Making an armbinder Part 4: Grommets and Lacing

Welcome to part 4 of our armbinder project, where we'll be putting the finishing touches on our little labor of love. To begin I'll punch the holes for the lacing using marks made from our pattern. Spacing between holes on this armbinder is 1.25 inches. The punch I use will make holes just large enough for the "00" size Osbourne grommets I selected for this project.


Holes complete!
Here are the grommets in their holes, waiting to be paired up with their washer partners...
Position the grommet front in the little depression in the anvil...
set the little washer in place...

...and tap, tap, tap with the mallet to set the grommet.
Very nice. Now onto the other 33 holes...
Grommeting complete!

It's now time to create holes and set reinforcement rivets in the shoulder straps. I am using a slightly larger grommet here (Osbourne #0) that on the rear lacing to make sure the buckle tongue will fit.
Same drill as before, punch the holes, set the grommet - repeat!
And that completes our armbinder project... oh, I almost forgot.
We can't really be finished until it's laced up, can we? So true...
OK, now we're done!
Much better! Thanks for joining me on this project, and stay tuned for more leather crafting fun in the days and weeks ahead.