# Celtic Knotwork Leather Bracelet

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Apr 10, 2023 (updated Jul 13, 2023)

Public

![](https://cuttle-uploads.imgix.net/56/4d58054f178db1cca8bbb7ad8057c3a943aeebc84145cd95a1acafa6b71351ce.jpg?auto=compress,format&q=80&fit=max&width=700&height=1280&dpr=1)

Make a leather bracelet or collar with custom sizes and a generated [Celtic knot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_knot) decorative pattern. Use a random seed system to explore different knotwork designs.

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[![Basic Leather Bracelet](https://cuttle-uploads.imgix.net/56/ee9ef1ae02e2a21b8df7e091d4e36f9e2d79575747166fe26fa240258db6643f.jpg?auto=compress,format&q=80&fit=fill&fill=blur&width=400&height=225&dpr=1)](https://cuttle.xyz/@cuttle/Basic-Leather-Bracelet-RER3TE1NiVwx)

[Basic Leather Bracelet](https://cuttle.xyz/@cuttle/Basic-Leather-Bracelet-RER3TE1NiVwx)

[![cuttle](https://cuttle-uploads.imgix.net/56/c342d0fa290e787762339822921ed4bb73fadf5a355f2611c10f6c5bdeea28f6.jpg?auto=compress,format&q=80&fit=crop&width=33&height=33&dpr=1) Cuttle Official](https://cuttle.xyz/@cuttle)

## How to Use

1.  Measure your wrist using a soft tape measure to determine the `length`.
    
    ![](https://cuttle-uploads.imgix.net/56/8ca011a30f16badd5d63ec88e016b7a8a0dcd0b890d56f0f839947b94fe8a7ff.jpg?auto=compress,format&q=80&fit=max&width=700&height=1280&dpr=1)
    
    You can also use a piece of scrap paper, wrap it around your wrist, and then fold or mark where it meets the end.
    
    ![](https://cuttle-uploads.imgix.net/56/58ae4d866009a6be057552b226fb20f7316343f401ddc6e011a8454cadaf57ab.png?auto=compress,format&q=80&fit=max&width=700&height=1280&dpr=1)
    
    **Here's a general guideline**: if you measure tightly, you can can add 0.25 in to your measurement to accommodate the thickness of the leather and snap.  
      
    For example, I measured my wrist circumference to be a bit under 7 inches. I round up to 7 and add a quarter inch, giving me 7.25 in. I'll put that in for `length`.  
      
    If you're using metric, add 7 mm. For example, I measured my wrist to be 180 mm. I add 7, giving me 187 mm, so I put that in for `length`.  
      
    
2.  Adjust the `width` to your liking, the number of snaps will adjust based on this dimension and the size of the snap (`snapSize`), common snap cap sizes are 10 mm, 12.5 mm, and 15 mm.
    
3.  The `snapHole` determines the size of the hole that will be cut to install the snap fastener.
    
4.  The `endExtension` parameter changes how much material is added to accommodate the snap cap and to have a bit of extra material on the ends.
    

## Assembly

There are different types of snaps and tools to install them, but here is an example of using a common, inexpensive kit with 15mm caps:

1.  There are usually four parts for every set of snaps:
    
    ![](https://cuttle-uploads.imgix.net/56/396f7bbd78b945ea87b6adc7c9051a791fe47b140e481d8455d06517585fc51c.png?auto=compress,format&q=80&fit=max&width=700&height=1280&dpr=1)
    
2.  Insert the **cap** on one side of the bracelet. The cap should face the nice side of the leather:
    
    ![](https://cuttle-uploads.imgix.net/56/abaa0bcc42affc67ed2fc8dcb014fa62126fd3712238f51a86f5a47fd2a29ffd.png?auto=compress,format&q=80&fit=max&width=700&height=1280&dpr=1)
    
3.  Place the socket:
    
    ![](https://cuttle-uploads.imgix.net/56/0e80e175bfd18fe952bc6a4e85fc6160f8e89e4e0f9363d19c31ee49481e4edc.jpg?auto=compress,format&q=80&fit=max&width=700&height=1280&dpr=1)
    
4.  With the anvil underneath, use the die punch and a hammer it lightly to form the rivet:
    
    ![](https://cuttle-uploads.imgix.net/56/1bad5db02e8a4b8d0f101cb63c5182e2281e38643546eb3387dc9f6c99494413.jpg?auto=compress,format&q=80&fit=max&width=700&height=1280&dpr=1)
    
5.  When you are done It should look like this:
    
    ![](https://cuttle-uploads.imgix.net/56/73257e9824b949c83a64e3607b74f2c5c7b476420baeb5d345e87c2c5b6af838.jpg?auto=compress,format&q=80&fit=max&width=700&height=1280&dpr=1)
    
6.  Now place the eyelet, notice now we are facing the engraved side of the leather:
    
    ![](https://cuttle-uploads.imgix.net/56/be56e51898fe2b146e4836a9ac87c64b1d2aa6b393422f2bcac70852553c5f72.jpg?auto=compress,format&q=80&fit=max&width=700&height=1280&dpr=1)
    
