Talent and fate seem to have drawn craftsman Jim Ammon to leatherwork. After taking a leather class in high school, his instructor noted his obvious talent and hired him to work after school in his shop. It was a love that never developed past being a hobby. That was until eight years ago when he was in a car accident that left him unable to work in his flooring job. His desire was to think of something he could do full time that he would enjoy and that wouldn’t tax his back. Of course the choice was his life long hobby. Today in addition to being an avid bagpipe player, he creates beautiful leather works including his hand tooled, hand dyed game boards.Materials:
3/8" particleboard (backing)
5 to 6 oz. vegetable-tanned tooling leather
water-based leather glue
checkerboard template
hand stamping tools and knives
straight edges and poly mallets
alcohol-based leather dyes
lacquer spray
leather antique paste
water and sponge
leather awl
wool daubers
clean cotton rag
acrylic paints
poplar wood
felt
table saw or jig saw
safety glasses
rubber gloves
cement stepping-stone*
utility knife
paper towels
*The stepping-stone provides weight to help adhere the leather to the backing.
Steps:
1. Cut particleboard into desired size, either a 16-, 20-, or 22-inch square piece.
2. Cut the leather to size. Note: May be cut out of a full hide.
3. Glue the leather to the particleboard with a water-based leather glue and place a heavy weight (stepping stone) on it to dry over night.
4. Trim the excess leather around the edges of the wood using a utility knife.
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