tagua leather bracelet

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http://www.instructables.com/id/Tagua-Leather-Bracelet/

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Leather & Tagua (vegetable ivory) Braceletby Phiske on April 5, 2015

Table of Contents

Leather & Tagua (vegetable ivory) Bracelet ..........................................................................................

Intro: Leather & Tagua (vegetable ivory) Bracelet ...................................................................................

Step 1: Tools ..............................................................................................................

Step 2: Open the nut ........................................................................................................

Step 3: Cut to size ..........................................................................................................

Step 4: Glue to work surface ..................................................................................................

Step 5: Draw design and carve ................................................................................................

Step 6: Sand and Polish .....................................................................................................

Step 7: Drill holes .......................................................................................................... 1

Step 8: Make the Bracelet .................................................................................................... 1

Step 9: Skive .............................................................................................................. 1

Step 10: Sewing channel and bevel ............................................................................................. 1

Step 11: Add Logo ......................................................................................................... 1

Step 12: Dye and Burnish .................................................................................................... 1

Step 13: Make Little Frame ................................................................................................... 1

Step 14: Sew ............................................................................................................. 1

Step 15: Attach Carving ...................................................................................................... 1

Step 16: Stain ............................................................................................................. 2

Related Instructables ........................................................................................................ 2

Advertisements ............................................................................................................... 2

Comments ................................................................................................................ 2

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Author:Phiske Treehouse Leather Goods

Whatever you do take care of your shoes

Intro: Leather & Tagua (vegetable ivory) BraceletYou might be asking yourself "What the heck is Tagua?"

Tagua (aka Vegetable Ivory), pronounced /?ta?w?/ or Ta-Gwa is a nut that grows in certain types of palm trees in south america. It's an awesome, super hard, naturamaterial that is fun to carve. Before the invention of plastics Tagua was exported to Europe and the U.S. for the button industry. You can put it on a mini lathe and turnbunch of buttons or little cups or whatever. Today Tagua is still used for buttons in the high end fashion industry( or so I read ). And is used extensively in jewelry mak

in Ecuador.

Just Google Tagua images and you'll see all the wonderful uses for it.

So I picked up some nuts up when I was in Ecuador because I was fascinated by the li ttle carvings they would do with them. I talked to an artisan in Banos EC that habeen working with it his whole life. His grandfather started the Biz years back and has passed it down through the family.

http://treehouseleather.com/http://member/Phiske/http://member/Phiske/


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Image Notes1. Unfinished squid carving. First crack at tagua carving.

Step 1: ToolsTagua Tools

Tagua is pretty easy to work with. You just need a rotary tool like a Dremel or a Foredom (Prefered...I need one of those. Hint,hint..nudge,nudge). You can carve it wchisels and such but it's super hard and you'd probably just get frustrated. The nice thing about Tagua is it doesn't really have a grain pattern so that makes it a lit tleeasier to carve than wood. You just have to be careful it doesn't burn.

-Sandpaper 220-400 grit

-Cloth and Jeweler's Rouge

Leather Tools--Knife- snap off hobby razors are good.

-Hole Punch- Rotary or I prefer the tubular kind that you hit with a mallet.

-Cutting surface

-Edge Beveler

-Saddle Needles or leather sewing machine

-Straight Edge

-Canvas- Just a piece of scrap for burnishing the edges

-Beeswax

Materials-

-Vegetable Tanned Leather

-1" Brass Buckle

-Leather Dye

-Wax Finish or other Leather finish

-Thread for hand stitching or for machine


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Step 2: Open the nutUsually you can hear the nut moving around inside the shell. Just give it a smack on the side of your bench or wi th a piece of wood like a hammer handle to crack theshell. You might need a flat screwdriver to pry it open but once you get it going it's pretty easy.


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Step 4: Glue to work surfaceHere you can use rubber cement or contact cement to glue it to your work surface to make it easier to work on. Then I sanded the top flattish (is that a word?). I wish Ihad glued it up on a block to make it raised up. It would have been a little easier to work on with the rotary tool.


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Step 5: Draw design and carveI just drew the design I wanted with a pencil and started drawing. You can draw it on to a piece of paper and transfer it if you want but that's waaaay too much work.

Then get carving. I bought a set of cheap burs from Menard's that are okay for carving. And I have a few individual bits that are good for details. You can also make yoown for super detailed parts by filing down small drill bits, like 1/16". Just take your time so as not to burn the Tagua. Use larger bits for the big stuff and tiny bits for thesmall stuff. Kinda logical, right?


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Step 6: Sand and PolishUse some 220 grit sandpaper and sand it smooth. Then use 400 grit.

