3 Ways to Make My MOST POPULAR LEATHER WORKING Project #handmadeleatherkeychains #freepdftemplate

today I'm going to show you how to make what is   not only my favorite but also my  most popular leather craft product   the customizable leather keychain I'm even going  to show you three different ways of making it so   if you have absolutely no leather working  skills at all you could get started today   with leather crafting if you pay attention  and don't skip around I'll also show you how   to get my free pdf leather pattern for this  project welcome to Big Stacks small Workshop   first let's cut off the leather we need  with this fancy Dancy leather cutting knife   which you probably already have at home  you're going to want to use at least a five   ounce veg tan leather for this project since we're  going to be making impressions in the keychain   this is by far the least expensive way to make  this project if you have a hammer and a utility   knife all you're going to really need is about  25 dollars to spend on some extra leather working   tools check on the Amazon links in the description  below for a complete list of all the tools that   I'm using now get ready the first keychain you're  going to cut out is going to look pretty sloppy   keep trying and practicing cutting them out  before you know it they are going to come   out looking great take your time and always  use a fresh blade when starting a new project use scissors to cut out your desired size from the  free leather craft template I'll provide for you   after you've cut it out tape it down  to your leather using packing tape   or if you follow the advice from previous videos  I've done you can glue your template to thin   cardboard and Trace around it use the same fancy  knife to cut the keychain out of your leather   for best results keep the knife  straight up and down as you cut   using the template Mark your punch  holes with a scratch hole or ice pick   use a punch to cut two holes in your leather whoa  slick you're gonna ruin your cutting mat that way   always use a pound of board or something else  Hefty behind your leather so you don't Mar up your   cutting mat much better notice how I use the punch  to make a slight indention and make sure my punch   is centered with my mark before I cut the hole  this will save you a lot of frustration and wasted   leather you can use sandpaper or an emery board  if your edges need a little bit of a touch-up wet your leather really good and get ready  for the best part of making these keychains   you can customize them with any  craft tool stamp you can find   early on in my leather working career this  was a great way to make personal gifts for   friends without having to spend a lot of money  since these stamps are only about four dollars   each if you have a 3D printer you can even make  your own custom leather stamps when your leather   looks like the surface is fairly dried out  you're ready to start stamping put a really   solid object like granite or steel underneath your  keychain so you're able to make a good impression   if you don't have this a plastic cutting board  should suffice for the time being do me a favor   if you're enjoying this video tap on that little  thumbs up down there and give it a like so YouTube   can share this video with people exactly like you  we're going to put a nice finish on this stamp   keychain here in a little bit but first let's look  at two other ways that we can make this project   the second is my absolute favorite way of  making it it's using a leather die cutter   leather dies aren't super cheap so what I like  to do is to start with one that's from overseas   I found them on Amazon and Etsy and you may have  to wait a month or so before they arrive the steel   on them will eventually wear down but that takes  a long time so between now and then you'll have   plenty of projects you can make with these leather  cutting dies if you have about two hundred dollars   you can get a very inexpensive leather cutting die  Arbor press and a couple of Steel plates to help   you out again I'm gonna have Amazon links down in  description below so you can check out everything   I keep my leather dies in bags with wood shavings  the shavings will help absorb moisture from the   air and should keep your die Cutters from  rusting you can also use silica gel packs   but I've found that they make food taste great  when I sprinkle it on top so I rarely have any   extra silica gel packets lying around whoa  whoa whoa that was a joke that was a joke do   not eat silica gel packets I was just kidding  even says right here throw away do not eat so this is your friendly big Stacks PSA of  the day kids don't eat silica gel packets   no no no I like to place a small piece of plastic  cutting board under my die cutter to keep from   dulling the blades you can get a regular sauce  cutting board and get a friend with a table saw   to cut it down to size for you by using steel  plates when cutting with dies you can create a   solid surface and you're able to spread the force  of the arbor press out over the whole cutting die   once everything is in place pull the handle of  your Arbor press down and give it a decent amount   of force if you find you need more Force you can  always put in a longer steel rod for your handle   the nice thing about this method is you  can cut many leather keychains very quickly   it even punches the holes perfectly for you you'll  have one after another after another after another   I've gotten to a Groove and cut almost 100  or so leather keychains at one time before if you find the steel rule didn't cut all  the way through your leather don't stress out   just put it back in the arbor press  and give it a little bit more pressure every once in a while you might screw up and not  have the die cutter on the leather in the perfect   position just chalk it up to experience toss  the scrap and move on wow one small piece of   leather can make a lot of keychains this is the  Lazy Man's way of making a keychain and I could   be very lazy sometimes again this is my preferred  method of making this project once you have