7.  And then place the stud, :
    
    ![](https://cuttle-uploads.imgix.net/56/205ea542007e49eb095200ccc38478b16d8f57e5e75318bb0dad84bffa444636.jpg?auto=compress,format&q=80&fit=max&width=700&height=1280&dpr=1)
    
8.  And once again hammer the die to shape the eyelet:
    
    ![](https://cuttle-uploads.imgix.net/56/0993a79b9425e6584066b752ac8e37c8ec328a66c2603dc809bb5a13b371c711.jpg?auto=compress,format&q=80&fit=max&width=700&height=1280&dpr=1)
    
9.  When you are done it should look like this:
    
    ![](https://cuttle-uploads.imgix.net/56/dda12977fc2265e7b6935668e201ec6087c8d8e371ab2a939b9faa12e385a579.jpg?auto=compress,format&q=80&fit=max&width=700&height=1280&dpr=1)
    
10.  And you have a bracelet!
     
     ![](https://cuttle-uploads.imgix.net/56/81ce42ebc23d9514f62f95e4b1679c6ccce0cdafa9ae3e6ea7925cfc93a9c225.jpg?auto=compress,format&q=80&fit=max&width=700&height=1280&dpr=1)
     
     ![](https://cuttle-uploads.imgix.net/56/1d1ba1eb14fb86fdecc22d569c5c435cd7bc976f71ad2a8b3a8899f41aec7167.jpg?auto=compress,format&q=80&fit=max&width=700&height=1280&dpr=1)
     
       
     

## Materials

_Contains affiliate links_

If you are using faux leather make sure it's made for cutting with a laser. A lot of faux leathers are made out of **vinyl** which is **not safe for lasers**. We have tried a couple of lasearable non-animal leathers:

-   Jonhson Plastics [Saddle Collection Leather-Like Sheets](https://www.jpplus.com/saddle-collection-sheet)
    
-   Houston Acrylic [Lasearable Leatherette](https://houstonacrylic.com/collections/leatherette)
    

**Cutting and Engraving Settings**

If you are using a Glowforge both materials cut well with the [Thin Natural Leather](https://shop.glowforge.com/products/natural-leather?variant=20442194116706) settings. For engraving the Houston Acrylics website recommends the manual setting below, which also works well with both materials.

-   Cutting: 246 speed / 71 power
    
-   Engraving: 600 speed / 12 power / 225 Lines Per Inch  
      
    

If you are using animal leather, make sure it's tanned with [safe substances for laser cutting,](https://community.glowforge.com/t/laser-safe-leather/49100) like vegetable tanning, as some chromium tanned leathers can release toxic substances when cut with a laser cutter.

-   Glowforge [Natural Leather](https://shop.glowforge.com/collections/leather/products/natural-leather)
    

Snaps and snap installing tools come in many forms, for the example above we used this inexpensive kit:

-   [Snap Fasteners Kit with Setter Base and Hollow Punch Tool](https://amzn.to/40aXXfp)
    

![](https://cuttleusercontent.com/56/28ddb0760bea6ba88386a0548fe256888bdfcbcae7442f202c58388b9addeba9.gif)

## Making Of and Other Resources

If you want to dive deeper into the making of this template do check out [Toby](https://cuttle.xyz/@toby)'s Celtic Knotwork Series:

-   [Printable Coloring Activity](https://cuttle.xyz/@toby/Celtic-Knotwork-Printable-mXvXN0oLPS69) and [Companion Video](https://youtu.be/FxUGSGoEln8) - Recommended! This is a special "graph paper" that you can print and then draw your own knotwork designs. A great way to build an intuition for how the "break lines" work in the algorithm.
    
-   Coding Series Part 1 ([live stream recording](https://youtu.be/Ca_WFxxmXfg), [code](https://cuttle.xyz/@toby/Celtic-Knotwork-Part-1-GfJXB839sAlw)) - In this live coding session we built the "skeleton" of the knotwork design which snake around the "break lines".
    
-   Coding Series Part 2 ([live stream recording](https://youtu.be/AOmDAoQc3v8), [code](https://cuttle.xyz/@toby/Celtic-Knotwork-Part-2-vnCcuG5XwHkl)) - In the second session, we finished up the basic algorithm, making the knots "weave" under or over each other and adjusting / rounding the corners appropriately.
    
-   [Celtic Knotwork (cleaned up)](https://cuttle.xyz/@toby/Celtic-Knotwork-cleaned-up-Da71hdl0xv7b) - Cleaned up the code and reparameterized the algorithm, making it easier to explore the design space of break lines.
    
-   [Celtic Knotwork (1999)](https://www.glassner.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CG-CGA-PDF-99-09-Celtic-Knotwork-1-Sept99.pdf) by [Andrew Glassner](https://www.glassner.com/) - this is the paper which all of the above is based on.
    

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