Introduction: Leather Sandbag

About: I'm here !

A sandbag may be a versatile tool for jewelry and metal forming. You can buy one from store about 20-30$ but you can also make one easily if you have all material required.

So, what do you need for this project ?

- Cow hide ( I use leather about 1.8 mm thickness)

- Lining ( pig skin)

- Sand ( I bought the finest seashore sand at my local store, because I live in Asia so I cannot tell you where or which sand suitable to use)

- Leather working tools: threads, bee wax, needles, hammer, punch, dividers...

Step 1: Prepare the Leather

Using a plate is the fastest way to draw a circle on leather.

In the first picture, i use a plate about 10 inches diameter. Put it on the leather, use pencil to draw along the plate's border. If you have a sharp knife, you can also cut the leather directly or use scissors like I did (pic 3).

In the 4th pic, I glue the cow hide with lining pig skin, this process gives the leather more strength and durability.

The pic 5 shows us the difference between two faces of cow hide (outside) and pig skin (inside)

Step 2: Form the Bag

I draw a line around each piece (1/2 in), this part is where the glue will be applied.

As pic 2 shows, I use masking tape (1in) to save a place for filling sand, this masking tape will prevent the sand dust stick on the leather.

Let the adhesive dry and stuck the two pieces of leather together.

Next, use hammer to tap the leather for a good bond.

Step 3: Needlework

Use a dividers to draw 2 sewing lines.

Use punch to make holes (this punch can be found on ebay, a cheap one from China).

Wax the threads with a piece of candle or bee wax.

Hand stitch all around the edge (it took me 1 hour to complete this process)

Stop the stitch at the masking tap, save threads for later process.

Step 4: Fill Sand in the Bag

It's time to fill the sand in the bag, I use the finest sand I could find around.

After pouring in the sand (the amount of sand filling depend on you, I add about 2 kilograms of sand in this one), remove the masking tape with tweezers, apply cement and close 2 edges together. Stitched the rest shut.

Apply a coat of bee wax to protect the leather's surface.

It's done ! This project took me 3 hours to complete. The result is quite satisfactorily and now I have my own sandbag in my DIY TOOLS collection :D

Thanks for reading !