 WWL Hardware: The BDSM Crafter's Supply |
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Tools Tips/Tricks Links Projects |
Techniques Supplies Quickies Braiding |
WWL Hardware: The BDSM Crafter's Supply |
|
Tools Tips/Tricks Links Projects |
Techniques Supplies Quickies Braiding |
Everyone has their own little tricks to make working with leather a little easier, faster or more satisfying. This page will grow over time as I share some of mine. Many are just plain common sense, but take each for what it's worth.
The simplest tip is just to keep your work area clean. Working leather, by nature, makes a lot of little pieces that basically go everywhere.. dots of leather from punching holes, strips from skiving and cutting. These little bits can get in the way, and you should get rid of them often. Being a basically lazy person, I use the easiest possible method. Buy a little shop-vac. Mine is a two gallon unit with a flexible hose, and it sucks scrap up quite well. Ten seconds of use and the work area is clean again.
Generally, you know the center point of a hole to be punched. However, placing a punch in the right location obscures this mark. It takes some practice to place the punch in just the right place. There are a couple of ways to do this right:
You'll make many, many cuts at a right angle. If you chose the 45 degree corner treatments shown on most of my examples, you be cutting a lot of those as well. The fastest, easiest way to make these cuts is to draw a template right on your work surface using a thin felt-tipped pen. Here is one simple pattern:
To use this template, lay the piece you want to cut right up against the appropriate lines, lay a straightedge over the piece and against the appropriate lines, and cut along the straightedge. For example, to cut a small 45 degree corner in the base strap of a locking restraint:
The alternatives to this approach are to 1) eyeball it, which inevitably results in inconsistent corners or 2) measure ½" back from the coner in each direction and use these marks to line up your ruler. Using a template is faster and easier.
If you are going to do the same thing over and over, whether within one project or because you're going to make more than one of something, make a template on a scrap piece of leather. Here are some examples:
(Picture coming soon)
By creating a template, you ensure that holes and angles are consistently placed, and working goes faster as well. In using a template, position it directly over the piece you are working on and mark the target piece through the template by pressing a punch into it, then remove the template to actually punch the holes you have marked.
Templates are especially useful in the locking restraints projects, as it can be difficult to place the oblong holes correctly.
A number of projects require curves of one variety or another: suspension cuffs, CBT toys, and especially the serpentine collar. Whenever possible, trace to outline of something, a plate, cup, O-ring.. if you can find the right shape. With a firm object to trace, multiple light passes with a utility knife gives acceptable results. However, if you have to freehand a shape, like the serpentine collar, here's an easy way to get good results.
Secure a spineless (no thicker part on the back end.. Tandy stripper blades are perfect) razor blade in a wood clamp like the shown here. Hold the clamp in one hand and pull the work past the blade, following a line drawn with a felt-tipped pen. This works well for trimming little bits, too. Advantages of this approach: a clean, square cut, and good control.
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