Onicrafts

Leather

Sculpture, armor, hardened leather, and gear, with the build journals and techniques behind them.

Collections

Leather hummingbird hovering over an iris and coneflower, with a monarch butterfly
Sculpture
Leather kote armored sleeve with dark navy croc-grain plates, red cross-knot lacing, copper scales at the elbow, and articulated shoulder lames
Armor
Knife sheath with snakeskin inlay and an oval stone cabochon
Sheaths
Five dyed leather leaves for the Titan Arum Throne, orange and rust with dark spotting
Titan Arum Throne (in progress)

Hardened leather

First two X1 hardened leather drinking vessels
The X1 method
Leather hardening test samples from the 16-method comparative study
Comparative study of leather hardening
Finished X1-hardened leather bottle with tooled, gilded mask and amboyna burl stopper
Leather bottle with X1
Hinge test pieces in hardened leather
Hinges in hardened leather
Finished hardened leather hinged eyeglass case
Hinged eyeglass case
Custom-fit X1 hardened leather arch support inserts
Custom arch supports

Quivers, sheaths, and gear

Finished oxblood leather quiver with scale-stamped body and box pouch
Oxblood quiver
Blue hip quiver with caiman skin and labradorite cabochon
Blue hip quiver
Hip quiver with a caiman skin sunburst inlay
Caiman sunburst quiver
Handmade stamped leather belts
Belts
Finished lined leather dog collar
Lined dog collar
Hand-tooled vegetable-tanned cowhide collar lined with rabbit fur
Fur-lined collar
Leather carpenter's hatchet sheath and frog
Hatchet sheath and frog
E.G. Waterman WWII combat knife with a new leather sheath
WWII combat knife sheath
Foraging dump pouch rolled up in its leather belt carrier
Foraging dump pouch
Finished ONI Mini Fire Tool bow-drill kit
ONI fire tool

Bags and straps

Tooled leather bass guitar strap with a red snakeskin inlay, laid across a sunburst bass
Bass strap with snakeskin inlay
Vintage tooled leather shoulder bag with a mushroom and butterfly scene on the flap, worn and faded, before restoration
Vintage mushroom bag, before restoration
The same vintage tooled shoulder bag after restoration: re-dyed leather, red-and-white painted mushrooms on the flap and gusset, dark brown strap
Vintage mushroom bag, restored

Tools and shop

Half-ton arbor press converted into a leathercraft multi-tool
Arbor press multi-tool
Custom ONI logo leather stamp
ONI maker’s stamp
Hardware nickel-plated with a homebrew electroplating setup
Nickel electroplating hardware
Copper forced to a blue-green patina with salt and ammonia vapor
Copper patina
Blade edge marked with a Sharpie to check sharpening angle
The Sharpie trick for sharpening
Compact draw knives
Tool development

Also

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Leather · Research · Project Journals · Outdoors · Mycology · Zen · Published Work