Bob Blea

What kind of leather is the back made of? If it is veg tan and it hasn't already been stamped or carved, you might be able to wet the leather and stretch it some.

I use a product called Saddle Butter made by Ray Holes. It's more to condition the lace than anything and it helps keep it from fraying as I pull it though the holes so I think it is probably helping grease the holes a bit, but my main tool for getting the lace through a small hole is the lacing fid.

I use the same kind of needle you do and there are a couple of things you can do when this happens. First, as the others said, make sure you taper the end of the lace so none of it is sticking out the sides of the needle where the two prongs grab it. Second, skive the end of the lace a bit where the needle grabs it, but don't make it too thin. One of main culprits for this problem I have found is having the lace too thin and ending up with the two prongs sticking up above the surface of the leather and needle. The prongs will grab the leather every time you try to pull it through. Finally, get yourself a lacing fid. It's basically just a flat metal spike and you insert it into the lacing slit to temporarily open it up more when you are inserting the lace. I just push it in to open the hole a bit, remove it and then thread the lace through. Hope this helps, Bob

I use the same size punch for the lace I'm using. For 1/8 inch wide lace I use the 1/8 inch wide slit lacing punch. However, there are some very good leather workers who use the next size SMALLER for their lacing. For example, they use 3/32 for their 1/8 inch lace. They say the lacing looks tighter and more professional.

Bill, there is a place in Colorado Springs that I've heard of but have no experience with: http://www.coloradoleathergoods.com/Deerskin.htm

I too would like to thank all the veterans out there for their service. What they do for their countries is not appreciated enough.

I agree Jazzman, when I'm basket stamping something with it's very repetitive action, it can be very Zen like.

Redochre, I would make purchasing better bevellers my first priority. It doesn't matter if you are doing floral carving, names or even pictorial carving, your bevellers are going to have the most impact on your ease of tooling. You will find that a good set of bevellers makes your work sooo much more effortless. I would probably recommend Barry King as his quality is excellent and the price is very affordable. Second I would probably recommend upgrading the swivel knife. The Tandy blades are not very good steel so they are hard to keep sharp. You can get a Barry King swivel knife (which is a very good knife) for a very reasonable price and it will hold an edge well. Tools after that depend on what kind of carving you ultimately decide you want to do. Hope this helps, Bob

Better yet, Google Rocky Mountain National Park. It's about an hour's drive from my house. And I don't think you would want to be in my garden shed the next few days. Low's at night are going to be around 0 deg. F.

I think you're showing a lot of improvement. The depth of your carving is better and there are less tooling marks in your beveling. Your swivel knife cuts look pretty smooth too.

Jazzman, I'm with you. When I am working on leather it draws on some internal energy that can keep me going for hours late at night. It does effect me when I can't get time to work on leather in some form. I do feel a compelling need to be working on something or learning something, and I have far more ideas in my head that I will be able to make anytime soon. I also agree there is a great feeling when you have created something specific to a customer and their needs that is incredibly rewarding. Bob

I just surprised myself. My wallet (which is a little stuffed) contains 20 cards, including my insurance cards, AAA, drivers license and work ID. Didn't think I carried that many. At least my wallet is just regular cow skin.

Not bad Redochre, but I do see a couple of things. First, your cuts don't appear to be very deep so you are not getting much depth to your carving. Your beveling is leaving lots of tool marks. That may be because the leather is too wet when you are carving it, or it might be the beveller itself. The tools in the beginners kits are notoriously bad (or so you hear, no experience myself) so it might just be the qualify of that beveller in the picture making it hard for you to make a smooth bevel. You used the veiner in the leaves properly and so to with the shader in the flower petals, so you've got quite a bit going for you here. Good job on the edges of the leaves with the saw tooth effect, just need practice and some matting to hide the tool marks from the backgrounder. Overall a good start, just keep practicing!

I'll vouch for these classes too. They are a great chance to learn from master craftsmen. I've taken many of them and always found them to be more than worth the money.

There are a discussion about this recently: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=58834 There were some good ideas in that thread. Bob

I'm impressed. It looks great and your hand stitching looks very even. I'd like to know how you attach the lining too. I'd like to work up to making something like this someday.

Awesome work Mike! What do you seal them with that protects them from being sat on?

Hi Sue, I get the Blair spay at my local artist supply store but I do not think you can get it at a Hobby Lobby or Michael's type of place. And yes, I am using it on tooled veg-tan leather but it does flex and bend when it's used in a light coat. I've never tried it on a more flexible or softer leather to see how it behaves. Bob

I can't speak to the dyeing process but I have been using a spray on fixative. I use Blair spray on Fixatives in both matte and gloss versions for the final coat on the carved notebooks I make. It's basically an acrylic overspray kind of like spraying on Resolene with an airbrush. The matte spray works well and doesn't get shiny unless I put a lot on, and it seems to hold up OK. I don't have any problems with chemical smells once it has dried. It doesn't leave a tacky surface once dry either.

Thank you for sharing this! One question just to clarify, you designed the snaps to snap into mating parts on the back piece you would attach this to, correct? As a leathworker I've always felt I was missing something by not making my own case for my mini. You may have inspired me to give it a try. I know I could carve a really nice cover for it! Bob

I think it should be a gift certificate for one of your tools! If it wasn't for the contributions from everyone that has ever posted on this site, I wouldn't know most of what I know today. The answers to just about every question are hidden in here somewhere, you just need to do a little digging. I am very thankful for all of this combined knowledge and wisdom.

Thanks Bill! I take that as a fantastic compliment. I don't know about my skill levels but I'm very glad my communication is clear. That's part of what I do for my 'day' job so I take a lot of pride in that!

I think your belt looks fantastic. I'm not a belt maker but I definitely think it is worth more than $100. It looks like a quality belt, a lot better than much of what you will find at a department store men's department.

So this makes my 1000 post on LW.net. Somehow I think I've spent waaay to much time here! I do want to thank everyone here for all the good information and help that has answered my questions and helped me develop my knowledge and skills over the years. I'm very appreciative of all the people who have freely shared their skills and knowledge with others like myself that are trying to learn this art. I do think this is a great resource and home to some of the best craftsmen and craftswomen on the web. Thank you all! Bob

Thanks for sharing!