I just finished a stag-handled knife, with leather washers as part of it, for the AM Stresa Show in Italy, . Ernie Grospitch makes a stabilized block of leather handle spacers that work beautifully. No need to glue up each piece of leather, it's all done! To see the knife and the leather blocks, go here:
http://www.erniesknives.com/leather_stabilized.html
Ernie's phone number is: 1-407-568-5438
See photo below.