All,
A few weeks ago I asked ya'll to give me some help in "how to" make leather stoppers that were typical of NC banded horns. Here is the process that worked for me. I used some heavy duty scrap leather (~1/4 thick), much larger than what you will need. I dyed it black with leather dye. Using a heat gun, head a small pot of beeswax and paint it on the leather. Both sides. Apply heat with the heat gun--keep it moving. What you want is the leather to heat and the moisture within the leather to "boil" out. The leather will smoke a little and the moisture will bubble out of the sides of the leather. Heating it too quickly will shrink/misform the leather. As the beeswax is drawn into the leather, it will look like it is drying out a little. Keep applying the liquid beeswax until the leather can't take any more. Keep flipping it over while heating/applying the beeswax to keep it from mishapping.
Oh, by the way--do this outside. Wife did not appreciate me doing it in my shop in the basement under the kitchen!
Once the leather is full of beeswax, it will still be a little flexible. Let it sit overnight--it will harden significantly as it cools, so be patient. Once hard, you can cut it into the desired shape--mine looks like a small fiddle peg. Since it was cut to shape, some of the leather is now exposed. I trimmed it and shaped it into a cone with an Exacto knife. I then redyed the exposed leather. I reapply the heat--gently--with the beeswax. Let it harden. It was hard enough that I was able to drill a hole in the flat part of the plug for a lanyard. When all done, I dyed it once again. Let it sit for a day or so, so the leather dye has dried. I then pushed it in and out of the spout so set the shape. Hope this helps,
Cheers
