DIY Leather Axe Mask

Let me tell you something about exploring your camplife. It takes you places you never imagined you'd find yourself, doing things you never thought you could, and finding yourself being proud of things you never knew you could make. This leather axe mask is exactly an example of that. I'd never had even an inkling of knowledge or desire to work with leather, but when you are faced with finding a way to protect your tools, you might do what I did... Head over to youtube and learn how to do something new!

For starters, I have a Swedish Military Surplus Small Swiss Axe that only came with a small rubber blade cover, so one of the first things I wanted to do was build a mask that would protect the edge and also keep it from injuring or cutting anything unwanted while not being used. When I started to look online for solutions I found that most folks were able to make their own leather masks without much effort. So I thought, why not?

Materials for Axe Mask

Leather
Glue
Artificial Senew
Metal Snap with Fastener Kit
Leather Dye
Neatsfoot Oil
Finishing Wax

*See Links At End of Article for Purchasing

Tools

Box Cutter or Sharp Knife
Leather Craft Stitching/Groover/Creaser
Stitching Needles
Drill
Fork

*See Links At End of Article for Purchasing

Step 1. Find A Leather Store

I didn't know anything about buying leather, but I quickly discovered a national chain called Tandy Leather that had a great selection and decent prices. But more importantly, they had folks on site that were very helpful. You might be able to find a great local source to support, but if not, this might be a good place to start. I went in on a decent cut of 8-9oz shoulder that was on the clearance section. It was much more than I would need, so I called up Herman and we split the cost and have been planning projects for the rest of the leather that we bought.

Step 2. Design Your Leather Axe Mask

This is where you really get to put your mark on the project. There are countless designs that you can try to create, so jump on pinterest, look up some designs and pick what looks right to you. After you do find something you like, grab a sheet of paper and start creating templates. If you are experienced in creating templates and think you don't need to work with paper, you can skip this step. For me, it was really helpful just to start folding a piece of paper around the axe head and see the way that the material actually works, and getting a good look at how it will look once on your axe. Once you do have your design and template finalized on the paper, copy it over to your leather, and cut it out using a sharp razor/boxcutter/knife.

Since I chose to have a design which has stitching around the blade end of the mask, I needed to include a welt. It's an insert of leather that you sandwich between the two sides of the mask and essentially serves as a buffer for the blade of your axe so you don't cut into the stitching when you are putting your mask on the sharp axe. So you just cut out a piece of leather about half inch that is the same contour as the edge of the mask along the front and bottom sides.

Step 3. Shaping and Gluing Leather

Once you have your template and welt cut out, you are going to want to shape the leather to fit snugly around the axe head. If you wet the leather, it will become quite malleable and you can fold it down over your axe head and when it dries, it will take on the shape of whatever it was molded to. Try to make sure that the top of the mask sits flush with the head and folds down along the sides. Just by wetting the leather and holding it in place for a couple minutes you can quickly begin to reshape the spine of the mask. Once you have roughly the right contour for the template, you can glue the welt into place. One side of your welt will be rough, while the other side will be smooth, it's always better to apply the glue to a rough surface, so go ahead and scratch it up with some sandpaper, or anything else you have to create a surface the adhesive will stick to. There are special types of leather glue you can buy, or contact cement, you really can use any of them. Reminder, you are also going to be stitching the same areas you are gluing shut, so just find something that does the job and don't sweat it too much. You just really don't want the edges to be coming up because it just won't look good.

I used some gorilla glue that Herman had laying around his workshop, and it did the job perfectly. I glued the welt in and clamped clamped the entire mask onto the axe overnight. Be sure to put a protective layer on the clamp contact points with the mask because the pressure will definitely leave a mark on the leather. If you don't have enought clamps laying around, get creative! I even used some heavy duty binder clips (Clamp Lifehack!) as makeshift clamps.

Step 4: Get Groovy, Make a Strap, Stick a Fork in it

Once the mask has been glued, you're going to start etching out where you want the stitching to go. The reason you etch a groove on the surface of the leather is so that the stitching is below the surface level, and won't snag on anything. Use your stitching groover to dig a trench along where your welt is positioned. I decided to follow the entire contour of the template (optional) just for a design aesthetic. Another aesthetic touch you will probably want to make is to corner all of your rough edges. When you buy your groover, do yourself a favor a buy one with multiple attachments. This is the way most of them are sold, so take advantage of it. One of the attachments will be an edger, and you use this to take the rough edges off of the leather that you cut, and it creates a nice little bevel that won't fray in addition to looking sharp.

At this point you also want to take make the strap that will go around the back of the head of the axe. There is no real rule here, just find something that looks right to your eye. I started way wider than I thought would look good, and just kept cutting it down until it looked right to me. Just make sure that it is wide enough for your metal snap to latch onto. Once you have the look and measurement right, wet the leather where the strap contours around the head and mold in into the right shape. This will continue to adjust with use, but shaping it ahead of time will mostly eliminate have a sag in the fit after the leather has stretched to fit the contour.

Find where you would like to stitch the strap onto the mask, trace it with a pencil, and scuff up the surface of the leather to make sure the adhesive will stick to the grain.

The final thing you want to accomplish on this step before you start to stain the leather is to make the guide-holes for the stitching. There are a couple tools that you can buy for this task, but honestly, if you're not going to be making a ton of leather items, you might just be better off doing what I did, use a fork. All you want is a series of evenly spaced holes, and pressing a fork into the leather more than does the trick. So try it, if the spacing of your fork looks right, go with it and save the money!

