# Leather Inlays on Wooden Cattys



## Smashtoad (Sep 3, 2010)

I case you want to add some leather inlay to your wood cattys...

Just dremel or carve your design into your piece. Intricate designs will be hard, but are not impossible by any means. Try to make the bed of the design as level as possible.

Get some real thin vegetable tanned leather (maybe 1 or 2 oz). You're going to be "wet-forming" your leather, so you need to use veggie tanned. Your actual final inlay piece will be thicker, maybe 6 to 9 oz...depending on how you want it to look. My inlay on the palm and thumb edges of the Moose stick up above the design, as I wanted to grip there. The designs on the back are lower...almost flush.

Take the real thin stuff and soak it in water for about 10 seconds. Then just pat it out on a paper towel, your shirt, etc...until it is no longer dripping. Now...if you are concerned about getting the piece wet, wrap it in Saran wrap before the next step.

Stick you thick leather in the water too...then just set it aside and let it dry. This is called "casing" the leather. This method isn't proper casing, but for this application it works fine...we ain't making a saddle.

Now just start pressing that thin wet leather into the design. Shove, press, mold the wet leather into the design. Work it in really well...until it is completely molded into your design...then let it dry.

The next day you will have a hard template of your design's shape, and can use this as a guide to cut out your final piece. I cut it out, being careful not to cut it too small, then use that piece to trace the design shape onto your thicker leather.

Be mindful of the leather sides and directions...I cut a few backwards. There's only one good side on the leather, right? It's easy to cut your shape backwards, so when you turn it over and start to fit it into your design, the flesh side is out...DOH!

I then carefully use an exacto knife to cut the design out of my thick leather. Once it sits perfectly...dye it (if you want), saddle soap it, burnish the edges with a piece of denim and some elbow grease, and glue that sucker in. BAM!

I use Gorilla Glue...you have to watch for the expansion, but it really holds leather to wood well...especially if you clamp it good for 24 hours.

Holler if you have any questions.


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## ChapmanHands (Oct 14, 2013)

Awesome Smash. Thank you posting this. I have 5 hours set aside this weekend for Quentin time, so that will let me at least get started on this project.

Your finished product is gorgeous, hopefully mine comes out at least half as nice as that one.


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## honorary pie (Feb 12, 2015)

Why can't I see pics?


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## Smashtoad (Sep 3, 2010)

Good idea, pie. I had already talked about this in a couple of threads, but I should kinda show what I'm yappin about.

So...I got to lookin around the hobby room, and saw my Henrie SRS. I love this slingshot. It is a beautiful design that is compact and deadly. I'm a natural guy, and this is the only boardcut I own...it's just cool.

I figured I could put an inlay on the palm swell, and do a little wood burning on it, as long as I was very careful...this is one catty I don't want to jack up.

First shot is the beginning of the wood burning. It's the same on the other side. Next shot is the dremeled design. Then the leather template piece. You can see how I've shoved it into the pattern, and then wrapped it up with saran wrap to protect the wood, more leather to hold it in, rubber bands, and a clamp as well.

More to come...


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## Wingshooter (Dec 24, 2009)

Smashtoad said:


> Good idea, pie. I had already talked about this in a couple of threads, but I should kinda show what I'm yappin about.
> 
> So...I got to lookin around the hobby room, and saw my Henrie SRS. I love this slingshot. It is a beautiful design that is compact and deadly. I'm a natural guy, and this is the only boardcut I own...it's just cool.
> 
> ...


Hey man that really looks good you did an excellant job on that thing.


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## Smashtoad (Sep 3, 2010)

Whew...I was hoping you wouldn't be offended. Roger. I'll do it up right, I promise.


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## Smashtoad (Sep 3, 2010)

So the next day, after the leather has dried, you'll have a perfect template for your inlay piece. Even after re-saturating the piece (1st pic), the pattern stays.

Because you're now looking at a negative impression, this also givce you the opportunity to view the shape from another angle, which can help you see issues with the symmetry. If you look at the last pic, you'll see that the left side has a much shallower curve than the right. I didn't notice this on the catty's dremeled area.

