Completed Leatherworking I

Nya's discovers leatherworking.

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Syka is a new settlement of primarily humans on the east coast of Falyndar opposite of Riverfall on The Suvan Sea. [Syka Codex]

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Leatherworking I

Postby Nya Winters on December 1st, 2016, 1:30 am

Timestamp: 35 of Fall, 516 AV


Nya knew there were a lot of things she needed to accomplish in this lifetime. But her plans had gone so far aside that she felt maybe just maybe there was no redeeming the timeline. As Nya, she thought she’d been born stronger, faster, more able to handle the world. But Aressa had opportunities that Nya hadn’t had. Born in privilege and allowed to study rather than work or even survive, the world before the Valterrian was vastly different than the world Nya inhabited.

Nya looked around with a smile over that thought. How would Aressa even relate to Syka? The warm wind of the fall blew across her face swirling the sand on the beach where she sat on a blanket… a crate next to her. The crate had been delivered off the Veronica. It was a small one though the bundle that rested next to it was far larger. The bundle was a giant roll of leather already cured. Nya had sent her order to James Chaliva who was making another run with the Veronica. It seemed the settlement was doing a tremendous amount of profitable trading just keeping Riverfall in fresh fruit and exotic animals – especially the parrots she’d seen him trading – which meant Syka got fancy things like a saw mill in exchange.

Such improvements had made all the difference for the settlers. Having actual lumber to build with instead of just hacked down trees had made all the difference in the world and had improved the qualities of their buildings tremendously. And it also meant that Captain Chaliva took orders and traded in Riverfall for the specific specialty things the Syka Settlers needed. Nya knew she needed a trade, other than magic, to support her efforts here in the new city. Choosing one had been difficult. She wanted to get away from anything she’d known before and do something that would really help others.

The idea had come to her when she’d broken her belt and had no way to replace it and there was no one available to repair the thick leather that had cracked under the rain and saltwater exposure that kept things damp. A good leatherworker could have sold her conditioner and could have spliced the belt to make it usable. But there wasn’t a leatherworker in Syka. Instead Nya had replaced her leather belt with a woven contraption of braided grasses. It wasn’t nearly as strong and it hadn’t remotely compared to the strength of her previous belt. That fact alone decided Nya that perhaps learning to work leather would be her contribution to Syka. And with that she’d ordered some leather, a toolkit, some dyes and a book on leatherworking from the Captain.

The delivery of the crate had told her that he’d been successful in his search for exactly what she’d needed.

Nya reached into the crate, while the sun was high and there was no threat of rain, and pulled out the book. The Kelvic had always been far more scholarly than most of her race, so spending the afternoon reading was no chore. She ran her hands over the fine leather cover, and smiled slightly. Maybe someday soon she’d be able to make such a cover. With that thought in mind she cracked open the book and started to read.

The handwriting that filled the book was easy to read, much to the Kelvics relief, and launched right into the subject with unabashed joy.

The book started out with a lengthy blurb on tanning and what it consisted of. Evidently tanning leather was a process that involved removing volatile natural oils from the hides of animals and preserving them with tannins and stable oils that gave it flex and suppleness. Nya didn’t pay too much attention initially to the processes of tanning the book outlined because she’d also ordered leather already processed. The supply wouldn’t last forever, but it would give the Kelvic some breathing room to do some learning.

Next it worked into why leather was important and useful. Nya already knew that it was easier to form than wood and sturdier and longer lasting than fabric. What she didn’t realize was that it was unique among all other possible materials for its combination of strength, flexibility, and durability. There was a brief history of leather in the book, mostly going back to how leather was dealt with post Valterrian when everyone was still underground. The chemical process was slightly smelly and complex so it had to be created away from the main underground populations. It was, however, important because so many materials like cotton and silk were all but unheard of to the subterranean dwellers that had no access to plant life above ground.

