Bob Blea

Interesting idea, but I've never run across a stamp shaped like that. I think that would be a good design challenge for Bob Beard! He enjoys coming up with the unusual tool designs. I'm pretty sure it's just a matter of technique. I look at the "Fun With Basket Stamping" articles Chan Geer writes in the Leather Crafters and Saddlers Journal and I'm always amazed at the creativity it take to come up with the ideas he does. I'm pretty sure there are a lot of great techniques that some experienced leatherworks out there have for doing this sort of thing. Just hoping someone out there can share some little nuggets of wisdom..... Bob

The Columbine Leather Guild is hosting the IFoLG show this year in Denver, Sept. 27-29th. Lots of good classes, I'm hoping to get in on at least one of them. Planning on making something for the contest too. All the details are in the link below. http://columbineleatherguild.webs.com/ifolg2013show.htm Bob

Yes it is addicting, welcome to the club! Bob

Hi Stef73433, I've wondered about this too. I've looked at square geometrics on saddles and I think every time I've seen them used on swells I see they end up with the same kind of distortions. When you think about it, it's probably just about impossible not to have some problem like this due to the tight curves of the surface on the swell. HOWEVER, I have seen some that look better than others, almost to the point where you don't really notice the distortion unless you are looking close. I'm not sure how they are adjusting when they do this, and it probably is just an experience thing, but if someone has tricks to this they would like to share, I would love to know them too. I think the square geometrics or 'box stamps' are some of the hardest stamps to operate well. Bob

That looks great! I hope you get a lot more orders for it. Bob

Hello Cantankerously, and welcome to the forum! When I am making a prototype of something, I usually make the template out of thick paper. I often end up using junk mail cardstock flyers for this if they are big enough. Once I have made the item and I'm sure about the dimensions and I know I will make future versions of it, I make a template out of plastic. I get a thin clear plastic sheet from the craft store. I find it in the sewing section at Hobbly Lobby and I think it's used to make templates for quilters. I have also used thin cardboard for this too, and I've seen people use the brown paper that sides of leather come wrapped in (think brown butcher's paper) for making templates for big parts like saddle fenders. Bob

Hello roam, and welcome to the forum. That is a great looking wallet. I really like the contrast of the tooling to the red border and your antiqe looks outstanding. The only criticisms I can see are in a few places the beveling looks a bit choppy, but maybe that is what you meant by 'not smooth enough'. Also, in the first picture the flow of the vine around the bottom flower seems to merge with the flow of the vine above it, reversing the flow. From the picture it appears the flows clash at that point. But otherwise this looks really good. Bob

Hello GhostWind, and welcome to the forum! I'm not a saddle maker, just interested in doing it some day. I don't know much about tree makers but I know of one that has a good repuation and maybe can help you out. Rod Nikkel: http://www.rodnikkel.com/content/index.php. Don't know if they have any experience making your kind of tree though. Bob

Yes, thank Bud, it would make sense in cold climates that saddles and tack would freeze all the time. Leather is pretty amazing stuff when you think about it, and all the stuff we can do with it still today. Bob

That turned out really great. You should be proud! Bob

This looks great too. And I agree with you for what it's worth, their logo would look better if it were red or a darker color. I like it, and I'll bet they will be thrilled with it. Good luck on the other 6, that looks like a lot of work. Bob

I reall like the light on black background effect. I can see why it would be popular. Bob

Nice looking pack! Is the Austin leather water resistant like Latigo? I've never used it before and don't know anything about it. Bob

Thank you for sharing this Chit! Bob

Very nice looking! One question from someone who has never made a watch strap: How to you finish the edges in a situation like this? Are you able to burnish the edge with the Ostrich or do you need to do something else to finish or seal the edge? Bob

You're right, I never thought about it but I'll bet some saddle and tack does freeze when used in winter. It must take some amount of freezing because I can't tell the difference where it has happened on the notebooks, and they don't appear to take dye / antique any differently when finishing. Bob

I second Cyberthrasher's 3M packing tape. I use it to tape the back of most everything. Recently I've started using clear shelf liners from the dollar store. It comes in big rolls, is clear (but any color will do) with a peel away backing, and it is cheap. I use Con-Tact brand, and it doesn't seem to leave any residue on the leather either. I think the 3M tape actually works a little better but it sure is a lot easier to cut the shelf lining to the size of my project and put it on all at once, versus putting multiple strips of the tape across the back of a notebook.

