Weber Kettle Club Forums
Grill Talk => Weber Mods, Tables and Customs => Topic started by: SmokinPerformer2 on November 11, 2018, 07:43:55 AM
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I’ve been trying to combine my two hobbies, BBQ & Leatherwork. Leather is a byproduct of the meat industry and what better way to reunite them as BBQ and functional art.
They already make leather dye and nylon thread in an assortment of colors. I’m gonna attempt to leather wrap my 6630 stainless steel Weber tools and dye the wrap to match my vintage grill color.
Over the next two weeks, I’ll post a step-by-step totorial on how I’m doing this. Feel free to join in or borrow any ideas if you’d like to create your own custom leather wrapped tool handles. Chris
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Sample of the leather stamp I’ll be using
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I like this idea i HATE how poorly the rubber is held onto those tools. I LOVE my weber basics tools, and the weber essentials tools are awesome also. Excited to see how yours turn out
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I love this!! Looking forward to seeing the progress and final product
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I’m also excited about this project. I haven’t leather wrapped any tools yet so It will be a learning process along the way. Chime in anytime along the way with suggestions.
Dismantle of tong tool: the black soft-touch handle comes off pretty easy. I can’t use them for a template due to the leather stretching. I plan to just wet mold the leather around the stainless steel.
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I think this will be sweet, looking forward to seeing this
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I’ll need to separate the two pieces so I drilled out the long rivet using a 1/4” drill bit.
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Remove rivet and save to measure for diameter. I’ll need to source a longer rivet fastener later as it will also secure one side of the leather handle.
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Save spring and hardware for re assembly.
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I’m using a 10 3/8” x 28” long section of full grain shoulder leather and will be more than enough to complete the 3pc. handle set. I’ll measure out just how much is needed once this project is completed Incase you’d like to leather wrap your own 6630 tools.
The leather I’m using comes in weight sizes and I’m using 8oz. It’s the same thick quality full grain leather used for gun holsters. Normally in a gun holster, it’s stitched back to back with another piece and you end up with a 1/4” thick leather holster.
This piece of vegetable tanned leather is craftsman quality so no need to dish out top dollar for a piece of leather that will be used as BBQ handles. Also, it’s a natural color and accepts leather dye very well.
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You can see the thickness of this piece of full grain leather.
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It’s a couple millimeters thicker than it needs to be able to sit flush against the Weber grill chrome end cap. The trick is the skive the flesh side (under side) of the leather near the ends to desired thickness so it can rest flush.
I’ll skive that area later once I cut my piece out.
Chris
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Sample of the leather stamp I’ll be using
I'm guessing you had to get the Weber logo stamp custom made.....?
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Yeah it’s one of those weird deals. Where you know a guy that knows a guy that has a custom stamp die maker and makes them for free. Problem is, he is never around when you want stamps made. I’ve been waiting for this stamp to be made for the last 8-10 months. Geez, the service is horrible and I’ll never recommend this guy that knows a guy to have anything done.
But if you’re following along on this build, You really don’t need any custom stamps for your leather wrapped handle. I think they will look just as cool either way.
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I’ll complete one side of the 2 part tong handle first to make sure I like the end result.
After measuring the handle section that needs to be covered. I cut out a 3”x 6 11/16” piece. I didn’t give myself much room for error but it should work.
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It’s a little too thick and I’ll be removing a thin layer from the flesh side of this piece of leather.
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They make leather skiving blades and tools for this purpose. One can use some basic garage tools like a small belt sander. A few passes to the flesh side and you should be good.
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After wet molding, the leather piece will shrink/stretch a little and make a good fit.
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As expected... I Didn’t get far as I started having issues wet forming my 8oz. leather piece around the small 7/8” diameter stainless steel BBQ tongs. The only way I can think of achieving this is by fabricating a mold. This will allow precision clamping force to be applied to the small 7/8” thick diameter. Still lots of work ahead before stitching begins.
