HOLISTIC VIKINGFORGE

FROM BENCH TO BATTLE READY

The Craft

The work in progress — carved hide, layout, dye, and the final finish. Scroll straight through the bench shots.

Finished leather armor displayed outdoors beside the maker during final presentation

Ready to wear

Raw leather armor panels laid out with a hand-tooled central motif before dyeing and assembly

Raw hide laid out

Close-up of etched knotwork and shoulder detailing carved into natural leather armor panels

Patterning the detail

Natural leather bracer panel with a carved Mjolnir knotwork design beside dye supplies

Tooling a bracer panel

A freshly tooled leather chest panel with knotwork carved into undyed leather on a tiled work surface

Fresh off the bench

Large leather chest armor panel with carved knotwork beside a matching shoulder piece during the layout stage

Chestpiece in progress

Red dyed leather armor panel with carved knotwork resting over matching leather components and straps

Dye brings it alive

Finished black leather armor components with embossed knotwork and brass hardware laid out together

Assembly and finish

Macro close-up of carved and burnished Celtic knotwork on a leather panel with brass rivets and yellow stitching

Carving up close

Oxblood leather scale pauldron with carved beast knotwork and overlapping leather scales secured by brass rivets

Scale pauldron forming up

Full oxblood leather scale armor set with deep carved knotwork, Mjolnir conchos, and rows of brass-riveted scales

The full oxblood set

Hands fastening the buckled shoulder strap of an oxblood and black leather pauldron with carved knotwork, brass rivets, and a dragon concho

Fastening the pauldron

Close-up of intricate Celtic knotwork hand-tooled into a natural veg-tan leather axe-head shaped panel with braided border stamping

Knotwork tooling up close

VIEW THE FINISHED GALLERY