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Bob Blea

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Everything posted by Bob Blea

  1. Bob Blea
    Hello Airedale1, The part of the hide you want is the back section which was located along the spine of the animal. It's the part usually used for quality belts because it's firmer and less prone to stretching than other parts (like the belly.) If a hide is big enough you could probably get some strips from the back up to 80 inches, but it would have to be the right sized hide. I recommend talking to a leather supplier that will work with you and explain what you are after. Some suppliers will sell just back pieces for belt makers and they could select ones that are long enough for your needs. Springfield Leather (they are a sponsor here) will cut leather to your needs so if they don't carry backs they probably would cut that part from a full side of leather and just sell you what you need. Good luck! Bob
  2. Bob Blea
    Welcome to the forum! There are several types of knives that can do this kind of job including round knives and special skiving knives. The one that Rodney mentioned above is probably one of the safer ones to use. Two things to keep in mind 1) whatever you use needs to be extremely sharp to work properly and 2) always make sure your fingers are never in front of the blade. It's really easy for the knife to slip when doing this kind of work and if its sharp enough to skive leather it will certainly cut into your hand.
  3. Bob Blea
    Welcome, nice work! Look forward to seeing more.
  4. Bob Blea
    Not too much more work Jeff. It's one of the bigger geometric stamps I have and the work goes really quick. I don't have to be super precise like with a basket weave stamp either. Thank you very much Chris.
  5. Bob Blea
    Thanks all for the kind words. To answer the questions by @LederRudi and @garypl I start stamping at the bottom and work my way up. I do a row of the shell stamps across the bottom and them stamp a row above it working my way to the top. I keep a ruler handy so I can check the rows periodically to make sure they are staying even. Also, the shell stamp and the filler inside it (it's actually two stamps used together) come from Barry King. The leather was 6 oz. leather from American Leather Direct. I've really liked the side I bought from them and will buy from them again.
  6. Bob Blea
    This was a project I made earlier this year. I was contacted by a woman that wanted a 5x8 notebook with a floral carving that matched the sunflower designs on her saddle. After she sent me some pictures this is what I came up with and she loved it. She chose the shell design for the back because she thought that just looked cool.
  7. Bob Blea
    Very nice looking belt. Making a oak leaf belt is on my list of things to do someday. Yours looks great.
  8. Bob Blea
    I recommend Grey Ghost Graphics. Jeff Mosby is very responsive and good to work with. His stamps are laser cut Delrin and he can get terrific detail on even small stamps. They hold up to use well (I have two different sizes and they are both several years old) but you can't heat them for use on chrome tan leathers. But that is the only drawback about them. www.greyghostgraphics.com/stamps.html
  9. Bob Blea
    Congratulations Caitlin! That looks like an awesome set of Chaps!
  10. Bob Blea
    Thanks Jeff!
  11. Bob Blea
    Wish I could make that one. You need to come back over here to Sheridan and teach that.
  12. Bob Blea
    Just a suggestion, but you could attach a piece of leather as an overlay over the section of the show where you removed the stitching and install the eyelets for the laces in that piece. It would hide the stitching holes from the removed pieces.
  13. Bob Blea
    Looks very nice.
  14. Bob Blea
    Thanks all!
  15. Bob Blea
    Thank you on the wallet. The Awl is made by Leather Wranglers and it's called the Awl of Spades. It comes with an awl blade made from the same material as their swivel knife and it goes through leather like butter. Feels really comfortable in the hand too.
  16. Bob Blea
    Thank you very much!
  17. Bob Blea
    This was a fun little wallet to make. My customer requested this specific geometric design and I had to make a tool to work with a stamp I already had to make the design work. He also wanted more credit card capacity in it so I came up with a pocket design that gave him multiple slots on each side. In the end I really liked how the outside design looked and I think it worked out pretty well.
  18. Bob Blea
    Pretty cool! I'll bet your customers loved them.
  19. Bob Blea
    As someone who also works to minimize the amount of bargrounding in my floral designs, I think you are doing a great job. You have less barground space in your designs than I have in mine. I think it looks pretty good. Bob
  20. Bob Blea
    I was really impressed with the edges on the pockets too. That's what caught my eye. Nice work.
  21. Bob Blea
    Very neat design. I like it.
  22. Bob Blea
    Really nice belts Dwight! And thank you for the tips!
  23. Bob Blea
    I'll be there at least Thursday and Friday.
  24. Bob Blea
    That's pretty cool!
  25. Bob Blea
    Stewart there is nothing wrong with the way you are doing it. The first functional thing I made in leather was a check book cover and I wanted a floral carving but didn't have anything in the books or craftaids I had at the time that fit the space or looked like what I wanted. I 'adapted' a carving pattern for a small case by photocopying it and tracing parts of it till it fit the space. I was able to put it together so it sort of worked together. Before computers a lot of camera ready artwork for ads, flyers and posters was created this way. If you don't have the ability to draw (and some people just don't, their brains aren't wired for that activity) the way you are handling it is a creative solution that creates an artwork that didn't exist before you came along.
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