Custom Boxes

For Pennsic 2023 I was asked to make a contribution to the gifts for the State dinner hosted by the Midrealm. We had been chosen to provide gifts for the East and this was my contribution. Two boxes, one made from Wenge and the other from Bubinga. 

Leather Masks

A few years back I crafted a leather mask for a costume party. I didn’t start from scratch though, A friend and I picked up a Mardi Gras-style mask from a Halloween store, and after taping it up, we filled it with plaster to create a mold. I used about 2 ounce vegi-tanned leather, soaking it in warm water to make it pliable for shaping around the form. After several hours of working with the leather as it dried through various stages, I was mostly satisfied and left it to dry completely.

When I returned, I trimmed the edges and the eye holes before sketching the design with a stylus and wetting the areas for tooling. Once that was complete and dry, I painted it with Eco-Flo Cova Color, a water-based leather paint, and sealed it with a clear coat. I added a little elastic cord for the strap, and it was ready to wear!

 

Cloth buttons using the laser cutter

I needed cloth buttons for a project, so after researching tutorials, I developed a process utilizing my laser cutter, a predictable choice I know.

This is how I created approximately 3/4 inch cloth buttons.

First I did a little trial and error to get the size that I wanted before drawing the circles and squares in the lightburn software.

After running playing with the power settings I was able to mark the circle onto the square and then cut the squares out.

The next step was a simple matter of doing a running stitch following the marked circle and pulling up until I was ready to fold the corners in to the center, sort of inverting it a little. From there just top stitching across at angles until I pulled everything as tight as I needed. All in all I'm pretty happy with the results and consistency

Layout in Lightburn with zero space between my arrange so there is no waste

Running stitch following the scribed circle

Just about ready to tuck the corners in to use as a stuffing.

More medieval pouches

 Now that they have been gifted I can share the pouches I cut out to assemble at Pennsic. These are based on patterns form Darkhorse workshop with some modifications. The red one was for my squire (Eli J. Hawkins) Cadfan for the one year anniversary of his squiring. The Tarsoly was a gift for Duchess Runa( Linda M Bouck )and funded by members of her household for being an amazing and inspirational lady and artisan and the third was a gift to myself, because. All were cut out on the laser cutter the dyeing was done with Fiebigs alcohol based dyes and imersed in a ziplock back to get an even saturation of color. All were saddle stitched with waxed linen thread.

Gothic Chair repair

 I do this not because it is easy, but because I thought it would be easy.

If I'm being honest I knew this was going to be challenging. I traced, scanned and imported the outline of the back into Vectorworks and cleaned up all the lines before exporting the dxf file to Alphacam to apply the toolpaths. I glued up the new material from Quarter sawn White Oak and cut out the bulk on a CR Onsrud panel pro router. There was a bit more post processing than a had wanted but I was able to achieve the look ii wanted with a few hours and a carving chisel. I added some Gilsonite tinter to the varathane walnut stain to really darken the grain lines. In the end I'm pretty happy with the results of remaking this broken back on this chair for a friend.

As I received it

Lots of tool pathing.

Medieval Cast Pewter belt

I had wanted to create a medieval style plaque belt for my wife for some time and finally talked my self out of all my excuses.

I wanted the belt to reflect elements of her registered SCA heraldry, shown below but not be an exact copy. 

I decided to cast the plaques in pewter since the material and equipment was relatively inexpensive.

About $80.00 for the casting furnace and I recommend getting the Lyman Casting Dipper to make your life easier.

Next, I designed the part in SolidWorks exactly as I wanted, then printed the STL file on my Creality 3D printer using PLA plastic. This provided me with the positive image, including a sprue, needed to create the high-temperature silicone mold.

With a bit of rubber cement, I secured the part to a smooth surface. Then, using Mold Max™ 60, a high-temperature silicone, along with some reusable mold forms that  I 3D-printed from an online design, I poured the catalyzed silicone to create the mold. in two operations to create a front and back.

I ended up using a pair of soapstone blocks that I had to clamp on either side of the silicone mold to act as a heat sink but could still only cast 6-8 at a time before needing to allow the mold to cool.

After some clean up and polishing i mixed a clear slow curing epoxy resin that I added some liquid pigments to. this needed about 24 hrs to cure. 

Once the plaques were complete I used the posts to attach them to a leather belt that I lined with felt after all the setting was done. For the closure I used a 1 1/2" removable pin hinge and riveted the two haves to the leather.

It weighs in at 2lbs 15 oz which makes the belt hang just as I hoped. 

14C Leather Pouch

 The pattern was from dark horse workshop with a few modifications. The front illumination is from the Codex Manesse with a modification to the centerpiece. It now says Honi soit qui mal y pense” (“Shame to him who thinks evil of it) the motto of the garter knights created by Edward III. The pattern and front elimination were cut on my creality falcon 5 watt laser and most of the leather dyeing I do in Ziploc bags with fiebings alcohol-based dyes that I dilute with rubbing alcohol about 20%. Ultimately this pouch will be my ransom for the Road to Rouen event.