Other Leather Projects

Here are a couple of other leather projects I've completed recently. One is a case for my phone. That one was wet-formed from vegetable-tanned leather over a wooden stand-in I created of my phone. The inside is lined with black felt to keep my screen from getting scratched. The bottom pictures are of a minimalist wallet I made from some thin chrome-tanned leather. Even really thin store-bought wallets are too bulky for me - I like to carry as little as possible. This one is basically just two card sleeves that fold in the middle. The whole thing is less than a quarter the thickness of my old one. It remains to be seen how well it holds up to daily use. I've been using it for about a month now, and so far so good.


Carter’s Longboard

Carter has been talking all summer long about making a longboard for herself - ever since we found a book on our road trip that had instructions for the process. We finally got around to doing it, and this is the result. It came out pretty good! Carter decorated the underside with a bunch of sugar skulls. We drew and colored them with fine point Sharpies, and we put a coat of spray-on polyurethane on top to protect it. She's been learning to ride it in the driveway. We'll have to take it somewhere soon where there is more open space for her to practice!

Leather Deck Box

The kids and I have been learning to play the Pokemon card game lately, and we made a bunch of these letter deck boxes to hold our Pokemon decks, dice, damage counters, etc. They're actually really easy to make - they're all one piece of leather, wet-formed and riveted together. I made two or three, and Carter made a couple too. We had a hard time getting the leather to stain evenly - but upon further research I think it comes out a lot better if the leather is slightly damp when you apply the stain. We'll have to try that next time.

Fibonacci Clock

I saw a cool idea for a clock on a Kickstarter, and decided to build my own. The idea is that the clock shows the Fibonacci sequence (as high as 5, at least), and you tell the time based on which cells are lit up which colors. The sequence - starting with the smallest cells and increasing from there - goes 1, 1, 2, 3, 5. You figure out the hours by adding up the values of any cells colored green. You figure out the minutes by adding up the values of any cells colored blue and multiplying by 5 (giving the clock a 5-minute resolution). If a cell is colored red, it should be counted in the sums for both hours and minutes. I really like it - it's got a very art deco feel to it.

Arethusa Falls

On the same day as Black Cap, we also hiked in to see Arethusa Falls in Crawford Notch. Supposedly they are the tallest falls in New Hampshire, and they were flowing pretty well that day. I've been there several times in the past, and sometimes they are just a trickle.

Black Cap – 2016

Hiked Black Cap with a group from work - and Carter decided to tag along this time. She's been up here many times before, but it's been a few years since the last time - so it felt good to get her up there again.

CNC Name Plate

I used the CNC machine to make a desk nameplate for a friend I work with. I bet he regrets telling us his nickname! The other side has his real name on it, but I prefer this side. :)

Field Trip – Odiorne State Park

Lori and I chaperoned a field trip to Odiorne State Park. Our group ended up consisting of just Carter and one of her friends. It was pretty cool to explore the tide pools and look for sea life. The weather was pretty amazing too.