Reply by David Kirtley

The washers go on a tenon and are punched out of full grain leather. Then they are stacked on and glued. Final sanding to shape. Same finish as the wood.

I personally prefer metal hoops on mine or just plain wood. Plain wood for paring chisels and metal for any that are going to get whacked on a regular basis. They just hold up a lot better. For steel ones, the easy way is to plan for them by cutting a tenon sized to fit rings cut from tubing. EMT works ok. My favorite ones were when I had picked up piece of brass pipe at the scrap yard and turned them down after mounting them on the handle.

-- Woodworking shouldn't cost a fortune: http://lowbudgetwoodworker.blogspot.com/