In those days it was valued as much as gold. Gloves saved lives digging in the stone, while leather on the body protected it from cold and exposure where Syna’s light never shown. Nya stretched her legs out, off her blanket and into the sand, looking around. She felt sad and thankful both. If her ancestors hadn’t endured what they had endured, none of them would be there to enjoy the Syka sun. And it was a beautiful day. Nya skimmed the rest of the chapter and blinked as the book immediately launched into the types of leather there were.

The first type was Garment Leather. It wasn’t so much as a kind, per say, but a way of tanning that was quick, easy and made the leather soft and fabric-like. It was, however, not suitable for Syka, because as she read further, the leather was not colorfast. The colors would fade in the sun and bleed in the rain. The dyes tended to stain what was underneath them. It was a wealthy class commodity and not something she was interested in messing with in Syka.

Bridle leather, on the other hand, seemed far more interesting.

1013 = 1013/50,000 words

Expense :
Leatherworkers kit 70 GM
Leather 3sm per pound 100 lbs 30 GM
Leather Dyes (10 colors) 10 GM
Leatherworking Book 50GM



Last edited by Nya Winters on November 26th, 2017, 3:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Nya Winters
Let the winds in my heart blow...
 
Posts: 750
Words: 784686
Joined roleplay: June 7th, 2009, 6:53 am
Location: Syka
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
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Medals: 5
Trailblazer (1) Never Say Die (1)
Donor (1) 2017 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)
2017 Top NaNo Word Count (1)

Leatherworking I

Postby Nya Winters on November 5th, 2017, 12:33 am



Bridle leather was a full grain vegetable tanned leather that was mostly used on horses and riding gear. It was strong stuff and would last forever if well cared for. Nya was glad it was tanned using vegetables rather than chemicals because that meant there would be something in Syka she could use, surely, for its crafting. The bridle leather was infused with copious amounts of waxes and oils and stood up to sweat and rough outdoor use, which was the epitome of life in Syka.

Waxes prevented the penetration of dye, so that meant most of this leather came in natural tones. The dyes that could be used, the ones that penetrated wax, were applied by tumbling the leather in a drum-dying process. The hides were equally swirled in the stain so that both the grain side and the flesh side were treated equally and smoothly. It gave a completely uniform (for the most part) look as first dye, then oil, then waxes were applied in the drum and tumbled out. This sort of leather was often used flesh side sandwiched together so that only the grain side showed on both the inside and outside. It made the finished pieces easier to clean and smooth against an animal’s flesh if it were used in the form of any sort of animal harnessing.

The next section talked about Vegitable tanned leather. This wasn’t the bridle leather with its fancy processes. Instead, this ‘oak’ leather was usually unsanded to show the natural grain and really turned out to be the highest quality leather for anyone in Leatherworking.

One simply had to immerse the hide in a tannin solution of water, ground plant bark, and leaves. Most of these solutions contained oak, but hemlock, birch, chestnut or other trees could be used too. Nya was certain most of the tropical hardwoods that grew around her could be used as well. The palms she was less certain of… but there was always hardwood bark available at the mill having been scraped off the lumber that was cut for the other settlers.

This solution was put in an earthen pit where the leather could marinate for a long time to grow softer and supple. Nya knew Reimancy, but Earth wasn’t one of her elements yet. There were, however, other mages in the city that might be willing to trade her pit making time for fresh leather for whatever they needed it for. That’s how most of the trading went in Syka… barter barter barter.

One quality of the vegitable tanned leather was that it tended to wear and age well. It acquired a patina the more it is handled. The dark side of that quality was that it stored poorly and often deteriorated fast when not subjected to regular treatments with cleaning and conditioning. It tended to mold in wet weather and dry and crack in desert climates. It also had the astonishing quality that it became pliable when wet and then stiffened into a hard shape when dried. The author warned that well tanned vegetable leather in its raw form was somewhat sensitive to Syna’s light. It would be pale and gleaming in the dark, but with a couple of hours of sun exposure it could turn dark. The same thing happened when oils that occurred on animal fur and the skin of people transferred to the leather from simple natural handling. This transfer resulted in darker leather which tended to show itself in a rich patina over time.