I did a dye test sample on a small 1.5” square piece. The Royal Blue looks more Navy Blueish to me. Might need to thin down the dye or just order another brighter shade of blue to match the Weber lid.
These are my two thread choices besides black and white.
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I'm definitely watching this one! I have no skills in leather-working but appreciate the art.
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I'm definitely watching this one! I have no skills in leather-working but appreciate the art.
I think all skills are learned by trial and error,,,,, and practice. I have a vision of the finished product and without instructions, it’s just determination. I may need to make a few samples before getting it all right.
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Day 2: fabricating mood form for Weber tong handle. After putting more thought into this, I need to basicly add a lip to the side edge of the original black rubber grips. I’ll be stitching a back piece to this edge so it’s form building time.
I’m using a 3/4” Polly board to build my clamping plate from. The Weber stainless steel tongs are 7/8” wide and the added 1/8” thick leather on each side will make it thicker so my cut out section needs to be allow this thickness to slide thru. I added some wiggle room and made it 1 1/4” wide. I made it longer ( 7 3/4” long) than needed as I’ll be cutting my leather mold to size after it cures. I drilled the inside corners and used a jig saw to cut out the long rectangle hole.
Chris
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After cutting, I cleaned and beveled the edges with files. The side I’m working on is the side that will apply clamping force to the 8oz. leather. This side needs to be beveled out and sanded smooth. This will allow it to slide along the edges and not cut the leather.
Chris
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I’ve been calling the width of the Weber tongs 7/8” but they are 23mm wide. My guess it’s made in China, lol.
It needs to be a snug fit so I’m making my wooden form 23mm wide too. I’m using hard maple for the center of this 2 part leather form. I cut the small maple block down to 1/2” thick due to some shrinkage in the leather material once it’s dry. At this point it’s still s guessing game and I can remove wood material later if it proves to be slightly larger.
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My 2 part leather forming form is done! I’m using a 1/4” thick aluminum plate as backing for the center maple wood form. Just makes it easier to apply ample clamping force and keeps my wet mold flat.
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You can see the wiggle room on the sides of the maple wooden form. The 8oz. thick leather will slide along these edges while being clamped down.
The new leather handle grip will be chunkier than the original black rubber handle. It’s all good as I have big hands and using the new leather covered tongs should’nt be an issue for me.
Chris
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You can use wood claps or C-clamps all around to evenly press the leather form while wet forming. It’s a pain in the ass doing it that way.
I now have a late 1800’s Large Book Binding Press for this clamping purpose. This in not one of those weird “friend of a friend deals”. I just searched Craigslist till I found one within driving distance. You wouldn’t want to ship one of these 80 pound heavy beast. I think I paid $250 for mine as I didn’t want to wait for a killer deal to pop up. All the deals I found were 800-2,000 miles away.
Makes clamping down with equal force a breeze and it only takes about 5 seconds.
Chris
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Depending on room temperature, wet forming can take 2 hrs or an entire day. The new formed wet leather piece doesn’t need to be 100% dry while on the press. I usually let it get about 80% dry before unclamping and removing it off the wooden form. This is a good time to stamp letters, logos or hand tooled designs to the piece. Then with a hand held heat gun, I’ll finish drying the piece and this heat adds some hardening to the veg. tan leather.
Pictured is my 2 part leather form. The gap between the 3/4” poly bard and 1/4” aluminum plate is the thickness of the 8oz. leather piece.
For now, just leave it clamped down and walk away. It will be a few days till I get another chance to finish these Weber tong handles.
Chris
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My leather form came out good. Once it’s dry, I’ll cement glue it in place. This will snug it up before stitching. Sewing it in place will tighten it up like a glove. Then trim off the excess leather edge.
.... I’m liking this first sample
Chris
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Did some trimming to the top area of the new leather handle cover to match the original black rubber grip. Used a standard No.11 Xacto knife blade.
My Weber logo is a bit too big for this application. It wasn’t a nice impression due to the narrow rounded area. After some detail paint brush work to the logo, it’ll look better.
