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Ferg

First Leather Carving In 30 Years

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Thirty plus years ago I put my chest of tools, boxes of patterns, Al Stohlman and Ken Griffin books in the storage closet and other than practicing some machine and hand sewing I have done very little

leather work. Until the bug bit me again about two or three weeks ago. All the years I spent working with leather were fun times, mostly because I didn't have the pressure of making a living with it.

In those thirty plus years I built some furniture with leather inlays and never got completely away from the "Gotcha" smell and feel of fine leather.

I took the following work from a "Dover" book of flower images. Was not intended for carved leather, I had no carving pattern to follow, I just winged it.

The piece was carved on a piece of leather I had cut 40 years ago for a Christmas scene that just got put on the back burner.

I am halfway pleased with it. Mostly since my hands have some of that old "Arthur" creeping into the joints, I cannot handle the knife and tools real well anymore. I'm working on that :)

Never done a lot of free hand molding with the molding tools until this piece. Just played around with some things. You will notice that I done different actions on some of the same type

pieces. I could probably point out a lot of mistakes and whatever else. Two coats of NeatsFoot Oil, allowed to dry 48 hours. Two coats of "Neat-Lac" , my last can. Thought about using a dark antique stain, decided not to.

Leather is 8 oz. and measures 11" x 13".

Thanks for visiting an old man's playground.

ferg

post-15740-036960600 1281147399_thumb.jp

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Thirty plus years ago I put my chest of tools, boxes of patterns, Al Stohlman and Ken Griffin books in the storage closet and other than practicing some machine and hand sewing I have done very little

leather work. Until the bug bit me again about two or three weeks ago. All the years I spent working with leather were fun times, mostly because I didn't have the pressure of making a living with it.

In those thirty plus years I built some furniture with leather inlays and never got completely away from the "Gotcha" smell and feel of fine leather.

I took the following work from a "Dover" book of flower images. Was not intended for carved leather, I had no carving pattern to follow, I just winged it.

The piece was carved on a piece of leather I had cut 40 years ago for a Christmas scene that just got put on the back burner.

I am halfway pleased with it. Mostly since my hands have some of that old "Arthur" creeping into the joints, I cannot handle the knife and tools real well anymore. I'm working on that :)

Never done a lot of free hand molding with the molding tools until this piece. Just played around with some things. You will notice that I done different actions on some of the same type

pieces. I could probably point out a lot of mistakes and whatever else. Two coats of NeatsFoot Oil, allowed to dry 48 hours. Two coats of "Neat-Lac" , my last can. Thought about using a dark antique stain, decided not to.

Leather is 8 oz. and measures 11" x 13".

Thanks for visiting an old man's playground.

ferg

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Looking good, Ferg! 30 year break and you do that? Can't wait to see what you do after you get "warmed up"!

Crystal

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very cool ferg.

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hi buddy,,glad to see i am not the only guy who can attempt a comeback..in my case the passion of firearms and shooting just a natural drift over to carrying leather..i still got a couple of piece from way back when that were not gun related,,who knows may try some after i get my arsenal encased!! I haven't tried carving anything yet but revisited some random stamping in my holster...The Fred Sanford hand don't help a damn thing either..Sometimes some of the mistakes we make

in my humble opinion can ad character and a certain quality of bueaty to the project...take care ferg,,,holler at at another combacker some time,,,,i gotta get some shut eye!!

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hi buddy,,glad to see i am not the only guy who can attempt a comeback..in my case the passion of firearms and shooting just a natural drift over to carrying leather..i still got a couple of piece from way back when that were not gun related,,who knows may try some after i get my arsenal encased!! I haven't tried carving anything yet but revisited some random stamping in my holster...The Fred Sanford hand don't help a damn thing either..Sometimes some of the mistakes we make

in my humble opinion can ad character and a certain quality of bueaty to the project...take care ferg,,,holler at at another combacker some time,,,,i gotta get some shut eye!!

Thanks for the comments folks. Glad you enjoyed perusing the piece. Our family business will gear up shortly for Christmas Rush, the leather work will be put back in the chest until after first of the year 2011. Have several things in mind to do along with the "Honey Do's" I have promised. :)

ferg

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guess i did something wrong wrong trying to post ferg,,,sorry,,,,anyways i just wanted to say making a comeback is fun and work looks good,,have no idea how my information got mixed up with your post...my computer skills and leather

keep me challenged!! lol

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shoot looks good to me. maybe I need to take a 30 year break.

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gorgeous. the sort of work i wish i could do. even without the age contribution, my hands just aren't what they ought to be (along with all the rest of my joints), so i know how hard it can be sometimes.

better get off the computer and back to the leather if i want to get anywhere with it...

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You know what I like as well? In addition to the elegance of the piece I am amazed at the fact that this was done on a 40 year old piece of leather. Think about that when it comes to the current trend of everyone "going green". Leather is such a durable material.

You have the gift!

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