After that it was pretty smooth but I wanted it shiny like I saw at the shops in Ecuador. The artist I talked to said they don't put any finish on it just polish. I don't have apolishing wheel for my grinder right now so I just rubbed some white jeweler's rouge on a piece of an old cotton dress shirt and rubbed until it shined.

Pretty cool!


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Step 7: Drill holesFirst I removed some of the thickness and made the backside a little convex to f it the curve of a bracelet.

Then at this point I still wasn't sure how I was going to make the bracelet or attach the carving to it. I had sort of an idea of running some thread through it so I drilledsome holes through it. Tagua is a little difficult to drill because its kind of like a hard plastic. It gets hot fast and can clog the bit fast. so you have to just do a little at a ti

to not burn it. I drilled in from both sides to finish the hole.


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Step 8: Make the BraceletI had some scraps of veg tanned leather that I had already dyed laying around so I just used that. The overall width of the bracelet is 1 3/4" and it tapers to a 1" strap othe buckle and billet side. The overall length is about 10 1/2" with the last 7/8" folded over for the buckle. Still just making it up as I go here....Cut it with a straight edgekeeping a lot of pressure on it so it doesn't slip.

I used a 12mm hole punch to start the taper. Guess it's not really a taper but oh well.

Then I cut the strap end with an end punch but you can do it with a knife too. I marked the


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Step 9: SkiveSkive, pare or reduce the thickness on the f lesh (backside or wrong side for those that sew) with a sharp knife. I like using a round knife for leather working. Thisreduction helps the bend and allows the buckle to work properly.


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Step 10: Sewing channel and bevelCut a sewing channel around perimeter except at buckle end. Bevel edges.

Step 11: Add LogoWet leather where your logo will go if you have one :) and clamp it down with a c-clamp. Leave it for a half hour.


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Step 12: Dye and BurnishI wanted the leather darker than it was so I put some darker leather dye on it. Finish the edges at this point with beeswax and then burnish or buff with canvas and a lopressure. The friction and wax make a nice edge. I usually do both sides starting wi th the back. Lay it flat on a piece of granite and rub.

Step 13: Make Little FrameHere I was trying to figure out how to attach the Tagua carving and had an idea to make a frame. So I cut out the center to recess the carving and dyed and burnishededges. Then I cemented to the strap.


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Step 14: SewCement the buckle on and then use stitching chisel to punch the holes in the sewing channel. You can also sew with a machine. I saddle sti tched it.


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Step 15: Attach CarvingFirst I marked and stabbed the holes for attaching the tagua to the bracelet with a stitching awl. Then I cemented it to the inside of the frame. Then I sewed the carvingthe bracelet running the thread through the holes I had drilled and doubling them around the frame through the holes I made. Then I cut the tread a 1/4" long and meltthe ends to the back of the strap.

Polish it up and here you can be done if you like. Like I mentioned before, the tagua doesn't need any protective finish. Just polish it with jeweler's rouge and you aredone. Or....you can stain it.


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Step 16: StainI used some wool dye to add some depth to the carving. I don't know what I prefer. Sometimes I look at the pics of pre staining and wish I had left it, other times I like tdepth it gives. Anyway...I stained it then sanded some of it off and polished it again.

There you have it. Vegetable Ivory is really cool to work with. I f you can get your hands on some try it.

Cheers!


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Comments

5 comments Add Comment

sellers.nathan says: Apr 5, 2015. 6:14 PM REPThis is beautiful. Well designed. So cool that out is made from a nut.

Phiske says: Apr 5, 2015. 7:15 PM REPThanks! Yeah, it's such a cool material. It cuts so nice and I love the sheen you can get just from polishing. It's amazingly tough too.

?Roy Glen Gilliam says: Apr 5, 2015. 4:22 PM REPI like your leather making skills, how long have you been working with leather?

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Phiske says: Apr 5, 2015. 7:13 PM REPAbout 5 years or so. I'm a carpenter by trade but have been doing leather on the side to supplement my income. You can get tagua super cheap inEcuador. I got like a dozen nuts for $1. I'd like to see the pens you make. My Dad turns a lot of bowls on his big lathe. I've turned a few things but havebeen able to practice much.

Thanks for the look and the comment!

?Roy Glen Gilliam says: Apr 5, 2015. 4:17 PM REPI use the tagua nut in my pen making protects. It is often a well sought after - hard to find nut in the United States- I've seen it in only a few shops in the UShttp://www.texasknife.com/vcom/index.phpAndhttp://m.woodcraft.com

If anyone's seen them at another place then let me know?
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