Daniel Tyack

Hey BigRiver, were you waiting for the next one or did I say I would post a pattern (sometimes my brain stops... ) I posted this one a little while back and detailed the design on the video but if you want a patten I can post the general dimensions. Let me know.

I was looking at these thinking to myself "Nobody does work like this!" and then I realized it was Peter Main Thanks for sharing it with us!

That thing is a beauty! Can't wait for more pictures

187 Views and only one reply from someone who has minimal experience... This post must be cursed!

That thing is a beauty! Is the bottom layer elephant hide?

Oh wow! That is really cool. I love the latch you picked.

Be sure to share a link when you post it, that thing is sweet!

I'm always down to light up a stick! Just let me know I'm out in Jamul by the way.

Fletch, I'm pretty new to carving myself but since apparently none of the pros saw this post I'll give it a shot First off that is some bitchin work for only being at this for a week! Bravo!!! You seem to be off to a fine start so just keep at it. Your beveling looks great for a noob and much of your stamping has nice depth to it. You also seem to be able to keep your geometric stamping relatively strait so you must have some natural talent! You seem to have picked two projects that had a decent bit of detail and it looks like you weren't capable of attaining the fine detail you probably wanted. I'm also quite certain that the circles and large arcs are probably driving you crazy since all the geometric stuff and strait lines and near perfectly executed. I don't have any great advise for those long arcs except to practice long arcs with courage. What I mean by that is don't cut a bit and check, just cut the whole thing in a continual motion. Here's what I would recommend. Above all else, plan your project to have detail you can attain. Some designs may look great blown up but if you are trying to cut it into a key fob, you are screwed. Make sure you case your leather properly, it looks like it was a little dry when you were stamping the geometric stuff on the celtic cross background. (Just search LW.net for a good tute) Make good deep cuts. It looks like they were a little shallow on the Chevron design. Secure your leather to something solid so it doesn't stretch out. You can put blue painters tape on the back of the leather then glue that to a piece of a thick file folder. This will keep the work from stretching out when you stamp it. Try to be more consistant in your backgrounding There are a zillion things we could go over but that should get you a good start. I'm attaching a Celtic knot design I like for you to mess with. It's detailed enough so you won't get bored but it's still attainable. The entire .jpg is 8.5x11, I made it so if you just hit print it should come out a good size to practice on. Keep up the good work!

Fredo, are you "walking" (constantly tapping) you beveler or tapping each in one at a time? It looks like #1 you may be trying to go too deep in one pass (try taking multiple light passes until you get better) #2 you may have a crap beveler... Their are a zillion different shapes and some lend themselves to easier beveling. I'm in San Diego too and would be more than happy to meet up and take a look. If not go ask Jan at Tandy or Phil down at Stonehedge. They both are willing to offer good advise.

There is some good advise going on in this thread and I'm hesitant to add any more since you have been offered so much and are likely getting more confused. I build websites and market businesses for a living and have worked with MANY small businesses who don't know which end is up. For credentials sake here are a few websites I created. www.urbansuntan.com This is my main client, I do all of their design and marketing. Hosted on Bluehost and built on a Wordpress CMS (Content Management System). www.mystictansandiego.com This is a mini site hosted on www.tumblr.com, we use it SEO purposes. www.danieltyack.com A personal site hosted on Blueshost and running on Wordpress. www.tanopia.com E-Commerce site hosted and run on www.shopify.com www.leathermob.com A fabulous social network for leather workers (note the shameless plug ) I show you these so you know I'm not just a talking head. Before you read the rest of this please take a moment to read this post I wrote on marketing your business. Pay special attention to point #3! You need two basic things for a site #1 a domain name #2 a host. A domain name can be registered through a zillion different services and should be no more than $10 a year for a .com. Think of a domain as an address to a house, it's not the house itself, it's just a number painted on the curb. A web host is where the files (html, css, php, etc.) for your website will be stored and where others can view them in the form of a website. A web host is like the property a house is built on (the files would be the house). It's handy to keep your domain name(s) and hosting all under one roof though it is possible to register and host with any combination of different companies. I use www.bluehost.com for my sites and it costs $7 a month for near unlimited everything. I hear dreamhost is similar, however I can only speak for bluehost. The #1 thing I like about bluehost is their fabulous support! It's in the US, the wait is always minimal and they are very helpful especially to newbees. I would also recommend creating a very simple site for your business. Too many small businesses try to pretend they are a huge company, create a gigantic confusing website, have unfinished pages and duplicate content and end up with a steaming pile of crap. Just keep it simple and your customers will like you a LOT better. With simplicity in mind I would be inclined to recommend www.tumblr.com for a hosting solution to start. By default it's a blogging platform and it's intentionally simple. You can use the blog as a news feed and create a few pages for all your other information. It is also ridiculously easy to use and has fine themes to choose from. Also if you grow out of it you can simply build a site, transfer content and change your DNS info (I don't expect you to know what DNS is, just call tech or ask for help when the time comes.) and you are good to go. My two official recommendations are... #1 Simple website with basic info and pictures of projects. Register a domain with www.godaddy.com $10 a year Host on Tumblr Do it yourself #2 More complex site Sign up for a Bluehost hosting account $7 a month + a free domain. Hire a web designer (one of the peeps from this site might be a good option) Go focus on what you are good at (making leather stuff). Let me know if this info helps or just confused you more Also P.M. me if you need advise on any of the steps.

Some lucky bike is gonna get that one day... I really like how defined the typography is, especially for having such an angular font! That pebble backgrounding looks pretty dang sweet as well. Great job!

It's funny how beautiful leather work like you have on top is such a minute detail in the scope of a project like this. I think be may need to start a "Super Show Off" section just for this post! As a certified son I am also available for adoption... Simply amazing work.

Thank you sir! This is fabulous advise and I do agree. Your analysis was spot on as I just took another design and made it fit! I'm not much of an artist so Im just going to have to practice drawing florals Honestly, this is great advise and will be re-visited often! As for lighting, I'll do an official tutorial for lighting and shooting leather products this weekend but my advise for now is "it's all about lighting". We are used to looking at everything in ambient light (reflected) with a bit of direct light. It's mostly dull and boring. To attain eye popping photography you just have to hit the product with "larger than life" off axis lighting. When you introduce different light sources (essentially more or them or more dramatic than you are used to looking at) it accents shading, brings out color and actually confuses the observer a bit causing them to go WOW. If you really want good photography, start studying light. Just look at how it lays on everything, note the axis it's coming from, if it's direct or ambient, how it creates shadows etc. Do that for a couple days, then when I post a tutorial you may just have another awakening I do shoot with a mid range SLR and a decent lens and that helps but you can still attain good photos with a point and shoot with good lighting. I think for the tutorial I will purposely take good photos with my iphone camera and bad photos with my SLR... Sounds like fun! Thanks again for the awesome analysis.