There were other kinds of leather too. The list was brief. Leather made from pigskin was used for clothing and fancier parts of saddles. Sheepskin, became warm when tanned, especially if the fleece was left intact, and could be used for boot liners, clothing, and even floor pelts. Nya didn’t see the appeal to learn about sheepskin in Syka’s climate though having a natural rug to walk over might be nice.

There was also mention of crafting leather from fish – salmon and shark to be exact – which was made when the skin was left intact WITH The scales on. Snakeskin was also used for the very same reason and was often very decorative in terms of belts, footwear, and similar items. There was something called Kidskin, which was made from the hide of young goats. It was soft and thin, almost delicate, and used for things like ladies gloves and slippers. Nya wrinkled her nose in reading that. Nothing like that would be required here.

And finally there was deerskin. It turned out deerskin was tough, water-resistant, and most often used for work gloves and overcoats. The rest of the leather the book spoke of, unless otherwise noted, was taken from cows and used almost universally… the only difference being the way the cowskin was tanned and where the leather was taken from.

Nya made a mental note of that and flipped the page. She was already gaining information in leaps and bounds… and honestly couldn’t wait to dig into her kit and the bundle of leathers to see what was there.

Taking a break, she scooted over until she could reach the roll of leather and unfastened the thong that held it together and looked at the pieces she could see. James had gotten her a variety both in textures and sizes. All of it was untreated and undyed, which Nya thought was smart. She thought she identified most of it as cow leather, but there was a few thin delicate hides that looked like it could be kidskin and several thick pieces that looked like deer hide.

Giving it a sniff, Nya wrinkled her nose, but past the chemicals the Kelvic discovered she could in fact determine animal of origin just by the scent. It was slightly thrilling to her because she never failed to appreciate how helpful her kelvic nature was in her work. This Leatherworking would definitely be no different.

Nya, curious, turned the page and began to read about choosing leather and its various other properties.

1007 - 2020/50k


Last edited by Nya Winters on November 26th, 2017, 3:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Nya Winters
Let the winds in my heart blow...
 
Posts: 750
Words: 784686
Joined roleplay: June 7th, 2009, 6:53 am
Location: Syka
Race: Kelvic
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2017 Top NaNo Word Count (1)

Leatherworking I

Postby Nya Winters on November 5th, 2017, 12:47 am



She frowned at the next section. It seemed beyond color and appearance, there were a plethora of functional differences between not only the types of leather but the places off the hide it was cut and even the age of the leather itself. The first thing she needed to understand, according to the book, was that hides were not uniform in thickness. Nya frowned. This was something she’d never thought about before. Thicker hides provided more rigidity but were less forgiving in crafting items while thinner hides provided more stretch and less structure.

Nya read on, diving into the section on flexibility and stretch. Both qualities were determined partially by the location of the leather on the hide. Different areas of a hide had different structures or grain to the leather. For example, the bellies – the side of most hides – had a spongy, loose grain structure and the most uneven thickness. Nya assumed this was because animals breathed and had to expand to give birth or twist and bend to fight.

The rumps, or bottom of the hides, were uniform, sturdy, and absolutely by far the strongest of the part of a hide. They should always be the most expensive I sold as well. Shoulders fell somewhere between the rumps and bellies, holding a medium stretch and structure. The book recommended students start on shoulder leather to work projects because they didn’t have to fight extremes in either of the other two types.

There was also something called durability. Because it takes time to make leather, leather is expensive. And if you are going to take the time to work good leather, you want to make sure the leather will last over a great period of time or else you won’t get your cost back as your customers find out your work is not durable. So… there were different durability’s to the different grades. Nya took note of each.

Garment leather faded in the sun, while oil-died vegetable tanned leather darkened in it. You could waterproof garment leather if you wanted, but it didn’t naturally come with such qualities. Vegetable tanned leather holds up fantastically in the outdoors, but needed regular maintenance… Nya shook her head, starting to get confused at all the information the book was throwing at her at once. Finally bridal leather could be infused with dyes, oils, and waxes but since it was so completely thoroughly treated, it could stand up to the sun, rain, but was super expensive because of all the extra time it took making it.

