Big Steve

Nice job mate looks good

Many thanks for taking time to look and thank you for your comments. Regards,Steve.

OdinUK, the tooling can take me between 2 hours upto about 10 hours like the sheridan style mug, to stitch the thing together about 3 hours i use 1/8" spacing and i saddle stitch it, i dont use one of those auto awls i cant get on with them, the cutting of the parts and moulding the bottom about 1 hour , if i do a plain ones and dont get to many interuptions ican do 2 in a normal working day but then they nedd to be waxed/ pitched this i do in batches of around ten as it works out to be quicker and cheaper, dont know if this is about right i would be interesed to hear from other mug makers on how long it takes them to do them, you would be well advised to have a look at Angsters mug tutorial it will help you loads i think his tutorial should be pinned , Regards, Steve.

Urshag, there isa book called figure carving finesse by al stohlman it shows how to carve reptile skin petterns maybe that vwould help, thanks for checking out my work. Regards, Steve.

Urshag, these were the first mugs that i made, glad you like them the effect you like was not intended, first i used a small ball pien hammer and went over the surface to create a hammer finish that was all iwas trying to do, but as i said these were my first attempt and this one was the first in the wax dont know if it was the wax to hot or it was the leather as all these were made from off-cuts, i havev tried to do it again but with no results the tempreture was around the 180 degrees centigrade i have a deepfat fryer that i use for the wax, i hope this will help you if ican be more help you can email me bigsteve@hotmail.co.uk if you get tlme there more of my work on www.bigsteves.co.uk lets have some pictures when you have done your mugs. Regards, Steve.

Hi Roger, try Paul Cox in New York area, dont have any contact details but he uses Buffalo for some of his seats may be worth a call you got nothing to loose. Regards,Steve..

Billymack, nice one mate, like the face, Regards, Steve

Outstanding workmanship.. nuff said, keepit up, i lost 2 good friends this year both bikers (not through bike accidents ) i know what you are going through, good look with the bow making. Regards, Steve.

Hey, this looks good to me i like the shading was it air brushed or dry rubbed ? good work. Regards,Steve.

Here are the 2 new seats that i have been working on as usual let me have any comments good or bad as feedback is always helpfull its the only way to improve. Regards,Steve.

Luke, what kind if pitch are you after ? the none sticky black stuff that i use is from danjdclark@goglemail.com in the UK. mail him see if he will ship to US give us a mention if you contact him as i have recomended him a lot ever the past few weeks. Regards, Steve.

Hiya Max, just read the reply about leather finish, whats your own oil/wax mix? always interested in what you guys are doing over the pond, would you like to share the info, be good if you could. Regards,Steve..

Hiya, Jason.. the sealer i used is brewers pitch it is what is used to line the inside of wooden beer barrels theres is no smell, taste and its not at all sticky like the pine pitch that you guys use its all i can get in the uk. but i am well pleased with it and so are my customers, i can give you a contact in the uk if you wish its danjdclark@googlemail.com Dans company is called Traditonal Materials dont know if he ships to US it cost me £10.00 for a 500grm block dont know if thats expensive or not. Thanks for taking the time to post if i can be more help then let me know by PM or whatever. Regards, Steve.

Yan, i like the wine gobblet enjoyed making it the template was a Burger King coke cup .. cut out the bottom cut down the side add a bit on to stitch it up simple pattern, i could not leave the wife out now could i!! glad you like it thanks for taking time to comment. Regards, Steve.

Hiya guys n gals, i make biker gear but one of my customers has asked me to make a shot gun bag are there any tutorials around that may help . Regards, Steve.

Nice job dude ,what did you use for the colour?

Hi there,the way i stop the leather buckling is also to glue it to a piece of card, but first i cover the flesh side with 2" packing tape ( sellotape) and then go over that with 2" double sided tape the kind used to fasten carpets down, then attach this to the card, when you have done all your stamping/ carving then pull the card and all the tape from the leather do it when the leather is totaly, dry pull the card and tape from the leather not the leather from the card this way you wont stretch the leather and there is no glue or anytning on the back side of your project simple but it works for me. Regards,Steve.

Angster, "oh greatest master of the mug" thanks you for your encouragement, but as i told you the other day i could not have made them without your tutorial and your additional help, i plan to make more of these as they seem to have been well received by the people over here, what i have done is to number and date each mug i have made, you never know in years to come they may become collectable LOL.. hope the inside picture is ok if not let me know i will send you a better one no problem. Regards,Steve

alb, i thank you for taking time to comment, i found Angsters tutorial very helpfull its worth taking a look at, Regards, Steve.

Well, have a look at these see what you think any comments good or bad most welcome, i give a special thanks to Angster for his help and advice.

Angster , see what you meen about the top of the handle being lower will giv that a go next time, i normaly dont like painted leather much but you have just changed my mind.... i like the Harlequin best, good stuff as we would expect from you, Regards, Steve.

Hiya Mate, this looks realy nice and about a hundred years old.. what did you use to do the background not seen this before, also did you block dye it to get the colour effect ... looks very effective Regards, Steve.