Chris
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If you end up not like any samples I'll take one [emoji16]
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I decide to dye this sample brown and use a contrasting light colored thread.
I’ve been using a odorless waterbase adhesive since I’m working indoors. Glue and clamp everything.
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I used a bonded nylon thread size 346. It came out good but a little too thick. I’ll try to stitch the next sample along the back side to narrow the profile.
Chris
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Very nice[emoji106]The only disadvantage - you can't put it into dishwasher
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I don’t see it as a disadvantage, I hand wash my BBQ tools and my nice knives too.
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Very nice[emoji106]The only disadvantage - you can't put it into dishwasher
The main disadvantage I’m seeing is that the average Smokey Joe won’t be able to hand sew them on or has a $3,000 leather holster sewing machine laying around. I used a basic leather forming way to build this , similar to leather knife sheath building. It’s a very sturdy build but needs to be simplified.
Now I’m thinking of using colored nylon braided parachord. It’s available in many different thicknesses and colors. By punching out a line of holes to each side of my leather grip, I can lace it on by hand with the colored braided rope. Like on the sketch attached. Chris
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I formed out a taller leather handle cover by adding a 1/2” spacer to the bottom of my wooden form. Then Using an 1/8” hole punch, I punched out 11 holes spaced 1/4” from the bottom edge and 3/8” apart.
Chris
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While my new molded leather tong handle grip is still 50-60% wet, I began to lace it on using round braided boot laces. It’s all I could find till I order some blue braided lace to match my kettle.
With the 8oz. leather still being wet, this makes it easy to shape it around the stainless steel Weber tong while lacing it tightly. At this point, fabricating a two part forming mold might have been overkill. I’ll have to try cutting out a flat piece of leather and wet form it while just lacing it on tightly. This would eliminate the steps involved in fabricating a forming jig.
My new leather handle grip is a pretty straight forward installment. One might not need to dismantle the Weber tongs apart to do the install. The results of this new simplified leather grip is fantastic. I think it’s a little bit plain right now and can use some decorative stitching, dye, edges burnished and a detailed hand painted Weber logo. More to come.
Chris
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Looks great. Nice work!
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I like the revision!
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I also dig the revision! (I do like them both though)
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Thank you all for the compliments. Hopefully some of you are able to follow along with this build and get some encouragement to make your own. Later This winter, I’m also going to attempt to cover my 18” flat MBHandles. I’ll need to use Kevlar thread for those as the Kettle gets hot when used. It’ll be trial and error to be able to find out if the thick veg tan leather will survive.
It’s Day 4 and time to kick it up a notch! I’m now using some good ole’ American leather. Now that I’ve made my sample and have a better idea how to put it together. I’m sticking with the same 8oz. thickness.
First: cut two pieces 2 7/8”wide by 6 11/16” long. These will cover both sides of the Weber stainless steel tong.
Chris
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1) I made my template and went with twelve 1/8” holes verses the previous eleven holes. They are spaced out 6mm apart.
2) hand cut the leather piece using a No.11 Xacto knife blade.
3) using a stitch groover, I layed out my decorative stitch line 1/8” from the edge.
Chris
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Hermann Oak Leather is the best tooling leather you can find. It’s expensive but it wouldn’t be if it wasn’t the best. I wouldn’t be doing this piece of fine leather material any justice by simply just wrapping it around some BBQ tongs without properly hand tooling it. So it’s about to get interesting. I have no idea what I’ll be drawing yet but it’ll be Weber related.
Pictured is a sample of my freehand leather tooling.
Chris
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My pencil design layout is pretty rough but you should get an idea on how it will come out. I also included a 1 1/4” strip and this will be what you’ll see from the side view of these custom leather grips. From this view, I wanted it to be enough of a design that you’re able to see the vintage Weber MBH Cado grill on one side. The other side will have the lettering ‘70 Cado. I’ll need to make that apostrophe change to the 1970 abbreviation as I accidentally placed it on the wrong side. I’ll make this correction and provide a transfer line drawing.
Chris
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Holy crap! That is fantastic work.