So now I am doing more dremeling to get the shape right. I will then put a new piece of leather into the depression, and try again, as this has to be right. This is where you get to make sure it is.


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## honorary pie (Feb 12, 2015)

Ahhh, I see. The wood burning looks stellar, and the overall shape is bad ace, I can't wait to see the rest so I can rip you off. Ahem- I mean compliment you vehemently.


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## Smashtoad (Sep 3, 2010)

honorary pie said:


> Ahhh, I see. The wood burning looks stellar, and the overall shape is bad ace, I can't wait to see the rest so I can rip you off. Ahem- I mean compliment you vehemently.


Leather Inlays by Toad© Try it now, sucka! Ha...I'm actually looking forward to seeing what other folks come up with. There is a ton of craftsmanship on this forum.

Ok...so I cut the template out, staying outside the lines a little to leave myself some room for error. Leather can be stretched and squeezed a little when wet to compensate for a slight mishape, but get it as close as possible. I then used it to cut my inlay piece. I traced it, then rough cut it with a new exacto blade. The difference between a new exacto blade and one a week old is a lot. I've been using the same one for a few weeks, and when I started cutting with this new one...oh man...like butter. Don't scimp on exacto blades.

Once I had my rough out, I used a cone sander on my Dremel to get the shape real close. Then back to the Exacto knife for final cutting and shaping. Also did some "skiving"...which is essentially shaving, to thin the piece top to bottom.

I have to Danish oil the cutout to protect the wood before I glue the piece down, so in the meantime I will finish my woodburning, and make sure there isn't another inlay I want to put in. I also have to bevel and dye the inlay. I think I'll go black to match the burning.


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## honorary pie (Feb 12, 2015)

What's that? Honorary inlays? You'll have to admit, it does sound kinda catchy...

Awesome work man. You're very patient..


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## bigron (Nov 29, 2012)

Smash all the burning and now the leather inlays are just sweet looking,your skills have gone sky high since you've been absent all of your shooters you've modded out are awesome


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## Smashtoad (Sep 3, 2010)

Thanks Ron...I just piddle, and dig it when two hobbies can come together and compliment each other.

After getting my inlay piece real close, and putting a coat of dye on it, I'm reminded of another lesson: leather shrinks when it dries. Check out the upper corner gap in this picture...took too much right there. It's a great reason to wait until your inlay piece has completely dried before you do fine shaping. The leather exactos easier anyway.









Other than that...it's acceptable.









But I need to widen it a little, so....what would widen it? SMASHING IT!

So I took a couple of leather edge bevelers, the hand tools saddle and holster makers use, and laid out a border, and then I tooled down the inside edge, and tooled the inside down flat.

Now I just have to decide what the perfect thing is to go inside that, as now that I have this defined depression, I can make an inlay within this inlay.

Can't decide on what to use...I'm leaning towards crocodile. There ain't a lot of room to play with.


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## Viper010 (Apr 21, 2012)

Pure awesomesauce Toadman!

Suggestion for secondary inlay: ostrich. Croc would be cool, too, though... Can't wait to see the end result ????


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## Smashtoad (Sep 3, 2010)

Thanks, Viper. I have some ostrich, but what I ended up doing is shaping an osteoderm to that form. It's a crocodile back scale, essentially. I am finishing the wood burning now...it's been a slog.


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## Smashtoad (Sep 3, 2010)

Still plugging...haven't decided how far I want to go with the burning, but I really love Roger 's work and wasn't too make this one something special.

I think that osteoderm is gonna look sweet. I have to finish the wood before I can start gluing the inlays on. Those little dots are polymer buttons. They'll be either black or blue.


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## Wingshooter (Dec 24, 2009)

Looks good I think you are going to run out of room here pretty soon.


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## Smashtoad (Sep 3, 2010)

I scrapped the leather idea. I want more palm pad, so decided to make one from clay. This also Allows me to mold a tight, exact fit.

There three grades of Sculpey. White, flesh, and gray. This great stuff seems to be harder and stronger than the others,so will hopefully will withstand whatever pressure I exert on it. I used the flesh colored for a grip before,and it did not.


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