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Leather keychain

duration: 15 - 30 minutes

age: from 7 years

A leather keychain with text

Leather keychain

tools

  • Hobby knife
  • Cutting ruler
  • Punches (semi circles)
  • Letter punches
  • Hammer
  • Cutting mat
  • Anvil
  • Marker
  • Beveling tool (optional)
  • Burnishing tool (optional)

materials

  • Leather (thick)
  • Rivet
  • Keychain ring

downloads

step 1 - Cut the leather

  • Use the hobbyknife and the ruler to cut a strip of leather. About 2.5cm (≈1 inch) by 11cm (≈4 inches).
  • You can use one of the semi circle punches to round off the short sides.

step 2 - Cut out the indents

  • Use the semi-circle punch to cut out 2 indents from the side of the strip, about 2,5cm (≈ 5 inch) from one end.
  • Make sure that the narrowest part is at least 8mm (≈ 0.3 inches) wide.

step 3 - Add the text

  • Use the letter punches to add your text to the leather.

step 4 - Cut the holes for the rivets

  • Use a punch to cut out a hole for the rivet, about 1cm (0.4 inches) from the side of the leather strip.
  • Fold the end over and mark the position of the second hole with a marker.
  • Punch the second hole.

step 5 - Rivet

  • If you have a hammer with round edges, use this when riveting. Using round edges reduces the chance of leaving marks on the leather.
  • Place the key-ring, fold over the leather and use a rivet to fix it in place.

step 6 - Burnishing

  • This step is optional. It will give your leather nice shiny edges.
  • Use an edge beveler to create a beveled edge on both sides.
  • Wet the edge of the leather with some water.
  • Rub the edge with a burnishing tool until a nice shiny rounded edge has formed.