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Holy crap! That is fantastic work.
Thanks Darko, it’s starting to look like the way I’ve imagined it for some time now. Which reminds me.
For some of you that are less skilled and might be thinking about having a custom leather piece like this hand tooled for your Weber 6630 BBQ tongs.. So sorry I can’t help out in that department as my honey-do list is never ending and I have a pile of side projects to drown myself in. What I Can Do is provide you with the much needed line drawing required to make a rendering like this. FREE!!!! With this pattern, any skilled Leatherworker will be able to make anyone a set of these along with the dementions I’ve already provided.
For the rest of you, Now just case your veg tan leather, download this image , transfer it over and tap away... Chris
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So much respect for everything going on here.
Following with eagerness
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This thread (no pun intended) is awesome and you got mad skills, @SmokinPerformer2. Is this just a hobby for you or do you sell your leather goods as well?
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Fascinating thread. I did not even know that I needed leather wrapped grill tools until I saw this! Thank you, I think...[emoji6]
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Is this just a hobby for you or do you sell your leather goods as well?
Unfortunately I don’t sell any leather goods anymore and don’t plan to. It’s now just a fun hobby that I don’t want to turn into a job. It would take the fun out of it and I wouldn’t be able to creat interesting items if I were swamped in work. I’m always on the lookout for antique leather working hand tools to add to my workbench. So as my tool collection slowly grows, my production time will improve. Chris
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Fascinating thread. I did not even know that I needed leather wrapped grill tools until I saw this! Thank you, I think...[emoji6]
And you’ll also need a matching custom wall mounted tool hanger to store them when not in use.
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Some progress...
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I was busy today but managed to get one side of the Weber tong leather grip handle tooled. Might be a while till I make more progress on this project. Chris
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I was busy today but managed to get one side of the Weber tong leather grip handle tooled. Might be a while till I make more progress on this project. Chris
That's incredible. Beautiful work.
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I’ll have a few hours this week to start hand painting the Cado leather grip. Here is a sample of my hand painted leatherwork.
I’m using Angelus leather paint. I have not had any issues with this product flaking off. I’ll need to order a few more colors for this project.
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Spectacular work! I am incredibly impressed with the craftsmanship of these leather wraps.
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Spectacular work! I am incredibly impressed with the craftsmanship of these leather wraps.
Thanks lunchman...
As much as I’d like to complete these, I need to set them aside. Need to complete a couple of leatherwork Christmas gifts now. So I’ll be back to work on my custom Cado leather grips after the new year.
Chris
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It’s looking prettty good for being all brush work. Still have to paint the smoke and undercarriage of the Cado grill.
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Almost done with this first side of the tong handle.
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Beautiful
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Man, your work is beautiful!
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That truly is stunning.
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If you end up not like any samples I'll take one [emoji16]
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NIL
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Holy hell your work is beautiful
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Thanks for all the kind words.
This type of hand tooled leatherwork is a dying art form. Less and less ppl are doing this type of heirloom quality work each year and it’s becoming obsolete. It’s really not that difficult to make, time consuming... yes.
There are a lot of steps involved but they can be broken down into basic sections. I believe these can be taught and with enough determination and practice, one could produce something like this. .
I’m glad some of you enjoyed watching this project take shape. I look forward to completing this Cado BBQ tool set and can’t wait to use it in the spring. I’ll update this thread once I start moving on it again. Chris
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Wow
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If you end up not like any samples I'll take one [emoji16]
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NIL
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It being the first side of one handle I’ve completed, their a few flaws with it that I’m not happy with. It’s just a learning curve and I’ll fix these issues on the next one. But that’s what makes them unique and no two will ever be the same.
Another thing is I had to mix up a color close enough to match the porcelain color. I only mixed enough to complete just this side. Usually one should mix enough for the entire project and it’ll be fought to mix the right amount again when the time comes to complete the rest of this set. But it’s just BBQ tools we’re talking about so I’m sure a slight variation in color won’t matter.
