Bob Blea

Thanks all! I've learned something about when to use round holes today. Bob

Hi Chancey, I'm certainly not an expert on drawing my own patterns, but IMO I don't think the vine work is too complicated. I think the problem is that the roses look a little oversized for the vine work. If they were a little smaller that would allow for some background between them and the vines circling them. That little bit of background would probably make things look less crowded and busy, and I think that would make it look better to your eye. With smaller roses you can also see more of the vine flow and make it easier for the eye to follow. Also, where your design repeats it doesn't look like the vines connect. The top rose of the pattern sort of covers where the vine would continue to the next flower, but not quite. It looks a little like they aren't connected. If you can redraw that to show the vine continuing, I think your design would be fine. Hope this helps! Bob

I'm like Cyberthrasher in that I have a full time job and not much time left over for working on leather. I've found I really enjoy the carving aspect but not so much the contruction. I found making leather notebooks gives me a nice big canvas for carving and not really complicated construction, so I've been focusing on that. I'm now forcing myself to do more construction things like hand sewing because I would like to make purses and cases and maybe those will become my thing. But right now my idea of a relaxing evening is working on a new floral carving on a notebook cover. Bob

Welcome from another Coloradoan! This site has really helped me and I think you'll find everyone here is willing to share and help. Glad you are here. Bob

Double U, that work looks fantastic. You really have mastered Sheridan Style carving, and I'm even more impressed to learn how you come up with your patterns! You are producing really great work and you should be proud of these. Bob

That looks very good. It looks very clean and professional.

Thanks for the info, it sure turned out stunning.

Hey Double U, I've got a question. The lettering on this can looks great and it really stands out. Did you emboss that lettering, or is that just really good beveling? I'm impressed how much it appears to stand above the floral carving. Really nice work! Bob

Thank you all for the very kind comments. I try to get better with each one of these. Bob

Thanks for the kind words! The lining is tan pigskin but the pocket is 2 oz. veg tan. Bob

Thanks for the nice comments Bill. On the laced corners I do make a double pass through three holes. What are you seeing that made it look off or odd? I don't think my lacing is all that great yet so any feedback would be helpful. Bob

Thanks Phil. The matting was done with a large figure beveler. I don't have the tool in front of me right now but I think it was the biggest one Tandy made, and it's an old Craftool one. I tilted the tool back onto the shading end so the beveling part wouldn't leave a mark. Then it was just a matter of hitting the beveler and leaving a dent with the shading end while turning it every time so the effect looked random. You could get the same effect with a large smooth pear shader. Bob Thank you! I've admired your work for a long time so I take that as quite a compliment. Bob

Hello, This was a custom project I just finished. The customer wanted his family coat of arms and name on a notebook. He was just thrilled with how it turned out. I really like the lion carving and wish I could think of something else to use it on. It was kind of neat thinking that I was carving a crest that might have been carved in wood or stone 400 years ago! The customer specifically requested the mottled matting and it did turn out pretty neat. I wasn't expecting it to turn out so leopard spot like but everyone including the customer seems to like it. It felt nice in the hands, and it looks like hammered metal. Thanks for looking, Bob

Macdaddy, part of the problem might be the tool itself. Are you using an F895 that you bought recently? I've found that most of the modern figure bevelers from Tandy have a very sharp edge around the sides of their beveling surface. With that sort of edge I don't think there is any way not to get tool marks when trying to use them. I'm lucky enought to have a set of old Craftool figure bevelers and they do take a little more skill than a regular beveler, but they are usable. They have very rounded edges so they don't leave sharp lines or chatter marks when you use them, and they are very good at matting. The modern versions IMO are almost useless. I've toyed with the idea of tying to file down the sharp edges to make them useable, but I have the old tools plus a couple of Robert Beard figure bevelers, so I'm not very motivated to try it. BUT - even with good tools, it takes a lot of practice to get those folds you are trying to do to look good. I've had some success with a lot of practice, but I'm not great with these tools by a long shot. Hope this helps, Bob

Always love to see your work. Your carving is excellent.

Another possible solution: get a round punch that has an inner diameter that is the size you want the scallops to be. Use a grinder or a file and grind half of the punch away at the tip. You will be left with a semi-circular punch that is really good for making scalloped edges. Bob

That is a great wallet! Love how clean it looks. Bob

Very beautiful work. Let us know when your book becomes available. Bob

Very nice work Marlon. I'd love to know how to do the basket weave as well, but all of your work on this is great. Thank you for posting! Bob

Thanks all, this helps me too. I was planning on bonding a fabric layer to a leather one and was just going to use my Weldwood contact cement. Could to know there is a better way to do this. Bob

Really nice Marlon! I really love your edges on this too, and everything else. I've looked at that article a few times and keep thinking I should give it a try. Doubt I could do as nice as yours. Bob

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