Then it came to the hides. Because they looked roughly like the animal they were skinned from and there was a curved shape to them, most of the neck, legs and belly were often too small to use unless in very simple projects. That lead to common hide cuts and their terms… there were a lot of terms for where a piece of square leather was cut from a round hide. Nya peered closer to the book and studied a drawing that was in it.


There was the side cut where if you laid the hide out flat and roughly bisected it straight down the middle from the nose to the tail. The next cut was a shoulder cut, where you took either the top left or right quarter of the hide encompassing the shoulder. A double shoulder cut was where you almost cut the hide in half horizontally. The book noted that double shoulder cuts were great for beginners because they had some of every kind of the thickness and durability of leather in them. The back was much like the side cut only the ‘belly’ section - where it wrapped under the animal – was removed. The belly cuts were just the outside edges of about a quarter to an eighth’s length was taken off lengthwise. Nya remembered how she’d read earlier that this cut was a poor one and not suitable for doing much but scrapwork. A culatta cut was much like a shoulder cut but involved all the quarter of the hind end on either side. A double culatta was both the right and left side culatta cuts including all the belly leather. Nya thought the name was strange and couldn’t tell from the diagram how it was different from a bend cut and a double bend cut until she finally noticed the ‘belly’ or almost useless edge was removed on the bend and left intact on the culatta.

Nya didn’t think it was hard to see for herself that both the back and bend cuts were the best, whether they were doubled or not. She figured the name ‘bend’ came from where someone would bend the skin in half. The Kelvic giggled. She felt like she was actually studying to be a butcher and learning how to take cuts of meat off a carcass rather than cuts of a skin.

Finally the book got into grains. It had touched on grains before, but when Nya turned the pages a few times, past all the leather cut illustrations, the author got into describing what grain really was. Nya carefully unfolded one of the outermost leather skins and smoothed her hand across it. She glanced at the book, reading over the descriptions. Out loud, she spoke, even though there was no one to hear her.

“So, according to this… leather is graded according to grain. Grain is divided into a few parts… and to understand grain one must know that leather has two parts…. The top part where the hair is attached and the bottom part that was inside the animal against its flesh.” She nodded, getting that… smoothing the leather and trying to decide which one was which without reading further. To her, and on that particular piece, she figured the smooth more ‘treated’ looking side was the top, whereas the rougher non-treated side was the inside. She wasn’t sure however, so she read on.

“Full grain is the full cross section. It hasn’t been sanded or buffed and will be strong and durable over time. It’s considered the best quality and used for things that really need durable leather like boots or even covering chairs and other furniture.” Nya wasn’t sure she actually understood ‘cross section’ but she read on.

“Top grain is more heavily worked by a leatherworker. The top layer has been removed so the hair is missing and its been sanded or smoothed and coated with a wax. It’s thinner and may have a glossy look to it where its been treated.” Nya nodded, glancing down at the skin beneath her hands. This then would be top grain.

“Corrected grain has had the top layer removed, heavily sanded and buffed, then dyed and overcoated with an artificial grain made from vegetable matter mixed with oils and wax.” Nya thumbed through the remaining roll of hides and saw nothing that would remotely match that. Near the inside of the roll, she found what she decided was full grain in a few of the pieces then smiled.

Finally she turned to the last page on grain and read it aloud as well. “Split grain is where a slice of the middle of the hide has been used. These types of leathers can be of various thickness and qualities. This is how leatherworkers made a material called Suede.” Nya had never heard of suede but she was sure Randal or James would know if asked. She made a mental note to ask one of the Syka Founders or another settler that came from far more sophisticated origins than she did.

1267 – 2280/50,000


User avatar
Nya Winters
Let the winds in my heart blow...
 
