Bob Blea

Hi Hunio, I would love to see how all those parts go together...... Bob

That is exceptional work!

Tex, what did you use to polish the points? Was it a grinding wheel or just some fine grit wet/dry sand paper?

Very cool! You won't be disappointed.

Be glad you don't Shaun. Michelle's story is far too easy to repeat at Barry's booth. Believe me I've been there, several times! Bob

I bought a ray skin about a year ago and my experience has been that it's sat on the bench staring at me while I stare at it. I don't have a sewing machine and I've heard about how hard the little beads can be, and I don't want to try and push my sewing awl through them (at least not my good Douglass one). I hadn't considered pre-drilling the holes till I read it here. I might have to give that a try. I wanted to use this as an inlay in a notebook, but haven't taken on the project just yet. This has been encouraging.... Bob

Hi Cheryl, Trying out making different things might help you find your niche, but a lot of different things can be trouble. So what sort of things are people requesting you to make? Is there anything that they ask you for on more than one occasion? If you get multiple requests for a particular type of item, especially if they are making the request because they have seen something similar you have already made, it might mean that is going to be your niche. For the most part your customers and your market are going to tell you what your niche is. You have to find something that has a demand for it (customers asking for it) and that you enjoy making or at least that you won't loose money on. It's hard to come up with a product and then create a market for it. Most entrepenuers fail because they come up with a great idea, but the idea doesn't solve any problems in the market place or doesn't fill a need. Bob

That would be tough to do. You would need to case the leather for these kind of stamps to work. Casing would probably ruin your finish or dye.

Thanks Cyber, what you say makes sense. And I understand about the lines being just a bit off. I can be the same way whenever I am working with parallel lines. You've definitely put a lot of thought into this. Bob

I had too many interruptions while I was typing my post and didn't see Cyber's. He's got a good point and I could see where that would be a problem. I don't make many straps but I do crease pockets in my notebooks often, and haven't run into his sort of problem yet, but he's got good reasoning there. I maybe have just been lucky and haven't had that kind of problem. Bob

I would crease the strap before doing anything else to the edges. I want the full edge to guide my creaser. I've never tried to crease Latigo or used heat creasers, so I can't say anything about them. Bob

Thanks Chris and Rosiart!

That does look cool. I would like to try making something like this someday....

Thanks all for the kind words! I like how it turned out but it did take a lot more time than I thought. It seems like the amount of work to be done on notebook covers goes up much faster than you would think for a small increase in surface area. Bob

I actually made this back over the summer, but I had never managed to get it posted here. This was a custom order from a ranch in Nebraska that wanted a legal sized notebook that would hold an 8.5 x 14 inch pad. They wanted a full floral cover and basket stamping across the back, and their brand featured on the front. They also ordered some small notebooks (3x5 spiral bound) to go with it. One of those had a floral pattern similar to this one and the other two were just backed stamped, but they all had the same brand on them. Thanks for looking. Bob

How about hair barrettes? Or I've seen leather napkin rings. Might be able to make watch straps out of them too. Bob

I think it turned out pretty awesome too! Bob

Glad I could help Shaun. By the way, I got my bargrounders backward. I bought the #27 first and just recently got the #30 which is bigger. Also, I was assuming that you had a few basic Tandy tools already, like a camoflage and mules feet. They do perform some important jobs too. They add details to the vines and flower petals. I've been getting by with my Tandy camoflages and mules foots, but I had some older Tandy tools made back when they still had good impressions. If you don't have any of these tools, you might want to add them to your list. Like Bruce said above, all the tools on the recommended list has their use. Also, if you can get a copy, order the book 'Sheridan Style Carving' by Bill Gardner and Clinton Fay. It's a great book that shows how this style is done by masters. They show you step by step and they show you all the standard tools and how they are used. Bob

