Bookbinding

Pursuing a new interest, we went a bookbindery to learn how it is that books are classically bound.

First the text block is made either by sewing or gluing pages of text together. This is a machine used for sewing together text blocks

 Here the binder is showing how boards and card stocks had a grain like wood and which directions the need to face.

 Here we are measuring and cutting the leather we will use for the cover.

 Bookbinding requires a lot of glue for the cover and some kinds of text blocks.

 Here he is skiving the edges with a cutting tool so that the leather folds smoothly over a kind of thick card stock called binders board with a minimal seam.This will will be used to add rigidity and strength to the sides of the book.

 Here he is adding glue in preparation for adding the binders board and a material he calls "pink" that goes along the spine.

After this is done they can hot press letters into the cover using the machine above. This machine is prepared to stamp holy bible in either silver, white, or red.

Leathercrafting

When making something with leather. I find its always best to get every part down on paper first. As you can see here, I've laid out the entire bag with the design and holes.

Here, I've taken a piece of veg-tan leather and cut it to the size of the larger piece.

Now I've wet the leather and have begun to trace the pattern with a leather stylus.

Now that I have traced the pattern onto the piece, I'va taken a swivel knife and begun to cut of the design in preparation for carving.

Now that the leather has been cut, I have wet it just enough to soften it but not enough to make it like wet paper.

In this picture, I've taken a beveler stamp to add depth and contrast.

Here I've taken a pace of pebble grain leather and traced the design though in the picture its not very visible.

Now I've cut in out in preparation for sewing and final assembly.

Here I've started working on the edges by taking an edge beveler and removing the corners from the leather preparing it for burnishing.

Finish by dye as desired and finishing with resolene. Then stitch all three pieces together and if desired, add a drawstring.

Enjoy your viking inspired leather pouch!

Creating a new hilt for a knife

We dug this old knife out of the bottom of a closet. After seeing it I decided that it needed to be restored. The first stage as when making anything is design. As it is a jungle style knife and the sheath appears to look like a stylized fish body I decided the handle should look like a head.

I started with the cross guard. I cut it out of a scrap piece. I then drilled a hole for the tang and elongated it with a file. I then polished it and applied gun black.

the handle is a piece of oak I polished after I carved gills and eyes and then accented with a wood burner.

After all that was done I mixed some epoxy and glued the whole thing together.

The finished product.

Making Tongs

 As part of making my forge I had to make a set of tongs. I decided to make a very basic set of round stock tongs for my first time. Because my propane forge is made of an old air compressor tank, I added extra length to the handle to make it easier to pull out pieces, and I can hold it closer for better control.

I started by pounding the end of the rebar flat; then I curved it into a semicircle. Then, about an inch away from that, I pounded it flat at the opposite angle. To cause the pieces to fit together, I bent each end slightly.  To make the joint, I drilled a hole in each piece and slid a nail through. I heated up the nail and pounded it flat. The tongs are done. 

World War 2 Movie - Costumes & Props

Check out the special features section to see how I made all of the costumes for this movie.  I also designed and created all of the props....the Howitzer was my favorite!  And I did the special effects (with the limited stuff my mom would let me use).

Training Kopis, Khopesh, and Xiphos

Unlike most of the weapons I've made so far these are made for actual combat. They are made to fight with and not get as torn up, but they might take slight dings here and there, which gives it a more authentic look.

 Start with a basic outline of your sword. This is where you want to make adjustments. Don't worry about the guards, these can be added later.

 Then, reinforce it with the wide popsicle sticks. After that, put an exact copy of the first cut out over the other one so that they line up.

 Secure it so the sticks won't move around; then secure it all the way around so that there are no openings.

Now cover it all the way...    This is where you add the hilt if you want to paint it use masking tape.

You can do this on any sword, but this works best for curved blades.  

 Here, I just wanted to show you the difference between my prop and battle khopesh.

Medieval Movie

based on MONTY PYTHONS HOLY GRAIL
and GEORGE of the JUNGLE