Celtic knotwork belt question

[happycat]

Hi,

I am making a celtic knotwork belt. This is my first belt and I am just starting with leather carving. I've done a couple knife sheaths (I'm a bladesmith), but thats about it as far as decorative leather work.

I've got the pattern cut into the leather with a swivel knife. My question is, Where do I go from here? My thought is to use a beveling tool on the outside edges of the knotwork and then I get a little fuzzy. I'm tenpted to use a fine checkered texturing tool (not sure of the name of these) on the areas inside the knotwork.

Does that sound about right. Any suggestions? I'm going to be dying the belt a dark brown and the knotwork green (its a two line pattern and I'm also toying with the idea of green for one and purple for the other.) Sorry I don't have pics available yet, I'm at work right now. I can try and post some when I get home.

Any suggestions would be appreciated as I'm just knid of winging it so far.

Thanks,

Ed

[Corvus]

Personally, I would use a backgrounder for all of the background both in and outside the knotwork and then use the beveller to do the parts where the knotwork crosses itself.

[TomSwede]

I agree with Corvus but like to add that backgrounding the outside too is gonna be really tideous and for celtic designs I think they hold up pretty well if only the inside is backgrounded (of course you need to bevel the outer edges with a regular checkered bevel). I use the A-104 backgrounder for all my work when I just want to recess an area very much. Sometimes I use a tool to make structures to what is outside the general motif but have not tried this with celtic designs yet so I can't recommend that but it is an option-if you don't want to work yourself to death with the little A-104. E-294 is my favourite for creating textured surfaces like I described but basketweave tools and just about anything could be used.

See to it that the leather is not too wet when backgrounding and you'll be allright.

Tom

[happycat]

Thanks for the advice. However lets, just for the sake of argument you understand, assume that I don't know an A 104 backgrounder from an A 10 Tank Killer. I think I've got a catalog somewhere in the depths of my shop, but aside from resorting to digging through the rubble, is there a resource here that I can see what these arcane numerical tools look like? I guess I could go to the Tandy website. I'm just wondering if there is some listing here....

Thanks,

Ed

[TwinOaks]

Hi Happycat, and welcome to Leatherworker.net.

I don't think we have a pictoral index of each tool. That would probably require it's own website, due to the enormous number of tools from different makers.

General terms-

beveler: used to depress the leather, usually along a cut line. This provides an impression that is deeper on one side than the other. Walking the beveler produces a smooth 'bevel' along a line.

Pear shader: teardrop shaped tool to make impressions. It's also 'walked' (moved while struck, overlapping each strike) to 'recess' the leather

Backgrounder: These tools generally have a pattern of some sort, sometimes checkered, sometimes random, to make a textured surface on the leather.

There are too many variations to individually list. However something like a 'background beveler' would create a textured impression, that's deeper on one side- usually deeper at the cut to help visually raise the pattern from the background.

Lot's of folks talk about them by their numbers. From what I've seen, Tandy's designation is pretty common, possibly due to their popularity (which is partially based on affordability).

Checking out the Tandy website will help you visualize the various tools.

Mike

Edited July 31, 2008 by TwinOaks

[TwinOaks]

Here's a pic of the E 294:*from the Tandy website*

When a section is stamped with this, you get a somewhat random pattern of raised and recessed areas.

Edited July 31, 2008 by TwinOaks

[TomSwede]

Thanks for covering Mike!

Here's a link to to a-104: http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/product...?number=6104-00

Tom

[happycat]

Thanks for the welcome and advice. I used an A 104 and a 104 and a smooth beveler smooth on the outside and 104's on the inside last night. Got most of the inside backgrounded. I like the suggestion of using a textured beveler on the knotwork to highlight where one line passes under another. Think I'll try that tonight.

After I posted that request last night, I started poking around here and found a nice "stamping tool index" database over on the "tools" forum. It is exactly what I was looking for. Heres a link:

http://www.pslac.org/stamp0001-0500.html

My thanks to the kind folks who put that together and to whoever posted it in the tools section.

Ed

[John D Dennehy]

Ed,

Maybe this little bit from an article I did will help in some way.

"The stamps used for this project are shown in (Pic 7). The first two Bevelers were made by Dan Dennehy* (my father) years ago. They are a bit steeper and do not affect the surrounding items as much as normal Bevelers do. The undercut beveler # 098,works nicely inside the tight turns. The Backgrounders are all A104’s with two of them ground down and polished to fit in small, tight areas. The border stamp was used on the billet end. I followed a standard stamping sequence by beveling everything and then doing the background. I them stamped the borders on the billet end"

I hope this helps in some way. Let me know if I can help in any other way.

Guess I should have looked further before posting.

Edited August 6, 2008 by thewildirishrose