Welcome to Rum King Leather
Rum King Leather is a Traditional Leather smithing workshop which perfectly blends modern manufacturing techniques with traditional leather working to bring truly heirloom quality bespoke leather products to our customers.
Rum Kings Origins
We began like most business’. In a shed with a few hand tools, a little bit of luck, and a spark of creativity.
I began this journey as a 20 something year old with undiagnosed ADHD and no employment. I made scratch here and there renovating houses with my grandfather around Bendigo but nothing substantial. However what I did have was access to a small woodworking workshop, Which was covered in years of saw dust, old tools, and various timbers and metals. I always had a passion for knives, so after some research I decided I was going to learn how to make them, and down the rabbit hole I went.
I began pouring what spare time I had into researching different types of steels, the metallurgical properties, what the best designs were, what tools I needed and the different forging methods. It was a project that fulfilled my artistic passion and gave me use of my engineering degree which I couldn’t find work in. Only one problem. Knife making equipment was expensive. Looking over my own personal collection I also discovered that I would also need to learn leather working techniques and tool up in the leather smithing department as well.
By chance I was at the Bendigo Swap Meet one year and I stumbled across a little old lady who happened to be selling a bunch of old tools. It was mostly planes and old woodworking equipment. Nothing in the blacksmithing department when it comes to tools, and then something caught my attention. It was the random smell of leather. I looked down and on the table, amongst all these random bits and bobs was an old wooden potato box, with a beginners set of craft tool leather carving stamps, some odd leather working tools and some scrap bits of leather. I didn’t have much. I only had $150 to my name at them time. So I asked her about the tools and how much she would take for them. She said make me an offer so I did. I offered her $125 for the set. She then came back with her haggle. She would give it to me for $75 because I was cute and to keep the trade alive. Gratefully I accepted and walked away with my potato box full of leather stamps. A collection of Stamps and Carving Tools I use to this day and travels everywhere with me
The Journeyman begins his quest
With the Journeymans kit in hand and a few pieces of scrap we began learning the trade of leather making. I looked at the construction of common sheathes and leather products and learning how to do it better. In a very short amount of time I found myself buying my first side of vedge tanned leather and began taking commissions. My work took got the attention of a Victorian Knife maker and and after a year of learning and working tirelessly on my skills I was putting sheathes on every knife he made.
Then one day by sheer chance around a game of pool my world was opened.