Like the saying goes, “ those who can’t do, teach”
Well I can’t do it for you, but I can teach you or guide you in the right direction.
Leatherworker.org is a site that has many skilled users with way more knowledge than me. I have no affiliation with this site nor are they paying me to plug them in. I’ve scanned through this site and it’s full of toutorials and information on what tools to start with. You really don’t need that many hand tools to make what I did here. It’s a good platform to start reading up and in some cities across the states, you can find free beginner classes. The advance classes like any other advanced courses cost money. But you really don’t need those, I’ve never taken one. What you need are ideas and patterns to get started. That I’ve already provided and hope to provide more.
Chris
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Other than being afraid to use them for not wanting to get them dirty, would a diluted acrylic work for paint and coloring?
Also, I assume you have a little grommet tool?
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Other than being afraid to use them for not wanting to get them dirty, would a diluted acrylic work for paint and coloring?
Also, I assume you have a little grommet tool?
In the past when painting on leather.... I’ve used thinned down One-Shot enamel paint as that was all I had. It worked but the drying time is long and the odor of this heavy duty paint doesn’t go away till it’s fully cured. I’ve used automotive paint and that basecoat paint is fantastic. Drying time is almost instant when airbrushed on. Again, problem with that brain killing odor! I’ve used Createx textile paint but needs a sealer and if you’re masking over paint,,, that shit flakes off. I never used their improved AutoAir formula as that’s around the time I stopped painting.
My advise is to use a trusted proven purpose made leather paint. A little goes a long way,,, I’ve been buying the smallest 1oz. Angelus Colors at $2.95 each. Ordering multiple colors adds up quick, I just placed an order for 46 colors. I only had a few basic colors for a few projects I made within the last couple years so I needed to pick up more paint now that I’m getting back into it. Rather than mixing up basic colors to create multiple colors, it’s better to just use a pre mixed color straight out of the jar. Makes touch up that much easier later.
With this Angelus leather paint, you don’t get any bad fumes and cleanup is with water. Dries to the touch in a few minutes so long as you don’t cake it on. Clean your brush often while painting as this paint tends to dry fast. When done, You’ll get a flexible permanent water resistant finish.
A clear matte top coat can be used but you don’t need one. I use a matte clear finish if I’m rubbing a dark antiquing gel to bring out my decorative detailed cuts.
There are many brands of eyelet setting tools. Any tool leather related branded CS Osborn is great. I’m a second generation hobby Leatherworker so I have some tools that are 60-100 years old.
You can find tons of these older hand tools on eBay really cheap. Like anything collectible, some tools are hand made by known makers and go for top dollar. Stay away from those for now.
I’m using two Craftool USA brand #58 eyelet setters, one to strike on top and the other as my bottom anvil. I secure the bottom tool on my bench vice. The vintage (pre 1964) Craftool USA stamped tools were decent. They were low cost tools back then but made here in the US. Any newer tool just stamped Craftool is made in China and aren’t the same quality. I’m lucky to be using my grandfathers tools that were made before 1964.
If I buy any new tool, it needs to be stainless steel and made here in the states. Today’s stuff cost more so it’s been taking me a while to save up to get leather working tools that I want.
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I’ve been busy completing a few leather items for my kids Christmas stockings. I’m looking forward to getting back to my Weber tools project after the holidays.
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Finished items...
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Wow, just wow.... amazing work.
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Incredible work there!
Just amazing
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Amazing work! You are like the "leather whisperer".
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You do really nice work.
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Very cool!!!
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That is real craftsmanship you do there Chris!
What about leatheraprons like butchers had in the past? With Weberlogo of course....
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amazing craftsmanship!
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Soooo cooolllll!!!
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That is real craftsmanship you do there Chris!
What about leatheraprons like butchers had in the past? With Weberlogo of course....
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If you decide to make one.. I can mail you a Weber logo leather patch.
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Holy crap that is some amazing work!!!! WOW
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You sir are an artist!
Is it just me, or did this change from blue to green at some point? Lol