JDFred

Very nice work!

If you had some checkered ones I would be interested. I started using a lifter in my oak leave and the slicking bothers me, tried to clean it up with a small bevel with no luck.

That is what I noticed last night when I was using lifter and the basketweave stamp. I was able to touch the areas up but it started getting darker than I wanted. So I decided to do my tooling first then dye after. Thanks for the response. I was more curious if it was a cardinal sin of leather work or ok to do. It seems to maybe be ok in some cases but not real great for reagular use.

Thank you for the help. I’m going to do some more testing as I got to thinking about using lifters and it may leave a spot that will need touched up and look odd.

I think pastorbob on this forum started making acrylic templates recently maybe ask him

I’m building a 3 ring binder and I’m using some cheaper leather that doesn’t burnish well when tooling but accepts dye really well. I’m worried about my light brown dye turning to dark brown accidentally when dying over the tooled areas, and it might be more controllable on smooth leather. So I had a thought about dying first then tooling. I tried a test piece last night and the impressions I got seemed to be decent. I typically use Angelus alcohol dyes with a dauber. For this I was thinking of using a sponge to apply the dye. I’m trying to do a good job on this as it is my first commissioned piece. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you.

Thank you. I may try a spray bottle I can see where it would give a more even coverage than a sponge.

Don Gonzales has a you tube video and a free download to go with it for a folding money clip it needs no hardware and is simple. It could be modified to have a snap if you wanted. You can stamp a geometric pattern in it or some initials or find an embossed crome tan you like. I was thing it would be a good project for our 4-H club. Good luck.

I'm sorry to hear about your wife. The sling is beautiful. I really like the simplicity of the tooling. What did you use for the backgroung for the initials?

I’ll preface this with my beveling is not perfect but it is much better than when I started. Practice consistent hammer blows so some impressions are not deeper than others that will also help you with the rest of your carving, especially backgrounding. Also like Bruce said moving the tool over a 1/3 or less at a time will help prevent the chatter. I’ve also found if after I finish a line I go back over it a time or two a little quicker it helps clean up some of the chatter and deepens the burnish. The tool stays in the beveled line better than on the first pass so you can go quicker. At the end of the day practice is the only way to get truly good at it, a cliche I know but the truth non the less. Hope this helps.

Craft Japan make decent stamps i would put them on par with 70s vintage crafttool stamps. the ones I have I got from proleathercarvers.com

Thank you for the input, you’re probably right about my casing technique. I’m one of those that wets it with a sponge and goes to work in 15 mins. The reason for that is I try to fit leather work in the evening if I have some spare time so I don’t get to do it every day. I have tried to case leather in a bag in the fridge and by time I got back to it a week later it was dry and I had to start over so I kinda abandoned the method. The time thing is also why my antiquing and finish never turns out great I get in to big a hurry trying to get a project done and don’t let resist dry enough or let the antique set long enough, but that is a me problem I’m trying to get better about. Thank you for the kind word about the stitching and the basket weave, straight lines and geometrics appeal to my meticulous nature which is one of the reasons I don’t like floral carving as much but I’m trying to expand my abilities. Thank you again for the help.

I like to use a straight edge or wing dividers to scribe a line then use stitching chisels to punch the holes. It gets a pretty good result on my stitch lines.

Very nice. That probably took a month of Sundays to braid.

I was cruising YouTube last night and found a video with Joe Meling put on by Weaver. It had a free tooling pattern with it, so I printed it off and made one. I added the basket weave to the original pattern. My scrolls need a little work but my antique and finish is the best I’ve done to date. Let me know what’s right and what’s wrong. Thanks

Beautiful, your quilting and letter turned out awesome.

I did follow along when you built that it was a very impressive project, showing off a wide range of skills. It turned out beautifully.

I struggled getting the hang of it my, ruler or my knife would wander, it got a lot better after I got a ceramic blade. I guess it glides in the leather and along the ruler better. I apologize for sounding rude in my original reply to you I meant to say “I learned to use a straight edge…” my thoughts and my typing weren’t working together. Thank you.

Thank you Thank you, learn to use a straight edge with my swivel knife made that quilting a lot easier.

I just finished this purse for my mother in law. It’s hand sewn with a hair on inlay. Thanks to everyone on the critique side of this forum for the help with the acorns and oak leaves, I hope I did it justice. Let me know what you think and where I can do better.

Tandy and George Hurst have a good video on YouTube on how to index and layout that stamp. I’m not tech savvy enough to attach links, sorry. Because of the stamp shape and the impression it makes you can’t use a reference line like you do with a basket stamp. If you look at the impression of the stamp you’ll see dots in the corners, you’ll use those to index your next stamp with the little bumps on the face of the stamp.

Sometimes it takes over night for the dye to finish moving through the leather. Oiling it after you dye it also helps the dye to even out , also let the oil sit over night before you judge it. I use Angelus alcohol based dyes and apply with a wool dauber. Do you apply the dye in lines or in random circles? I’ve had better luck getting down into things and mor even coverage using circles. Leather quality dose make a difference also. I’m not to the point where I think I’m ready to buy good leather yet so I get some of those spot that don’t take dye real well it’s part of it. Just keep after it and it will get better.

I hate it when I cut thread too short. I’ve found measuring about two inches longer than the piece I need to sew then times that by four.

Looks nice, your lines in your diamonds are super straight. The only thing I see is where you finished you stiching try to hide where you burned the thread where it is not so noticeable. I try to put it in the corner on the inside. Keep up the good work.

I have the same question so I asked a friend that builds a lot of leggin’s and she said that one should be enough but for me because I have a 38” inseam it might be close. She buys her leather from Panhandle Leather she said to call them they could help with some bigger sides for longer legs. I have bought some stuff from them before and they are good people to deal with. I still haven’t got around to building mine yet so I can’t speak from experience but I hope this helps.