Thread: Spike in leather (bad S&M title)

You should get some leather engraver tools and bevel those edges. That would help the look i think.

Originally Posted by Wintchase

You should get some leather engraver tools and bevel those edges. That would help the look i think.

Personally I think they're right the way they are now. Just waterproof the leather somehow and leave it at that. If you get too fancy you lose the really clean simple look you've got going.

Originally Posted by U2Bono269

Personally I think they're right the way they are now. Just waterproof the leather somehow and leave it at that. If you get too fancy you lose the really clean simple look you've got going.

Thanks for the comments. I waterproofed the leather by rubbing lanolin into them, transfers a little to the steel which protects it also.

Like most things in life,they need a tad more lenth to fit the stand

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Like most things in life,they need a tad more lenth to fit the stand

Lol, I made them to match the original Spike scales.

Did you slick the edges of the leather at all?

Originally Posted by HNSB

Did you slick the edges of the leather at all?

I cut the leather with a razor and then a light sand because there was a few leather strands lift and I didn't want to use the razor again.

To give the edges a better finished look and close the grain you could "slick" them.
The best (arguably) way to do that would be to coat the edge with gum tragacanth, then burnish with something smooth and round. If you are going to do more leather scales, I'd recommend a slicker and a bottle of gum tragacanth.

If this will be the only set, you could wet the edges of the leather and burnish with something small, round, and smooth like the neck of a beer bottle.

If you decide to slick the leather - don't use much pressure... Since you didn't bevel the edges of the leather, it will bulge if you use too much pressure when slicking.

I really like the idea of using leather for scales. Well done.

BTW, Has anyone tried using rawhide for scales? I heard that gets very hard.