It started as an idea, “How cool would it be to make a pen out of leather.” So, I did some research and I found that the idea had been around for a good while. I also found a guide for making a pen out of leather. After looking through the guide, I found that this was not what I had been thinking of at all.
This pen had been made with thin strips of leather with holes punched through them and glued together to make a blank that could be put on a lathe. Turned down and finished with a CA finish. So, the result would look cool and unique but it wouldn’t feel like leather. It would feel like plastic. That was not what I was looking for.
So, my search continued. I defined my idea further into exactly what I was looking for and came up with this list of goals.
1.Must look like leather.
2.Must feel like leather.
3.Should have custom stitching/tooling.
4.Should be able to use the technique with all or part of pen.
5.Should be able to pair it with an exotic wood/material.
Then I ran across some YouTube videos on leather wrapping the handles of tools, hammers, pliers, screw drivers. That sort of things. Why not a pen? What they talked about in the video were materials and skills I did not poses.
That sent me on more internet searches for beginner leathercrafting, I read, watched videos, and piece by piece gathered some tools I would need. All the time practicing stitching scraps of leather together. Not exactly sure if I was doing it correctly but continuing to practice.
Then I came across someone during an internet search that had been leather wrapping pens. A husband-and-wife team, he made wood pens she did the leather. They were based in the U.K. and had a website. I wrote her an email not fully expecting a reply but hoping.
After a week or so I got a reply to my email that I had sent. It was great, their journey to wrapping pens was very similar to mine and was willing to help me along my journey, very helpful. This has turned out to be a great asset for me. One of the things they had mentioned that I had not thought about was the thickness of the leather had to be considered. See when making a wood pen the thickness of the wood on the tubes is determined by you, but this would be different. I would need to do something with the leather as it comes in different thicknesses. That opened the lid on a bunch of stuff I'll cover in another blog article.
After what seemed like a long time and a whole bunch of cutting and stitching, some new tools and thread. Also, with the guidance from my new mentor in the U.K. I began to produce what I considered to be some quality stitched leather wrapped pen tubes. I could also repeat the process for at least one type of pen. I had met at least some of my goals.
·The wrap looks like leather.
·The wrap feels like leather.
·The wrap has custom stitching.
Now I’m still a beginner at this and continue to have failures, plenty, but things are looking better. The last two goals are in work, and it’s just a matter of time.
