Floral and Sheridan Carving
Sometimes called "Sheridan", or Traditional Western Style, it is the familiar scrolls, western roses and leaves brought to North America by the Spanish and used in California, Arizona, Porters etc
446 topics in this forum
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Johanna says things are fixed and we can post pictures again. I am going to start with this short How To. I am working on an in depth one on figure carving too, but want to see how this one goes first. These pictures show how I carved a simple floral pattern. The first picture shows the pattern carved with the swivel knife. You can see that where cuts meet, there is a small gap, the cuts do not meet. Where cuts end, try to lessen the pressure on the knife, letting the cuts fade out instead of ending abruptly. This picture shows the addition of pear shading. I like to use the pear shader in the center of the leaves and scrolls, leaving a ridge around the edge. Start the…
Last reply by Professor, -
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Introductory Carving Class Part One Tools Swivel Knife - Used to cut the outline of the pattern into the leather and for decorative and accent cuts. Blade Styles 1.) Straight Blade - Used for general duty work. Has 2 cutting points ready 2.} Angle Blade. Usually used for fine detail and figure carving or filigree work. 3.) Hollow Ground Blade - A type of straight blade, the difference being in the way the blade is formed. There is a hollow formed in the center of the blade so that the cutting edge is much thinner at the center of the blade, allowing a sharper edge 4.} Hair Blades - come in two sizes (1M" & 3/8") ,and are generally used for "hair" textures in c…
Last reply by Mel Llama, -
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I couldn't resist this cute little Tandy kit. Once you decorate it as you please (it comes with a carving pattern and a basket weave stamping pattern) you add the finish of your choice and fold it up. Here it is with the suggested carving completed and with some Neatsfoot oil. After this pic I dyed the background areas black. I'll add a resist finish as soon as I get a chance, and then fold it all up. The leather couldn't have been any thicker than 2 ounce, but it handled tooling better than I anticipated. This was a fun way to get in several hours worth of practice. -Matt
Last reply by Dgaz, -
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Pretty sure these were a gimmick from a couple decades back. I scored 3 of them, I'm assuming they are mainly for shop decor and not really good for carving. Does anyone who used these have any thoughts or comments about them?
Last reply by bruce johnson, -
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Decided to try some Wickett and Craig American Vachetta from The Buckle Guy. Been using Herman Oak for 15 yrs and still love they way it tools but personally I think the HO quality has just gone downhill. When you order A grade you should get A grade. There's not anything A grade about any of the A grade HO I've been getting lately. It's nice to be able to order by the square foot but I have to order double what I need to get a usable piece. It turns out there prices are really good. Try to buy HO by the foot anywhere else it is 3x the price. Now it takes a min of 3 days to get an order out and then for some reason it gets to Dallas in 2 days and then takes at least 3 m…
Last reply by Samalan, -
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My desire to carve far exceeds my skill at carving. I've watched a few videos on how to use a beveler (most helpful was Jim Linnell's series on the Colorado State 4H site). He bevels like a sewing machine, precise and fast. Most other videos have people showing how to bevel of a similar skill level. I bevel like one tap every two seconds, and it is *awkward* - I am aiming for even strikes and moving the beveler half a tool width. Jim recommends "hovering" the tool just barely over the leather surface and using a finger to spring the tool back for faster motion ... I realize that is a pro-tip, but I don't want to learn bad habits that are hard to un-learn. Am I doin…
Last reply by HandyDave, -
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Bob Park - Western Floral Designs Book? I know this book exists, any advice on how to get it. Have tried amazon and and hidepounder but no success. Cheers, Jason in Canada
Last reply by AEBL, -
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I was getting a little frustrated looking for copies of out-of-print floral/Sheridan books and I ran across an e-Book (PDF) on the topic by Don Gonzalez. I'm about halfway through it now, and will probably read it about eighteen more times in my excitement to learn how to do this carving stuff. The book is more in the vein of "how you can *also* become a designer of floral patterns" rather than "copy my diagram" - and I love it. He helps me understand why I would use a particular design element in a place, and explains some of his design habits (keeping a sketchbook of potential new flowers, leaves, for instance). He explains "flow" and "balance" in a way that doesn'…
Last reply by FrankHester, -
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Checking out some Duane Watts knives online and can't seem to wrap my mind around how the blade/yoke is held in the bearing side. I see that they are interchangeable, offering the option to swivel the blade, or swivel the yoke like a traditional knife. When swiveling knife, I am understanding the yoke is sleeved into the body and secured with set screw to hold it stationary. I see there is a bearing pressed into the body on the other end, and a hole that appears to be for a set screw, but see only brass inside hole. Is the blade/yoke only held in by friction to the bearing or is there a retention ring, etc. that secure it?
Last reply by IH460, -
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Some of them I can figure out: P=pear shader, V=veiner, U=mule tracks, S=seeder ... but K, A, X ... ? X=basket? I'm interested in floral carving, but have zero experience. I got a collection of tools from a local guy. I'm sure that there are people that understand the purpose of the various stamps - but sometimes if your only clue is what the stamp looks like in leather, it is still a mystery. For instance if I hadn't watched some videos, the purpose of mule tracks would have been lost on me, I would have assumed it was some sort of border stamp.
Last reply by AEBL,
