Bob Blea

Not sure if this will help, but this talks about setting skull rivets: I've used the decorative crystal rivets from Tandy before and those you set with the rivet face on a piece of rubber. They aren't a big as what you are doing though, I don't think. Bob

You are right about the practice part. Make sure you try it several times on scrap leather before working on your actual project. When I have to do a font like this I do it a time or two on scraps till I'm sure I can duplicate the font well on the actual project. I don't want to take a chance and do one the first time on the actual project and end up ruining it. Bob

Thanks for the nice compliments Mike. I think I still have a long way to go. I think your work on the rifle looks great, but I can see where that would be a pain to do. Bob

Thank you for taking the time to put this tutorial together! Bob

Hello, I had a potential customer ask me about different matting effects I could do to cover a large area on a notebook. The whole back will probably end up being matted with no other carving. I made up a set of samples of my matting tools on a piece of scrap and sent it to him to see what he likes. I realized that this certainly can't be all the matting options out there, probably not even a good start. So here is what I know how to do, how about the rest of you. Any neat matting effects you would like to share? Any unique ways of using tools that were not intended for a matting effect, like the pear shader below? The tools used here are (left to right) a Beard pebbler, Beard checkered matter, Two modern Craftool Byrnes matters (big and small), a modern Craftool (medium) pear shader, a vintage Craftool (large) figure beveler, a vintage Craftool backgrounder, and two Craftools that I'm not sure what they were called. The one on the far right may have been intended as a small flower center. If you have any neat ways of matting large areas, please share some pictures! Bob

Hello, If the leather you are using is a veg tan type you can burnish the edge. There is a good tutorial on doing that pinned at the beginning of this forum. Otherwise, a laced edge would probably look good. Bob

I thought the midget ninjas were elves. I've been waiting for them to come do my hand sewing during the night while I slept.

Thanks everyone! This has been very helpful information. I need to stop by wallyworld today anyway and I'll look for those upholstery needles. I could probably use the rubber finger covers too. Bob

Try contacting Robert Beard at Pro Tools. He just made a pretty realistic set for me. I'd post a picture but don't have one available at the moment. Bob

Hello, Where do you get your needles? I just tried looking up upholstery needles at the local fabric megastores and it looks like the smallest upholstery needles they have are 6 inches. Is that what you are using or do you have something smaller? Bob

I'm with you on the zippers! I've only tried it once with a small one on some scrap and it came out horrible. I need to practice more but I don't have much enthusiasm to start a project requiring one! Really anything that requires hand sewing is scary to me, it doesn't come out very well. I just need to practice a lot more on that too. Bob

I really enjoy the carving process. I used to get somewhat nervous about finishing, but I don't worry too much about ruining a project at that point. The part I look forward to least is the actual assembly and construction. I don't have as much confidence when it comes to hand sewing or building big projects, so the final assembly isn't my favorite. Also, it lacks the creativity that the carving stage does, so it doesn't appeal to me as much. Bob

Thanks for the good ideas Northmount! Bob

Looks good. I like the way the closing flap works. It looks very professional.

Hello, I wouldn't call it tiny but I mainly use a small beveler from Barry King in Sheridan, WY. It's about an 1/8th of an inch wide and I don't call it tiny because I still run into places where I wish I had a smaller one! Barry now makes one that is half this size and usually once a week I kick myself for not buying one at the Sheridan show in May. Barry also makes belevers that have curved faces so they are easier to bevel tight curved lines that may help you. Barry King tools are pretty reasonably priced, but if you think this is going to be a one time thing and don't want to spend the money, you could in theory grind a nail at a 30-45 degree angle and have a reasonable smooth beveler. You would probably want to round the edges to make it easier to walk, but it could be done. Bob

Hi Rory, When I first started out in leatherwork I had the Leatherwork Manual too. It's a great book and I still refer to it from time to time. I wanted to make one of these key cases but didn't know where to find key attachment. Now I know, thanks for sharing that. I like how it turned out. The inside looks like suede, did you dye the flesh side of the leather to get that look? I recently ran into the same lacing problem you are describing, but didn't have a good solution for it. We were re-lacing an old gun belt and holster that is a family heirloom for an Aunt of mine. When it was made, it wasn't lined but it was double loop laced it's entire length. So, when it comes to splicing in a new piece of lace, you can't hide the splice inside the lining. We ended up placing it under the lacing on the edge of the belt and it looks fine from the front but it left a break in the lacing pattern on the back. We had similar problems ending the lace. There must be a good way to do it, but I didn't come up with one. I would like to know too if there is a good way to do this. For this sort of project I would just add a pigskin lining. I have lots of it and could probably do it with scraps on hand. Barring that, is the kep drop mounted on a piece of veg tan leather? You could start and finish your lacing at the bottom of that piece so there would be a place to hide the ends. you would just need to start with enough lace to get all around the project with one piece. Bob

Very nice work as always! I like what you did on the spine. Bob

I've always painted them dry. You could probably still paint the leather if it was only a bit damp, but the colors might bleed since water will thin acrylics.

Really nice effect lightingale! I've got to try this on one of my notebooks! Bob

Looks good! How did you color the leaves to get the nice fall colors? Bob

Looks like you may be carving your leather too wet. Also, are you re-wetting the leather a lot during carving, or maybe soaking it as you form it after carving? Bob

After you get the items listed above (particularly the center shader and leaf liner!) you might want to think about getting quality flower center stamps. If your craftool ones are the older ones that leave a good impression this probably isn't very important. In my case, the ones I've bought from Barry King are far better than what I had and they are now pretty much all I ever use for flower centers. I also agree with having a few different sizes of veiners and thumprints. They come in handy. Bob

Really nice carving! I really like the horse, and your leaves came out good too. Bob

Looks great Hunio. We just recently started seeing that type of ring binder here in the US. I bought one this summer because I realized I could make a really nice cover for that kind of notebook. I really like how yours turned out. I will have to get on making a floral carved version for me! Bob

Really very very nice. Bob