Bob Blea

You have a lot to be proud of there. Beautiful work! Bob

Thanks Tom, that's good info. So for us leatherworkers, it looks like the only applicable directives would be personal protective gear and possibly safety of toys, depending on what you make. For someone like me making notebooks and wallets, there isn't much issue. Bob

Hello, From the picture it really looks like some sort of sealer or resist got on the leather. Do you normally use anything like Clear Lac or Satin Shene? The light marks don't look random, it actually looks like some other artwork sat on top of the leather and left a coating on the leather that is blocking your dye. I don't have any experience with Fiebings Deglazer, but I just saw Pete's response. If he's right, you could oil it now and (if that doesn't even the dye job out by itself) maybe you could re-dye the piece and see if it comes out even? good luck, Bob

Hi Al, Interesting question. My day job is in a electronics and manufacturing business where we do have to comply with CE in many cases. However, the standards we have to meet generally involve things like radiated emmisions (we're not going to interfer with other electronic equipment), not hazardous to operate, proper grounding, won't burn, that sort of thing. For most leather goods, our sort of regulations wouldn't apply. However, I could see where if you were making personal protective gear (leather gloves, tool belts, etc.) there might be regulations for CE that could apply. For cothing items, you could be required to meet flamability standards, for example. I could maybe see a compliance issue with toys because there might be compliance standards under CE that address the size of parts that could break off and become choking hazards. Bob

Hi Chuck, I'll second Tom's recommendation of the Bob Park book. He goes into great detail about how to lay out a pattern, more than I could possibly do here. Plus, I'm a novice at pattern design myself. I do see a couple of things that would help you out though. First, the stem for the flower in the center seems to come from the vine around the flower in the lower right hand corner. The vines around that center flower don't look connected to the vines below it, so even though the stem comes from the vines below the rest of the vines and flower lose their flow at that point. One thing you are looking for in a good design is a sense of flow through the whole pattern and there should only be one starting and one stopping point. You start your flow in the lower left and flow to lower right, but at the center because of how that stem looks (and doesn't seem to connect the vines around the center) the flow abruptly stops. The same sort of problem happens betweem the two top flowers. You have the vines crossing over each other there, and that again breaks up the flow a bit. A over and under crossover like that is not something you see often in Sheridan style, not to say you can't make it work and part of your own style. Another thing regarding the flow: Each of the leaves and stems coming off your main vine appear pretty abruptly. Another hallmark of the Sheridan style is that the lines created by the stems and leaves are long and fade out gradually. The lines of those leaves should follow the same flow as the main vine. I don't have a good picture of that handy, but take a look at the pictures of Bob Park's work (his user name here is Hidepounder) in the gallery and I think you'll get the idea. Hope this helps (and doesn't just confuse you!), Bob

Hello Robert, and welcome to the forum. I can't tell you anything about the possibles bag (not really sure what that is) but I wouldn't think you need to worry about absorbing moisture just from the air, especially in the dry climate you live in. I would worry about moisture from rain, sweat, etc, and I would recommend some sort of sealing coat on your leather. I haven't worked with elk hide but since you say it's soft I'm guessing that it's not vegtable tanned leather. There are MANY options for conditioning that type of leather but since I don't work with it, I'll have to let someone more knowledgeable with it answer that. Bob

The best resource out there for learning the techniques for Sheridan style carving is the book 'Sheridan Style Carving' by Bill Gardner and Clinton Fay. This book goes into great details about every step in the process, the types of tools they use, and why they do things certain ways. It was written by some of the people that defined the style, and its full of great pictures showing all the steps. If you want to really learn good technique, this is a great book to have. Bob

Thanks Ron, I get what you mean, and his work is really really good. I visited his website and there is some really nice work on there. Bob

Really nice, good color too! Bob

Hi Ron, Could you tell us a little about how it's different? Bob

I don't have any experience on this, but I have seen posting here from Spinner (a member here who makes incredible leather artwork) and/or others that discusses finished removing acrylic paints. I tried searching for what I remember seeing so I could post a link here, but couldn't quickly find it. From what I remember, solvent based finishes like Neat Lac or Saddle Lac could damage the acrylics. I did find one post that mentioned the spray on version of Saddle Lac didn't damage the acrylics, but I know there is more information on using acrylics and finishes, just would take some time searching. Sorry, this wasn't as much help as I had hoped. Bob

Really, Really Nice!!!!

