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Step 11Wet the leather and wrap it
In order to get the leather in a tube shape, it helps if you wet it down first to make it more pliable. You can let it soak in a bathtub for 5-10 minutes, or go outside and wet it down with a garden hose, somewhere where the leather won't get dirty.
Once it's nice and wet, then bend the sides in towards the center with your hands. At this point you just want to get the leather to start bending, it won't stay in a tube shape without something to hold it.
Take one of the elastic bandages and wrap it around the leather a little ways down from the mouthpiece, a foot to a foot and a half down. Make sure it's tight enough to hold the leather in a near-tube shape. This is just a temporary wrap, so you just need to do 3-4 wraps in the same spot - enough so that the wrap doesn't come off when you let go.
Take another elastic bandage and start wrapping it around the leather at the mouthpiece end. Be sure to pull it tight enough that the edges of the leather are firmly pressed against each other, otherwise epoxy will leak out the seam.
As you continue wrapping down the leather, you will start getting closer to the "temporary wrap" you made to hold the leather in place. You'll want to unwrap this and move it down another foot or so and make another temporary wrap.
When you get to the end of one of the bandages, just grab another and start wrapping again from the same place.
Once you get it fully wrapped, then you should be able to play it! Pick it up and give it a toot. The sound will be somewhat muffled, but you'll get a general idea of what it's going to sound like. I've added an mp3 file of what mine sounded like at this point, and another that I recorded after the leather had dried.
If you can't play the didge, that's a good indicator that you didn't get the seam sealed up good, which means that epoxy will leak out when you epoxy the inside. Not good! You'll probably want to re-wrap it tighter.
Once you are happy with how it's wrapped, you will need to let the leather dry before you epoxy the inside. If it's hot outside, lay it down on your porch and it should be dry after a day. Otherwise, just lay it down against a wall somewhere out of the way in your house. You'll probably want to leave it at least two days. You can tell if it's dry by feeling the leather on the inside at the bell end. Does it feel nice and dry? You may want to rotate it a couple of times so that the side that was facing downward has a chance to dry.
Once it's nice and wet, then bend the sides in towards the center with your hands. At this point you just want to get the leather to start bending, it won't stay in a tube shape without something to hold it.
Take one of the elastic bandages and wrap it around the leather a little ways down from the mouthpiece, a foot to a foot and a half down. Make sure it's tight enough to hold the leather in a near-tube shape. This is just a temporary wrap, so you just need to do 3-4 wraps in the same spot - enough so that the wrap doesn't come off when you let go.
Take another elastic bandage and start wrapping it around the leather at the mouthpiece end. Be sure to pull it tight enough that the edges of the leather are firmly pressed against each other, otherwise epoxy will leak out the seam.
As you continue wrapping down the leather, you will start getting closer to the "temporary wrap" you made to hold the leather in place. You'll want to unwrap this and move it down another foot or so and make another temporary wrap.
When you get to the end of one of the bandages, just grab another and start wrapping again from the same place.
Once you get it fully wrapped, then you should be able to play it! Pick it up and give it a toot. The sound will be somewhat muffled, but you'll get a general idea of what it's going to sound like. I've added an mp3 file of what mine sounded like at this point, and another that I recorded after the leather had dried.
If you can't play the didge, that's a good indicator that you didn't get the seam sealed up good, which means that epoxy will leak out when you epoxy the inside. Not good! You'll probably want to re-wrap it tighter.
Once you are happy with how it's wrapped, you will need to let the leather dry before you epoxy the inside. If it's hot outside, lay it down on your porch and it should be dry after a day. Otherwise, just lay it down against a wall somewhere out of the way in your house. You'll probably want to leave it at least two days. You can tell if it's dry by feeling the leather on the inside at the bell end. Does it feel nice and dry? You may want to rotate it a couple of times so that the side that was facing downward has a chance to dry.
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