Then lift the stamp to check that your design is placed correctly and deep enough. Give the stamp a light tap with your mallet, just firmly enough to make a slight imprint on the leather. Wet the surface of your key tag with water on a damp sponge, and line up your leather stamp.
Now that your blank tag pieces are ready, you can start customizing them. Once your key fob is cut, you can punch the holes for the rivets using a 1/8” drive punch.
CUSTOM LETTER CHAIN BELT SERIES
For tight curves, I find it easiest to carve off pieces in a series of tiny cuts until the corner is smooth. It's best to have a nylon or rubberĬutting on a curve takes some practice. Make sure to hold your blade perpendicular to the table when you cut. Then I remove the ruler and follow over my first cut, this time applying enough pressure to slice all the way through. I line up my ruler and drag my utility knife against it, just firmly enough to score the leather. When cutting straight edges, I find it easiest to make two passes with my knife. Our standard blank keychain leather shapes, with rings and rapid rivets.Ĭut any straight edges first before tackling the corners. The most intricate custom key tag I’ve made for a customer was in the shape of an acoustic guitar. If you’re confident cutting leather, you can get more creative with various shapes of your DIY leather keychains. On all our tags, we space the rivet holes 1 5/8” apart. Our standard round tags are 2" in diameter, and our standard rectangular tags are 2 1/2" by 1 1/2". Below you can see our standard key tag shapes. We made these simple rectangular numbered key tags from leather for vehicle registry numbers and hotel room numbers.Īny shape can become a key tag, as long as it has a tail for securing the key ring. The easiest leather key tag to cut is a simple rectangular strip, like the tags below, which are 5” by 5/8”. You can draw the pattern directly onto the leather in pencil, or cut a template out of paper or card stock and trace it onto the leather.
If you aren’t starting with a key tag kit, you’ll need to draw a pattern for your tag shape. For example, I’ll include instructions for dyeing and polishing your tag, but you can also choose to leave it the natural leather color. You can pick and choose based on your preferences and what supplies you have available. I’m going to cover a lot of options for key tag decorating. Stamping tools, etching tools, leather dye, acrylic resolene polish, edge kote and / or leather paints. Supplies to decorate and finish the key ring. Medium rapid rivet or one medium double cap rivet.
CUSTOM LETTER CHAIN BELT HOW TO
For more info on how to punch holes in leather, see our blog post on how to punch holes in leather.
Round drive punch or other punching tool to make holes for the rivets. Make sure you have a fresh blade, as this will make getting a smooth cut much easier. A sharp utility knife to cut out the tag. The pieces are too small for belts and guitar straps, but plenty big enough for key tags and other small projects. We currently sell our scrap leather to local customers by the grocery store size bag for a small amount of money. You might be able to save money on leather by buying scrap pieces from a local leather shop or craft shop. I also recommend having some scrap leather or a few extra key tags on hand to practice your tooling techniques. Anything from 6 to 9 oz vegetable tanned leather will work, depending on how firm you want your leather key fob. We useħ oz tooling leather for our key tags, which means the leather is 7/64” thick. If you’re cutting the tag shape yourself, you’ll need a piece of vegetable tanned leather. If you’re making this project with kids or as a group activity, I recommend that option, because cutting the leather will be the most difficult step for a beginner. Key tag kits which include precut keychain blanks together with rivets and split metal key rings. Supplies Needed For DIY Leather Keychainsįor this DIY Leather Keychain project you will need: I'll take you through my process of making the etched cat key tag on the left and the stamped green key tag on the right. Best of all it is easy to learn how to make keychains with the many ideas demonstrated. Key tags are a good project for people just starting leather work: they're small, they aren't expensive, they don't take long, and they don't require too many supplies. This leather craft tutorial will teach you how to handmake etched and stamped DIY leather keychains like the ones below.
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