Hi Shaun, and welcome to the forum. I do a lot of floral carving, and I highly recommend Barry King's tools. They will make Sheridan style floral carving much less frustrating for you. As far as a recommendation for starting out, the most important tools you will want are the bevelers. I started off with a number 1 and 2 checkered beveler, and have added smaller ones and smooth ones over the years, but I still primarily use those sizes. The beveler is the tool you will use the most so it's worth it to have good ones right off the bat. Traditionally everything in Sheridan style is bargrounded, and Barry does have a wide selection of sizes. I bought the #30's first, and I only bought the 3 hole and 5 hole bargrounders. I work small and tend to have small background areas so these small bargrounders work for me, you might want a little bigger size like a #27. However, it's OK to use a background tool to matt the area (like the Tandy A104) and it's a lot easier. Bargrounders can be frustratingly hard to use well. Undershot bevelers, or Lifters as Barry King lists them, are almost essential too, for that scalloped look that Sheridan style gets on the flower petals and leaves. I bought one initially (think it was his #2) but later got the next size smaller too. Pear Shaders and Thumbprints are close to the same thing, but the Thumbprint is shaped a little differently and it traditionally what is used in Sheridan style. I think I have the first four sizes of horizontally lined thumbprints from Barry, though I started off just with size #1. Many carvers would tell you that you should have a variety of sizes of thumbprints to match the size of the flower petal scallop you are using it in, but you can get almost the same effect if you learn to walk your tool a bit. Starting off with just the one size can be made to work. Thumbprints are designed so one end is a bit smaller than the other, so by tipping the tool you effectively get two different (but close) size shading tools. When you buy the next size thumbprint below a size #1, you get two sizes of thumbprint below the #1, if that makes sense. I would also recommend getting at least one of Barry's veiners. They are much thinner than the standard Tandy ones and (IMO) leave a much better impression. If you can afford it, I also recommend getting a center shader and leaf liner. Both of these tools are important to getting the look of flowers and leaves that you see in Sheridan style, particularly the center shader. It's used to bevel around a flower center stamp and gives a great look of depth to the flower center. And, if you have room in your budget, good flower center stamps make your work look better. Again, Barry has a wide selection of them. To me those would be essential carving tools, but there is one other thing I would recommend: a good swivel knife. The swivel knife is the basis of all the rest of the carving and if it's not sharp and easy to use, the rest of the carving suffers. Barry makes a good knife, but you can also get one of his swivel knife blades that will fit in a Tandy knife, so that could cut down on your costs. A Barry King blade will hold an edge better than the Tandy one, so just getting that blade would probably make your life easier just like having his bevelers would. I know this sounds like a blatant ad for Barry King, but I don't work for him, just have a lot of his tools. I think the world of them and wouldn't be able to do the carving I do without them. And, he's a great guy to do business with. This is just my opinions, and others will probably differ. Bob

I would say not bad at all. My only critiques could be just a matter of style. First, I think you have too much background in your design, but that may be your style and the effect you want. I also think your flowers look small in comparison to your circles, but again that may be the style you are looking for. Also from a flow standpoint, the flow around the lower left corner and the center flower seems to cross over itself in a figure eight. Generally people try to avoid this sort of cross over, but again that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it if that's the effect you were looking for. Or maybe I'm just mis-interpreting what you've drawn there at that cross over. I would recommend defining your border around the floral area. On the bottom it looks like the leaves are going lower than the floral elements, like they are falling off the design. Bob

Very cool idea. I hadn't started working with leather when my oldest was born seven years ago and had just started learning when my second son came along. Might have to make then each a photo album like this. I really like the idea, and yours turned out great. Congratulations on the beautiful daughter! Hope she is letting you get some sleep! Bob

Very nice Cheryl, what does it look like inside? Bob

Very cool. I know nothing about chaps, but they look great to me. Bob

Your work is always inspiring! Bob

What a great idea! I've got two of those kind of block planes. Think I need to try and get that blade really sharp. Thanks for posting this. Bob