Crafting a Leather Bottle – Part 3

In part 1, I discussed prototype assembly. Part 2 focused on sealing the bottle. The only thing remaining was fashioning a stopper. Directly after posting part 2, I had a new idea.

I was going to fashion a stopper from a piece of wood. A wooden stopper requires only some whittling and sanding. However, I did not have a good chunk of non-porous wood on hand. So I turned to an alternate material – horn. Unlike most, I have several different racks from deer lying about.

I removed one point from a rack using a jig saw. Then I cleaned up the end using a rasp and some sandpaper. Finally, I drilled a small hole through the stopper for a leather strap. If I’d added a carry strap to the bottle, I’d have attached the stopper through one of the holes. No sense in losing a stopper when it can be attached to the bottle.

After honing down the antler segment, I sealed it with salad bowl finish. A nice, food safe sealant for wood available at wood working stores. Finally, I braided a small strap to provide grip when removing the stopper. I like the look.

Tags: DIY, Leather