wet   your leather good and let it dry for a bit you can  use the arbor press for a nice clean stamped image   I use what's called a Ram's foot to give  more even pressure on my craft tool stamps   I don't see where they make this anymore but there  is something called a hefty handle which looks   like it's exactly the same thing just a little  bit longer you really don't need a Ram's foot   when stamping with custom 3D printed stamps just  be sure to keep your custom stamp about the same   size as the craft tool stamps which is one inch by  one inch the third method for creating my favorite   leather craft project is also the easiest and  the nice thing is you could put pretty much any   graphic you want on the keychain so it's truly the  most customizable of all three options even though   a laser engraver is going to be the most expensive  way to make this project you could really get   a budget laser engraver for under four hundred  dollars in the description I've listed the laser   engraver that I'm using it may not be the most  powerful or fanciest laser engraver on the market   but for under 300 bucks it gets the job done I'm  also going to recommend that you have a laptop or   computer to hook up to your laser engraver your  engraver may already have a control panel with it   but this is definitely a much easier way to make  these keychains doesn't even have to be a top   of the line computer it could just be an older  computer that you have sitting around it really   doesn't take up a lot of Computer Resources  to run the laser engraving software first   thing you need to do when laser engraving  is to get your leather really wet stick it   directly in the water and flip it over making  sure both sides get covered really thoroughly   this helps you lay your leather flat  and hey hey buddy put the water tank   back in the middle of the frame we all  can't see what you're doing over there like I was saying wetting your leather will help  you lay it flat and minimize charring and smoke   stains open up your laser gerbil software I've  pre-made two files using the artwork from my   free pdf template using Photoshop the first file  is what we're engraving some big Stacks keychains   I'm amending my files using a set of blight  keychain files this will be used to cut the key   chains out of the leather using the laser hit the  start button and watch your laser engraver do its   thing always turn on the fans so it will vent the  nasty smell out of my shop you can do other work   while this is engraving but I don't recommend  leaving your Workshop while this is happening   I know many of you have never  had an issue leaving it before   but let's be real it's a laser and it's burning  something in your Workshop it's best to keep   an eye on it every now and then while it's  working now it's cutting out the keychains   when you're all done pull your  keychains out and clean off your edges when it comes to finishing veg tan leather  neat's foot oil is one of my go-to products   it could take the very pale beige of your leather  and darken it how dark it gets all depends on how   much oil you add to your product it also does a  great job making your leather pliable and supple   which is one reason I really like it  after I've applied oil to both sides   of the leather I like to wait overnight  and let it soak in deep into the leather   after your leather is exactly the way you want it  you can apply your antiquing gel this will fill in   all the little lines and crevices of your design  making the image pop out really nicely I like to   apply it to my laser engraved areas as well for  a more contrasted image take a rag out and fold   it over a couple of times so you can wipe away the  excess antiquing with a flat surface t-shirt Rags   are best because it can glide over the recessed  areas and leave more of the antiquing in place look at how much sharper the image is when you  use antiquing let your antiquing dry completely   before sealing it in to seal my keychains I like  to airbrush a product called tan coat which is   specifically designed for leather I cut my tan  coat with about 10 or 20 percent distilled water   then I spray the keychains covering them with a  fine mist of tan coat wait about five minutes for   the surface to dry then spray them again you  can build up multiple layers of tan coat on   your leather I usually give it about six or seven  good coats and that let my leather dry completely   it's time to finish our keychains to  lock the actual keyrings in place I   slide a hollow rivet and use a rivet  setting tool to finish everything off keep your tool as perpendicular as possible and  hit it a few times with a solid hammer or mallet   I know I said don't use a steel Hammer but I  like the solid force it provides and I have yet   to mushroom the end of my tool if it eventually  messes the tool up it won't be too expensive to   replace I like the contrast of the copper colored  rivets against the brown of the leather there you   have it that's not only my most popular product  it's also my most favorite one to make what I want   you to do but you get in your shop right now go  make something fun remember big Stacks grows big   Stacks builds and big Stacks makes if you've got  an idea for a project I'd love to hear about it   do me a favor drop a note down in the comments  below and I'll see you next time at Big Stacks   small Works hold on hold on hold on hold on don't  go anywhere yet so you want to get those free   leather craft patterns do yourself a favor click  on the link in the description below it will sign   you up for my newsletter once you get signed  up for my newsletter I'll send those templates   right to your inbox there's no reason to wait  go ahead and sign up now see you guys next time

Channel: Big Stacks Small Workshop

Views: 16,266

Keywords: Beginner Leather Craft, Free PDF Leather Pattern, Free PDF Leather Template, Leather Craft, Leather Working, Leather work, leather bag, leather craft tools, leather tools, leather workshop

Id: IDWRGPujhAY

Length: 13min 47sec (827 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 20 2023