Posts: 750
Words: 784686
Joined roleplay: June 7th, 2009, 6:53 am
Location: Syka
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Plotnotes
Medals: 5
Trailblazer (1) Never Say Die (1)
Donor (1) 2017 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)
2017 Top NaNo Word Count (1)

Leatherworking I

Postby Nya Winters on November 6th, 2017, 2:09 am



Nya decided it was time to go through the kit. She pulled it out of the crate and rummaged through it. There were a lot of tools in there she had no idea what they were for. There were also knives, little hammers, and a bunch of other things that looked more like woodworking tools than leatherworking tools. She recognized mallets and chisels but couldn’t figure out what they were called. Nya was at a loss, and frankly intimidated. If the book had no information on these things, she wouldn’t know remotely were to start.

Nya opened the book again, flipping through it until she came to a section on tools. The first thing the book said was that she needed a table of sorts, though a big slab of granite or another smooth flat rock would work. And in fact, according to the author such a thing was better than a wooden table because it was more solid, harder to damage with her leatherworking, and easier to clean. When she finished looking through her things, Nya decided she’d go look for the perfect stone and set it up like an altar, putting two stones down and then resting a flat stone between them. It would be perfect and free… the best cost in a place like Syka where there were no craftsman to help out.

With that mental note made, Nya read on. “Cutting is the first part of any project after measuring and design. A person needed to create tempmlates, snip thread, and cut the leather itself. You need sharp writing and marking tools for this and a precision knife that’s always kept razor sharp.” Nya dug through the kit until she found a delicate roll of thin leather that housed a set charcoals, a little blade to sharpen them with, of all different thicknesses and shades. There were even a few white sticks of … no not charcoal, but chalk, so she could write on dark leather. Nya nodded in approval and set the roll aside.

There was a thick leather mat to throw over the stone which she’d acquired. The book explained that it would protect her worktable and her tools from cuts and punches and protect her tools from getting dulled by constantly hitting the stone. Nya set that aside as well, then sorted out what looked like large scissors but which the book called leather sheers. There were thread snips which looked like the type in a sewing kit, but were far larger, most likely for the waxed spool of heavy thread that was also in the kit. There was also a straight edge, a quilters square and strange metal clamps. Finally she looked at a strangely crossed device called a strap cutter according to the book. It cut uniform strips of leather such as belts effortlessly so the leather crafter could focus on design and not measuring deceptively simple sizes.

The dye kit had colored dyes and oil dyes that would penetrate the leather deeply. There were also tins of leather conditioner and gloss as well as dobbers and a set of cotton rags. She found a thin pair of workgloves in the kit and finally another roll that held an edge beveler, a wooden spool called a burnisher, and wax. She also found a mallet, and a set of round hole punches, bag punches and end punches that made uniform shapes on the edge of belts. Finally there was a rotary punch, a bag of rivets, an assortment of rings for belts and then another small roll that held an assortment of groovers, pricking irons, awl, harness needles and waxed thread.

The last thing she had trouble figuring out what it was. The book wasn’t clear until she ran across something in the tool section referred to as a stitching horse. The device was wooden with a metal peg through it that could be loosened or tightened to create two clamping jaws. She turned it over and over in her hands until she realized it was called a Stitching Horse and it was meant to be a second set of hands to hold two pieces of leather together securely so a leatherworker could sew them carefully.

Just when she thought she was done, two more tools fell out of the mess. One looked like a chisel but had an adjustable U shaped channel and an end that could be held or struck. Nya decided this was a U-Gouge, while the other device looked like a cheese slicer. That was definitely a skiver… a device used to shave leather to make it more uniform in thickness.

Nya stared at the book, wanting to start immediately on a project but not sure what she should do. She flipped a few pages to the explanation on how to use the strap cutter, and decided to try that out because it didn’t require her to get the stone in position just yet. She leaned over the book, reading the words carefully, tracing them with a finger as she spoke them aloud…

“Strap Cutters are a must for leatherworkers. They are incredible tools to efficiently cut straight strips of leather quickly. They can be used to cut multiple rectangles, especially long strips, by cutting one strap into smaller pieces. They also work wonders for making leather laces and ties for binding clothing and boots. Strap cutters work best with vegetable tanned and bridle leather.” Nya finished, setting the book aside and nodding to herself.

