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Bob Blea

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Everything posted by Bob Blea

  1. Nice work! I really like the design in the first photo. Is it a photo album cover?
  2. Hello Justin, Not bad at all. The shading on the flower and the decorative cuts look good. One thing I recommend is to have more leaves circling in from the vine towards the flower. You have a little too much background space in the overall design and the extra leaves help fill that up. Also, I see where the stem leads up to the flower but right above that stem a leaf just sort of ends. Hope this helps, Bob
  3. That looks fantastic! Once again you are inspiring me to work harder. The filigree work really makes the carving stand out. Bob
  4. Hope all our members in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Missouri are OK tonight and staying out of the way of the storms.

  5. Hello flynscot, Thanks for posting all of these pictures. It's great to see some of the original artwork in our craft. Bob
  6. That is a fantastic looking iPad case. The tooling and the coloring are fantastic, and the overall finish looks great too. Hope I can do as well. Bob
  7. Welcome to the site! Glad to have you here.
  8. Thanks Keith, not confused at all. This is great information and explains a lot. I have always had problems with tooling too wet, so what you are saying makes sense. I have heard people say to use a spray bottle to remoisten, and now I understand why. You have been very helpful! Bob
  9. Very nice, love to see the finished product. Bob
  10. Hello Gelndon, welcome to the forum! Regarding the bench, I wouldn't go with the one from Harbor Freight. I looked at one of those in person and the top on it was split a bit. It didn't look very well put together plus the main problem I saw was that I couldn't sit at the bench with my legs under the bench (like at a desk or table.) That kind of bench, and a lot of the ones you see at Lowes or Home Depot are designed for you to stand at, not sit under. I like Luke's suggestion to get a heavy office desk much better. The most important thing in a work bench (after how comfortable it feels for you to work at) is that the top is stable and does not bounce or flex. Good luck, and let us know how it's going! Bob
  11. With two years more experience, I might be able to attempt something like that. I hope I can one day make things as beautiful as this. Thank you for posting. Bob
  12. Thanks everyone for their insight on this. I've been asked to make a Nook cover for a friend. He wants the case to open like a book, and we are going to take a similar cheap case and reuse the built in plastic clip to lock the Nook in place. It is great to get all of this information on the different ways to do it though. Bob
  13. Hi Keith, When you recase the leather after letting it dry out, don't you have problems with tooling work getting distorted by the leather swelling? It seems when I've done let leather dry and then recased, the leather swells some and I need to redo some of the beveling or other tooling. It looks like I loose some of the depth of my work. Of course, my beveling may be a bit suspect to begin with! Thanks, Bob
  14. You can also store things in the refrigerator for a while too. I've keep things I'm working on stored in the fridge for up to two weeks, only taking them out when I need to work on them. I didn't see any mold problems that way until something had been left in there for well over a month Bob
  15. Thank you Terry. I wish I could claim credit for the design but it's a Chan Geer pattern from his pattern pack. I thought about inlaying it into the lid but I wanted to go with the leather raised above the level of the wood, so I am using small nails to tack it to the wooden top. Kind of like you would with an upholstery tack, but I didn't want the large heads of an upholstery tack. The wood of the lid is only about half an inch thick and I've had trouble finding brass nails small enough to not go all the way through, so I think I will need to cut down some 1/2 inch brass nails (wire brads, actually) to make them short enough. My original plan was to use Weldwood contact cement to attach the leather, but I stained the wood with an old based stain and now I doubt I will get a good bond to the wood. I will still use the contact cement, but the nails will be what mainly holds it down. I like the idea of routering the opening down and placing the leather flush with the surface of the box. If you don't accidentally stain that part of the box, I think contact cement would hold it securely enough not to need the nails. I will probably try making one of these again, and I may try doing that next time. Bob
  16. Hello, Here is a small floral carving I finished recently. It is a floral design that will be attached to the lid of a wooden jewelry box. I haven't but a finish on it yet but I will probably just use Neetsfoot oil and leave it this natural color. I was originally going to antique it but my wife likes it better as is, and the jewelry box is for her. Let me know what you think. Thanks for taking a look, Bob
  17. That looks great. I'll be at the show and can't wait to see it in person. I hope one day to make artwork like that. Bob
  18. Hoping for all the best for everyone in the south tonight.

  19. Love the coloring on the flowers and the leaves! I like the design of the flap, how it's not symmetrical. Bob
  20. Thanks for showing this. I too have wanted to build a saddle but I don't have a horse, so I don't need a saddle. Someday I will probably build one of these and I hope I can do as well as yours. Bob
  21. Hello Ray, What sort of edge are you trying to make? Are you trying to cut a straight edge or do something like make a straight border? Bob
  22. Hello, There is a book available at Tandy called Stohlman Step by Step, written by Peter Main, that covers some different types of flowers. I learned to do daffodils from this book, and it covers some other kinds of flowers, though they are still ones the Al Stohlman commonly did. It is a good book to have though. Hope this helps, Bob
  23. Really nice work! I especially like the border you made around the star. Outstanding! Bob
  24. The soldering idea made me think of something that might work. You could get a thin toothed lock washer like these (http://www.wclco.com/Lock_Washers/Toothed_Lock_Washers/Toothed_Lock_Washers.php) from the hardware store and solder it to the base of the concho where the screw attaches. Then the concho would dig into the leather and wouldn't turn. If you can't solder to the concho you would probably use JB weld and glue it in place. Just a thought, Bob
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