
Awesome. I have a feeling I'm about to acquire another expensive habit that I also don't have room for.
Thanks for the Tutorial, I need to know how to do this for my Megacon Character.
I saw your info for Tandy Leather in the description. I don't know if you're from Texas, or the Dallas area in particular, but I'm from Waco. Pretty awesome work there!
Just awesome, thanks for making the vid.
Instead of ending the leather before your waist, would it be possible to segment the armor like plates, but still have it hooked together as a whole?
Another option is to find where the mic is located on then attach a megaphone shaped object (like a rolled up sheet of paper) to it. This in turn will narrow and focus the area where sound is picked up. Then all you have to do is speak loud enough to help drown out the background noise (the cone will pick up more of your voice). But don't yell if your video editing software can't change the volume of the audio. Give these options a try and let me know how it works. As I said I want to help out.
Have you ever tried a scroll saw to cut the leather? I haven't, just thought of it and wanted to know if you had tried it.
Thank you, I hate armor that looks like it has never been fought in. You have to build character into costumes.
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
So if I wanted to put a little form to this could I just soak it like you do the masks?
i'm a beginner so could you tell me what cowhide product I should buy from tandy's site and I need help with bevelers because I look it up on their site and just shows these leather stamps.