Bob Blea

I am almost certain Wayne Jueschke makes a stamp like that. I would contact him. He doesn't have a website for his tools. It's best to give him a call at 775-738-4885.

I'm with the others on recommending working on your swivel knife skills. They really are the foundation on any carving. You will want to be able to make smooth flowing cuts and tight turns accurately. You will also want to be able to accurately control the depth of your cuts. From your example I suspect that your swivel knife isn't sharp enough. A well sharpened knife with a polished edge will make carving your pattern MUCH easier and give you more control.

Nice vintage Etsy shop!

There was a post in the Exotic Leather section that talked a little about using fish skins: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=44466 That might give you a nibble.

Thank you Dinah, do you have an Etsy shop too? You should post a link to it.... Glad you got the stitching horse working. You should post some pics of it.

Welcome to the forum. You have some very nice items in your Etsy shop.

Welcome to the forum! Sounds like you are pretty well equipped for just about anything.

Maybe Oxalic Acid would remove some of the oil and lighten it up a bit?

grimmlin, just from reading your original post, I'd say your leather is still way too wet. I dip my leather in water like you do but not for very long. I used to wait for bubbles to lessen or stop but I decided I didn't need it that wet. Even with my very dry climate (much less humidity than where you live) I find I need to let my leather sit out in the air to dry for many hours before it starts to get back to the right moisture level for tooling. The tool can effect how the leather burnishes but you should still get some burnish with any tool if the leather is almost dry. Try dipping a scrap piece and letting it sit out for several hours and see how it takes a stamp impression then.

I wouldn't call 6-10 inches small by any means. I've used pieces of leather like that to make small notebook covers like for a 3x5 inch pocket notebook. You have even more options if you can stitch a couple of pieces together. You could use pieces that size to make wallets too. Then of course there are always key fobs and hair barrettes.

I would burnish first then paint. The rubbing will wear off some of the paint. For the times I use acrylics I spray on a top coat that is also acrylic. I use a product called Blair Matte Medium, and it's used to fix pastel chalk to a canvas once you are finished with the artwork. You should be able to do the same with Resolene. I would spray it with an airbrush if I could, but if you have to brush it on I think that would work too. Remember to thin Resolene 50/50 with water (or maybe thinner) so it doesn't make too thick a coating. You can always make multiple thin coats to get the finish you want. Hope this helps, Bob

I would do that in two separate steps. I would cut the circle first and then use a tool to bevel (skive actually) the edge.

I recently took a carving and painting class with Robert Beard. In that class he used Liquitex paints. I know he uses some higher end paints in his own work but the Liquitex did a good enough job in the class. I've used them for years (before I started in leather) and haven't had a problem with them holding up.

PM sent.

Yes, walking the tool helps with those marks. Just a little practice will clear those right up.

That's a pretty big carving and it will distort and want to curl as it dries. In a class I was in once Robert Beard recommended that if you needed something to dry flat you needed to put something on top of it to hold it flat as it dries. I didn't ask for details and I'm not sure exactly how you would do that. He was talking about putting the project under a book (at least that's what I thought he was saying) but it seems like it would take forever to dry without the ability for air to circulate. One alternative I just thought of would be to cut your leather oversize, make your carving and then tack it down to a board when complete. You would put the tacks in the margin outside of the part you plan on using on the clock. It should dry flat, then you cut off the excess with the marks from your tacks. Just be careful because most metal tacks are iron based and will react with the wet leather leaving dark discoloration around the holes they make. It will spread a bit from the tack so don't put them so close to your project edge that they ruin it.

Tony, I case my leather first. I dip it in water and put it aside to dry some. It usually goes into a bag to sit overnight in the refrigerator. When I'm ready to work on it I bring it back out and let it dry until it's about ready to carve. That's when I attach either my tape or shelf liner to the back. I then use a slicker to compress the grain side and press it down onto the liner. If the leather has the right moisture content for tooling the liner will stick to it.

Looks good. I see places where your beveller left tool marks but with practice that will clear up. Good work on capturing the shading.

Nice job! Can't imagine making a whole set like that for my wife. It would take me all year.

I wouldn't glue it to the board first, I would do that after a do all the tooling and finishing. When I tool or stamp or carve leather I put either packing tape or plastic shelf lining paper on the back of my project to prevent stretch while working the leather. I then let it dry when I'm done, often clamping it into the desired shape or pinning down the edges so it doesn't curl while drying. Once dry I remove the tape or shelf liner. Then I would glue it to the board in the clock. Hope this makes sense, Bob

Looks perfectly functional and looks nice too.

Hi Tony, A 6/7 ounce leather is probably going to have the same problem as the lighter leather. Because leather gets stretchy and formable when cased, your tooling and stamping will cause some distortions to make the leather curl, and the process of drying can also make leather curl into strange shapes. It's just less of a problem with the thicker leathers. If I were making a clock I would glue the leather to a wooden backing inside the box. It would allow me to use the thinner leather and not have to worry about it distorting over time. If you absolutely didn't want to or couldn't glue the leather to a backing, you could clamp the edges of the project flat while it dries. The leather should hold the form or shape you clamp it in while drying. Hope this helps, Bob

That looks pretty nice Thor!

Thank you all! To answer the questions about the back, that is a new Barry King geometric called a 'Diamond Contour' stamp. I got it at the last Sheridan show but I see he does have them on his website now. Bob

Happy New Year to you too Ray, good to see you here.