Step 6: Drill Stitching Guide Holes

Ok, so you have your fork guide marks all neatly placed into the groove where the stitching will go. You drill your way through to the other side, and expect to see the mirror image when you flip the mask over... Instead you end up with the mess that looks like the image below! Yup, if you don't have a drill press, try your absolute best best to make a very straight perpendicular hole or else you will end up with stitching holes that are far from straight or perfect, or even in the groove you dug out to house the stitches!!

That being said, it's not the end of the world. But we here at Camplifebros love to share the things we fail at so you can learn from it! So, if you have drill press, you'll end up with a much cleaner look. If not, learn to enjoy your snaggle tooth stitching, it gives it that unique DIY look you can ultimately be proud of! After all, you are making this from scratch!

Step 7: Dyeing and Stitching the Leather

Now that your mask is all drilled through, it's time do dye your leather and start to see what this thing is going to look like! I purchased a Light Tan Leather dye and I loved how it turned out. Before handling all the dye, protect your surface and your hands, this stuff is pretty serious and really hard to get out of anything you don't want it on. Grab some gloves and get to work. Apply generously on the front and backside of all the leather with the little dauber that comes with the bottle. If it doesn't come with one, you can use a cloth or rag. Give it a couple coats if you want to get a richer look. Have in mind that the color will only darken after you apply the oil and wax at the end of the process.

One of the most beautiful and rustic parts of this project is the hand stitched look with the leather. I purposely chose to dye the leather before I did the stitching because I really wanted the color contrast on the stitches. If it's not a big deal to you, than you can do it any order, in addition there are different colors of the artificial senew that come pre-dyed. There are also tons of ways to do leather stitching, mostly having to do with using one needle or two needles. I used the double needle method and recommend it. I won't waste your time trying to explain how to do this, instead here is a great video on Hand Stitching Leather Techniques produced by Tandy Leather that does a great job.

If you haven't guessed already, now is the time when you want to again go and glue your back strap onto the leather, fork your guide holes, and stitch the strap onto the rest of the mask. Essentially the same process as any of the other stitching you've done but with a little less room to operate, so be patient, maybe grab some pliers to help pull the needle through and make it work. The resulting work is worth navigating the awkward sewing conditions.

Step 8: Attaching Snap to Leather

I've seen some axe masks that just use a buckle system to fasten the strap, and actually the thought of not having any hardware against the leather is pretty cool one, but for me, I wanted to something easy reliable and something that had no chance of accidentally falling off. A metal snap was the best solution for me on how to fasten the strap around the axe head. Again, this will be an aesthetic choice depending on the size, design, color, and finish of the snap. I wanted something simple that matched the finish of the axe head as closely as possible. Again, instead of explaining this process, I'll link this easy video that shows you how to Set Snap Fasteners on Leather. It is important to add that since the inside of the snap will be on the interior of the mask you don't want it to be rubbing the axe head. Dig out a round inset on the leather to sink in the fastener to be flush with the edge of the leather. Also be sure you buy the fastener kit to corresponds to the size of the snap you buy, and you'll be all set!

Step 9: Treat with Oil and Wax

Since the leather will be exposed to the elements, you're going to want to protect it. Oil the leather to keep it from cracking, and use wax to help water from soaking into it. First work a healthy amount of oil onto the leather making sure every surface is covered. After that has been completely absorbed, I rubbed Fjällräven Greenland Wax on to the entire surface, but applying extra coverage on top of the stitching, knowing that this is where you will probably have water permeating the leather. The wax goes on like a crayon and you hit it with a heat gun or hair dryer to melt it into the actual leather and stitches. The result is a nice dark coverage on the leather that gives it protection and a rustic worn in finish.

Step 10: Burnish Leather Edges

This is the final step of the process and the most satisfying. Burnishing is essentially smashing all the leather fibers together on the rough leather edges to achieve a smooth polished look. There are specific wooden tools and compounds used for this, but all you really need is a hard smooth surface and a bit of water. I used the handle of my edging/groover and it did the job fine. Wet the rough fibers and edges of the leather with a bit of water, then begin to rub back and forth against the surface while applying solid pressure. Immediately after starting the process you will begin to see the effect, the fibers start disappearing and there will begin to be a light shine on the edges. The leather is effected by both the pressure and the heat created from the friction, so there's no such thing as over doing it. The more you burnish, the better the result will be, so keep at it, and enjoy seeing a whole different grain to the leather begin to appear. Here's a quick video Burnishing Leather - 3 Simple Ways so you can see someone actually doing it.

Final Thoughts

As much fun as camping is, there is a whole new sense of excitement and pride that comes with going into the woods with gear or tools that you create by hand. This project took me about two days to complete, but the amount of knowledge I gained just trying to figure out how to make this opened a whole new world to me. Just walk into a leather store, if you never have, and you'll see what I mean. Soon you'll be wanting to make your own belts, wallets, purses, bags or everything else that you realize is actually within your grasp. I know for sure I'll be tackling a Leather Knife Sheath in the near future, and when I do, I'll be sure to bring you all along for that adventure as well.

I wouldn't recommend going out and buying all the expensive fancy leather crafting tools for this one project. You may realize that you hate working with leather and won't be making anything else, and you'll just have wasted a bunch of money. Like all new craft skills, there is a way to invest just enough to get the job done. I'm happy with figuring out how to make due with what I have, even if it means relying on a fork as a spacer, and hand drilling my way to snaggle tooth stitching that comes with a little extra sweat equity. This is by far one of the most satisfying projects I have undertaken and one that I never anticipated myself attempting. It's empowering to know that with a little bit of time, creativity, and motivation, you can not only save money but have something that is completely custom for your specific needs and will last for years and years. On top of it all, you develop a whole new skill set that you will be able to use over and over again.

--José

Shout out to Doug Outside's Simple DIY Axe Mask video that was a huge inspiration and help along the way! Check it out!