Leather bino harness

[AGPank]

I’ve always been curious about leather craft. After buying a Saddleback Leather briefcase I got the bug for leather again. I decided to make a custom home for my underutilized EL 10x42.

It’s all hand stitched, obvious by the imperfections. I found very heavy leather scraps on Amazon, maybe I could have made a cleaner version. It’s a vegetable tanned leather that will snap onto another harness I have. I’m also thinking about a cross-body shoulder sling too.

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[slowelk]

Any reasons for this other than the aesthetics/your taste for leather?

I appreciate the craftsmanship, I'm just curious.

 

[AGPank]

Absolutely none. It’s really not noticeably heavier than another style. It should last a long time and patina with use.


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[WoodBow]

What are you using to sew it with? I've done a fair bit of hand sewing leather and I always pre punched my holes with a homemade awl/punch. I made them out of cheap screw drivers. I preferred using a small flat bladed tip rather than just an awl shape. I liked the way it looked. I also used a homemade device to space my stitches evenly and in a straight line. I would take something like two 1/4" rods, sharpen them to a point and tape them together. Then I could press them into the leather and then lift it and move it over so the 1st pin is in the 2nd hole and the 2nd pin is making a new 3rd hole. This is just to make indents that you will punch into later. You can also buy punches that make multiple holes at a time and use the same technique but you get to skip a step.

 

[Eric4]

Nice work! Would be neat to see some wet molded pockets for rangefinder or windicator.

 

[AGPank]

Hand sewing (saddle stitch).

I bought a little kit that had spacer punches and the wheel. This leather is thick, 1/8”+. Punching proved slow and difficult. I have an awl, worse. I marked even holes and drilled with 1/16 drill bit.

I need to do a better job of laying it out in planning stage, prepping holes while flat, and then shaping. The needles I ended up with were horrible, soft and too thick. They would bend and were hard to get through the leather.

I shaped the leather, contact glued them, made holes and then sewed. I worked late after getting my 4-yr old to bed and between honey-do’s. I would need some peace and quiet to improve sewing quality. That and practice.


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[highcountrymuley]

Cool but doesnt leather attract moisture? Make sure you dont store binocs or gear in there after the season.

 

[WoodBow]

I gotcha. Yea you will like it much more if you punch it flat. Just takes more planning ahead. I drive the punches with a hammer. The stuff i mainly worked with was probably 3/16. Very important to keep your punch straight up and down or your stitching goes to crap on the back side. I tried drilling some holes but I did not like the look of the finished product. Punches push that top grain down into a hole and has a nice finished look to it.

 

[Alexander]

is there any benefit to doing this with a machine? Or is it just not feasible on smaller projects? Love this, can't wait to see more