Crafting a Leather Mouse Pad and Some Workshop and Project Updates
Every video should contain a project. Since I was very busy with preparing some projects and upgrading my workshop, the project in this video is a super simple one. I am going to make a leather mouse pad that gives your desk a luxurious feeling. I will also update about the three next videos:
- Making a new pair of sneakers, this time with black soles
- Brewing beer on my cousins all-in one brewing kettle
- Making a knife filing jig to enable me to make all sorts of knives
Lastly, in the last video I promised to decide who wins the T-shirt in this video. I will let faith decide by rolling a dice. Check out this video if you want to find out who won!
Video Transcript:
Hello ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Tony Needs Hobbies. My name is Tony and in this video I will discuss three topics with you right after making the simplest leather working project ever. Have fun watching!
Let’s start working on the project. It is going to be a mousepad and it is extremely simple to make. Making it just involves four steps: measuring, cutting, marking and rounding the corners and beveling the edges. You can make it more fancy by adding a stitch line or stamping the edges but I’m not going to do all that because I want a simple one.
I don’t want it to be too flimsy so I selected a 2 to 2.5 millimeters thick piece of leather with a smooth top and soft backside so it doesn’t move around on the desk. It’s going to be 30 by 22.5 centimeters.
So let’s briefly mention the items that I will discuss with you while starting this project. First thing, I’m upgrading the garden shed. Second, I will update you about the upcoming videos and last, but certainly not least, I will let faith decide who wins the T-shirt. All five of you who participated in the raffle, be sure to stick around until the end.
I first measure, then cut by running a sharp rotary cutter along the edge of a steel ruler. Using a round object with a good looking radius I will mark with an awl how to round off the corners and then cut those corners off using a box cutter.
The last step will be using the edge beveler to round off the edges…. And that’s it!
OK, on to the next topic: the garden shed, or workshop, that I am standing in right now. I have been improving it quite a will improve it even more in the nearby future to be able to make better quality videos. Let me show you what I did up until now.
The electricity cables have been rerouted to make room for more tool racks on the wall so it looks more organized without the cable running in the center. Also, I increased the amount of light in this room and put light diffusing foil on the door window to spread direct sunlight evenly through the room. The next step will be building a small wooden shed in the backyard where all the gardening stuff will go. This will hugely increase the amount of space in this shed so I can add a workbench and dedicate it to recording videos.
What else? Oh yeah, right, the upcoming videos. Let me get some stuff to illustrate what I will be doing in the next three videos.
The most popular video on my channel is the one in which I make a pair of sneakers – see the link in the top right corner. Because it’s such a success I reached out to SneakerKit to ask if they could provide me with another kit. They kindly shipped me a full kit free of charge. This one is different from the other kit that I got, since it includes their black sole and a green piece of leather. I will focus on the design of the upper in what will be the next video.
In the one following the new pair of sneakers, I will be brewing beer together with my cousin Enrico. Instead of my brewing kit, this time we will do it at his place, using an all-in-one brewing kettle. I’m preparing the brew and the recipe is ready. The yeast starter is starting as we speak so it will be a fun weekend.
And that brings me to the last project in preparation: a knife filing jig. You might have seen the video in which I forge a Viking knife and make a sheath for it. I want to be able to forge at some point in time, but for now, the first knife that I will make will be a stock removal project. The materials have been bought. I have piece of O1 tool steel, some African rosewood for the scales and brass pins. I do however not own a good belt sander, so I have to file in the bevel by hand. Therefor I am going to make a filing jig to help me do that.
That’s quite a bit of information about upcoming projects. I have a list of about a million things that I want to do and these three projects are first in line. If you want to see me try out something else, just drop me a comment and I’ll add it to the ever growing list. If it seems fun, I’ll bump it up. Anyway, here’s the moment some people have been waiting for… the T-shirt giveaway.
This time a dice will decide who wins since they have six sides and six people entered. So, here’s the list of people with a number in front. Let’s roll the dice.
And the winner is… Pedro! Congratulations! Please contact me via the e-mail address below so we can talk about the fabric color and print design options to choose from. And that brings us to the end of this video. I hope you have enjoyed watching it and if you did, please let me know by hitting the like button. If you don’t want to miss the future videos as I described in this one, consider subscribing to my channel. That would be very much appreciated. That’s it for now. I would like to thank you for watching.
Bye, bye!