“Okay… vegetable tanned leather… lets find some.” She sorted through her roll and before long slid out a piece of leather that would indeed work to cut into strips. Nya set it down next to her and then picked up the strap cutter. She checked the book and loosened the wing nut holding the ruler arm of the strap cutter. She slid the arm out on the ruler until she had the cutter set at the letter 4 burned into the side of the strap cutter. Four inches... that would be a nice thick leather belt for her. Once she had it in place, she tightened the wing nut and secured the cutter on that setting. Damn! The next instruction said she needed her cutting surface to cut a straight edge to use the cutter.

Nya threw down her book, her strap cutter, and went to prowl and find a damn stone… no three… to form a work surface next to her home. Grrrr… it was so frustrating. She wanted to start NOW!

1091 – 4387/50.000



Last edited by Nya Winters on November 26th, 2017, 3:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Nya Winters
Let the winds in my heart blow...
 
Posts: 750
Words: 784686
Joined roleplay: June 7th, 2009, 6:53 am
Location: Syka
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Plotnotes
Medals: 5
Trailblazer (1) Never Say Die (1)
Donor (1) 2017 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)
2017 Top NaNo Word Count (1)

Leatherworking I

Postby Nya Winters on November 20th, 2017, 12:40 am



The cat prowled her claimed beach, surveying the stones available until she found two that would make for good standing stones to hold a third in the form of an alter-like work station. She carefully marked where they were and went back for the leather harnessing that would work to haul the stones back to her living area. Nya slipped and knotted ropes around the first stone and then held out the harness around her human form and shifted into her animal form moving and squirming so the harness fit across her chest and shoulders where it needed too. Once all set, she leaned into the leathers and began dragging the massive stone back to her homestead. It took half the morning of heaving, half running, and yanking to get the thing into a halfway decent position. From there, she shifted to human, stepped out of the harness, and untied the stone. Then, she shifted back into her Talderian Forest Cat form and wrestled the stone into position where she wanted it.

The second stone was even heavier. Fatigue was setting in, though Nya didn’t want to admit it. She repeated the trick of affixing the stone to the harness then shifting while standing within it and got herself hooked to the stone to drag it back. It felt good being big, useful, and getting a job done. She was burning muscle wise when she returned to her Refuge and got the big stone wrestled into place. She was happy she finally had her two base stones that she could lay the workstation stone across the top and have a good leatherworking table. The workstation stone, however, was going to take a lot of dragging and she contemplated getting it done that day. Deciding she would, the giant talderian forest cat stretched out in the shade for a nap before starting back to the place she’d noted a perfectly flat stone that would work for the purpose.


Two bells later, a sleepy but refreshed cat repeated her trick of harnessing up the stone with ropes and her leather harness, shifted, then spent the vast majority of the afternoon dragging the huge stone up the beach to her place. It easily weighted a thousand pounds. Once she’d dragged it into what she considered her ‘yard’ she shifted, freed it from the ropes and harness (as well as herself) and then reshifted into her Talderian form and spent the vast majority of the evening wrestling it into place. It took her lifting with her legs, using a broken off young tree as a pry bar, and finally crouching under the half-raised stone to lift with her legs and massive back to get it into place. Nya wished she had a tree overhead that she could have hooked up a pulley system to in order to get the stone in place… but that just wasn’t going to happen. Palms grew all around her home straight upwards from the beach, not offering any overhanging branches for anything like a swing or pulley.

But when she was done, she was satisfied… sore but satisfied. The Forest Cat headed off to the bathing pools in the settlement to soak out her soreness, knowing she’d start early the next morning and get to work on her project.

