In this guide I'll show how I made my leather & copper bracelet. It's a real simple project and shouldn't take make than an hour to do. I changed my mind on the design half way through, originally the copper was only going to be a small plate, around 4cm, but decided to make it almost the full length. I am still unsure if I'm happy with this decision, but still like it.

For this project you will need;

Step 1: Cut & Dye

I used a sheet of 1.5mm thick veg tan leather. This is the same stuff I've used a few times on my leather wallets. I worked out how thick I wanted to the strap, part of this was determined by the size of the snap fasteners I was using. These were 12mm wide so I decided to make the bracelet 15mm wide. I used my knife and a straight edge to cut a long perfectly straight edge. When cutting leather its best to make a couple of light passes to get your way through rather than one strong cut as sometimes the knife might wander with the grain.

After I had cut it I took some brown leather dye and a wool dauber and put a liberal amount dye on all sides of the strip.

Step 2: Cut Copper & Snap

I took a sheet of 0.7mm thick copper, I wanted the copper to be able to bend to form around my wrist, but then be strong enough to hold its shape. I didn't know whether that would be 0.5mm or 1mm thick, so I took a guess and hoped that it would be enough, in the end it was perfect. I used my callipers measured at around 8mm wide to mark a line to cut along. I took my jewellers saw to cut along the line until I had my piece of copper.

Next I attached the snaps to the ends of the leather. I bought this kit on Amazon which included a range of different snaps, as well as a mini setting anvil, hole puncher and the fitting tools. I punched a hole using the punch at one end, and took the 'button' end and put it through the hole, and the matching 'female' end. Not sure if it has a real name but if you watch the video it is more clear which way to do it. The mini setting anvil has two sides, one is a smooth curved bowl shape to hold the button without deforming it. The end other has a lip in the middle to hold the stud ends.

Step 3: Glue Up

I decided to use compact adhesive to stick the copper to the leather. It worked and seems to be holding fine. But if I did this again I would probably just use some rivets and drill some holes in the copper. The reason I decided against it was I wanted the copper to sit flush all along the bracelet so I went with the glue.

This stuff works the best when you put some on either surface you want to stick together, let it dry for around for 5mins until it is tacky. Then push it together. I tried to make sure none of it touched the leather not being glued it, this ended up happening so I made sure to remove any glue as quick as possible so it doesn't ruin the leather.

Step 4: Finished

And that's it. I was tempted to try and add a 'hammered' finish to this, but decided against it, as I really like the clean look. This is the first time I've made something like this and loads of ways you can go with it and make it your own! Please remember to check out my YouTube Channel and subscribe over there for regular updates.