Hello, I've had this same thing happen in my home fridge. I make notebooks and I've had occasions where a corner of the cover freezes. In my case, it didn't seem to degrade the leather at all. I've even been told by a couple of people making saddles that they have stored cased pieces in the freezer when they couldn't work on them for long periods of time. But, I've also been told by other saddle makers that this isn't good for the fibers in the leather, and I can certainly see how it could weaken the leather some. In my case it just wasn't noticable. In your case, I still don't think it will make a big difference and I think you will be fine. But, if this was your safety harness I would make another piece. Just my opinion, Bob

I don't think you will have much problems with the Resolene since it is acrylic based as well, but I am told the solvents in Neat Lac / Clear Lac / Wyosheen will disolve acrylics, so if you are using one of those you can have problems. On another post here Spinner recommended using Acrylic Matte Medium as an over coat on acrylic paints to protect them prior applying the lacquer based finishes like Clear Lac. Bob

Hello and welcome to the forum! The technique shown in the photo is antiqing. Once you are finished with your carving and stamping, you apply an antique paste or gel that is darker than your leather and then wipe it back off. The dark antique stays down in the stamps and carving, giving the effect in your picture. If you are in Missouri and are anywhere near Springfield, you can go to Springfield Leather. They have a variety of products that will do this and can probably give you lots of tips based on whatever kind of product you want to do. Hope this helps, Bob

I agree with Silverwingit, making sure you have good visibility of how the legs are lining up is critical. I usually prefer to be able to see the long side of the basket and the short one, so I'm usually have one corner pointed right at me. That lets me see both sides and I can make sure the stamp is lining up. Make sure you have good lighting, so you can clearly see where the legs of the stamp are really going. Also, these are a great time to use magnification. I don't normally wear glasses (though my vision isn't what it used to be, it's still very good) but I did buy some reading glasses to help with hand sewing and making sure some of these stamps are lined up correctly. Personally, I wouldn't recommend starting off with the angled basketweave that Sturme shows in his link, though it isn't that hard to do. I would recommend starting off by drawing a line across your project and then stamping straight down that line, running the basket weave on either side. Take your time making sure you get the legs of the stamp falling on that line each time. Extra care with that first row of stamps will make the job easier for the rest of the project. When doing this first line I usually view the stamp from the short end and make sure the stamp is running parallel to my reference line. Once that first row is complete, I turn the project 90 degrees so I am looking more at the long side of the stamp. Now I align the stamp in the legs of the previous row of stamps, and because you have that good row of baskets (that you took your time doing well) to guide where the next row goes, things go much quicker. Finally, make sure your basket stamp itself is actually symmetrical. Poorer quality stamps might not be the same dimensions all around and this can throw off your stamping. Try this test: Stamp it into leather then rotate the tool 180 degrees and try stamping it into the same impression again. A good tool that is symmetrical will fit in the first impression. If one of the legs is off a bit, you will see the difference in the leather. A tool like this isn't the end of the world, just mark one corner so you can always hold it the same way. Hope this helps, Bob

Those look great. I especially like the campfire scene.

Very nice! The saddle looks great. Were you able to match the existing conchos enough to reuse them or is that all new conchos and spots? Also, did you have to replace any of the leather on the saddle? Bob

Nice job on both of these. Your notebooks look great and I like your design. The Bible covers look outstanding, he should be proud of them. Bob

I've always wanted to build a saddle, but just can't justify the real thing. One of these days I'm going to build a miniature saddle. Thanks for sharing this. Bob