And start she did. The next morning she picked up where she left off, laying out the vegetable tanned leather onto the work surface and cutting a long straight line to start out making her strips against. Once she had one straight edge cut with her leather sheers, she affixed the strap cutter into position by aligning it against the straight edge of the hide. She faced the blade towards her like her book instructed and held the handle of the strap with her dominant hand. When she was ready Nya took a deep breath and pulled the strap cutter towards her body, firmly and with confidence, holding the top of the freshly cut strap with her opposite hand to keep the tension tight. She continued pulling and readjusting the hide as she needed until she reached the end of the hide. A nice belt thick length of leather fell off the hide, perfectly uniform. Nya smiled in victory.
She cut a dozen more, sacrificing the hide in order for her to learn. The kelvic wanted belts to sell. Once she had those cut she thinned the measurement on the cutter and practiced with the remainder of the scrap so she could have leather strips for lacing and other types of ties.

Next she got out the singular rings that would serve as the belt fasteners. Nya liked the belts that ended with a single ring one could loop the leather through so one didn’t have to worry about sizing or punching holes. Holes pinched in leather made it weaker in the jungle, and constrained who could wear them since they tended to be ‘sized’ rather than ‘one size fits all’. Her leather kit did include a dozen belt loops so Nya, knew she’d have to replace them shortly. If Syka ever got a blacksmith….

Nya sighed. The Veronica, until then, could bring what she needed from Riverfall.

Okay… what was next? The Kelvic thought, reading ahead for the belt instructions. The end where the metal loop was going to be put through needed to be skived, or shaved, to about half its width where the leather looped through the belt and came back together. Otherwise it would be too thick for the rivets she had in her kit. Nya got out her Skiver and practiced shaving the leather with the tool with some of the remaining scrap. Once she got the hang of it, which was a lot like peeling potatoes with a potato peeler, she set to work thinning the leather out on the end that would be looped back through the rings. So starting at the top of where the punch holes would be that the rivets would go through, she skived the leather down neatly. Next, she took a beveler, and carefully traced the edges of the leather, all the way around the belt to neaten the edges, making them nice and beveled. Nya repeateded this process front and back. Next, she took the burnishing tool, she waxed and burnished the edges, rolling the tool down the beveled edges until they were smooth and shiny after tracing them across the wax block.

Next, Nya looped the ring into the first belt, clamped the end to itself to hold the loop in, then used the hole punch to punch rivet holes in the belt through the double pieces. Next she lined up the rivets, struck them with her rivet hammer to get them to flare out and hold, and gave the loop a tug. The ring held on tightly and Nya smiled, trying the belt on by wrapping the leather around her waist, running the end through the loop, then tying it off with itself at the end. She quickly did the other eleven belts, skiving, beveling, and finally riveting the lengths in. At the end, she had a new belt and eleven others she could sell or trade for other things she needed.

1208 = 8272/50000

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Nya Winters
Let the winds in my heart blow...
 
Posts: 750
Words: 784686
Joined roleplay: June 7th, 2009, 6:53 am
Location: Syka
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
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Donor (1) 2017 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)
2017 Top NaNo Word Count (1)

Leatherworking I

Postby Nya Winters on November 26th, 2017, 3:14 am

Grades


Experience: Leatherworking +5 XP, Researching +4XP, Planning +5XP, Construction +2XP, Organization +2XP, Observation +1XP, Bodybuilding +2XP

Lores: Types of Tanning, Types of Leather & What Each Type Is Used Best For, Waxing Leather, Vegetable Tanning, How Leather Ages, Determining Types OF Leather By Scent, Types Of Leather Cuts, Types Of Leatherworking Tools, Grains Of Leather, Location Of Cuts Of Leather, Leather Durability, How To Cut Hides, Which Hide Parts Made Which Types Of Leather, Types Of Grains Of Leather, Types Of Grades Of Leather, The Contents Of A Leatherworking Kit, How To Cut Leather, Types Of Leatherworking Dyes, Types Of Leather Conditioners, Types Of Leather Gloss, Use Of A Strap Cutter.

Additional Expenses: Leatherworking Gear (Book 50, Leatherworking Kit 50, Loose Leather 30, Dyes 10) -160 GM
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Nya Winters
Let the winds in my heart blow...
 
Posts: 750
Words: 784686
Joined roleplay: June 7th, 2009, 6:53 am
Location: Syka
Race: Kelvic
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