I've been to Sheridan and I've seen the sewing machines there, but I'm honestly so ignorant on them that I feel lucky to recognize one if I trip over it! I'm planning this year to talk to some of them and I'm trying to educate myself so I don't look like a complete idiot. Bob

My thanks to all who have posted on this topic. Like the OP I don't know much about sewing machines and I'm probably not looking to get one this year, but I'm starting to learn about them. The info in this post has been very helpful. Bob

Amazing! Thank you for sharing! Bob

Thank you for the compliment! And by the way, I hadn't mentioned but the stamps are by Wayne Jueschke of Elko, NV who I think makes some of the best geometric stamps out there. I just love his tools. Bob

My guess is embossing with a press like Havamal said. Bob

Thanks Double U and Cheryl, I really appreciate the comments. You are both too kind. Bob

Thanks all. Yes, there are many opportunities for converting this into scrap. Though I had a few times too, but it came out pretty even overall. In the future I think it makes more sense to make this notebook in two pieces, a front and back cover, and then sew each to a spine. That way if I mess up one side, I only ruin that part of it. Only reason I didn't do that was because I don't think my hand sewing skills are good enough yet. I'm working on that now though. Thanks again for the nice compliments. I will try to write something in the next few weeks on this. I've taken a few pictures showing what tricks I've come up with, but need to write it up. Bob

My Leatherwranglers SK-3 was one of the first 'high end' tools I got and I think it was one of the best things I could get. It is worth every penny. I also have a Barry King knife and I like it too, especially for decorative cuts, but I carve all my designs with my SK-3. Bob

Hello and welcome to the forum! Something I did was to take one of the craftaids that Tandy sells. I think it was called 'Sheridan style corner designs' or something close to that. I picked one of the small corner designs and carved it six times, each time critiquing it and deciding what I wanted to improve next time. You will be surprised how much better the last one is compared to the first one. I'm pretty sure Tandy still sells this craftaid in their stores, or you might be able to download something like it from their leathercraft library. Doesn't matter exactly which one you use, it's the repetition that helps. You could even use just a part a more complex carving. Do that a few times and you'll quickly making carvings your proud of. Hope this helps, Bob

Thanks for the compliments. It really is a matter of practice and having a good technique. I've struggled with doing this type of stamp over a large area for years, but I think I've finally got a technique that works pretty well. I was thinking I should write up something on how I do these because I didn't find that much information out there on using them. Bob

Hello, I recently made this as a custom order. Someone saw a 5X8 notebook I have listed on Etsy and requested the same geometric stamp design but in a larger portfolio that would hold a 8x11 notepad. I had not tried making this design on a piece of leather that big. It involves two different box stamps that alternate in a checkerboard like pattern and it's a challenge to keep square. However, it turned out really good. The notebook is made from 4 oz vegtan with a dark brown pigskin lining. The inside pocket is 2 oz. vegtan. It's all laced with dark brown leather lace. The customer loved it when she got it, so it was a successful project. Any comments or criticisms welcome. Bob

What about a filigee technique? Say the lamb skin had a design cut out of it to show another color of leather beneath it. That layer beneath could also be your stiffener?

I've used thin plastic and styrene sheets to reinforce vegtan notebook covers when I want more rigidity to it, but that's probably too much for what you are wanting to do here. I've used thin posterboard when I've wanted to add just a little stiffness to a cover. Maybe the right thickness of posterboard would give you the firmness you are looking for? Otherwise, if you wanted to stay with a leather product as a stiffener, I think I would use the 2 Oz. vegtan. Just suggestions, I haven't tried making a cover out of something this soft yet... Bob