For reference, here is a suede sageo cord:
I first came across this stuff years ago when I bought a katana online. Unfortunately I don’t remember the name of the shop (some dojo in California who imported and sold swords and tamashigiri supplies), and the only place I’ve found it is super expensive.
The distinguishing characteristic of these cords is that they have rounded edges, and some good thickness, rather than just square edges. They accomplish this, I believe, by folding the outer 1/4s of the width and joining them at the center to make a double thick cord.
So… I found an Amazon seller who sells lots of colors and widths, and I got myself some 1”x48” suede strips.
Now to the question: what’s the best way to make these? I’ve never done any real leather working, but I figure someone here must have dipped their toes into that particular pool, so I thought I’d ask.
Thanks for any advice you guys can share!
Darth Alice has some experience with leather-wrapped hilts…
I would go check out the Darth Alice area on TRA to see if there is anything to learn there first.
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What’s your location? Where I’m at we goto our local Tandy Leather since they offer instruction as well as have all the supplies and things needed to cut, shape, and work with leather (skins). They even let us play with some of their fancy tools like rollers etc.
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My closest Tandy is Detroit, which is a good two and a half hours away, unfortunately. I did get some tools and stuff from Tandy in Reno year a ago, but I never really did anything with them. But I should see if they have a YouTube channel. Might find some good general videos.
They actually do and then there’s a ton of other makers with videos or even learning series of their own. Have fun with it.
small update on this. I tried doing a glue up on a short piece of the suede I got, and it’s a lot thicker than I was hoping for, and therefore stiffer too. I’m going to try printing out a skiving machine and thin it down a bit, then try again. I had been hoping that simply creasing it and folding on the crease would work, but with the glue added into the mix, it becomes too stiff to be practical.
