Clay

You can call Daniel Uptmor at Uptmor Saddlery in Waco, TX 254-848-9934. They have one that they use a lot. I don't know if he can help or not but it is a start..

Pm sent...

try Nevada Rubber stamp. They have a second business where they do laser pictures on leather. http://nrs.utypia.com/UI/en-US is the main website http://kattelman.com/ is the leather site. Clay

Another good source for derlin stamps and embossing plates is a company called Nevada Rubber Stamp. http://nrs.utypia.com/UI/en-US They are quick and very reasonably priced. Clay Miller

Hi All, I was lucky enough to be able to spend the day at Jim's new leather workshop/studio/classroom/leathercraft museum. As Jim said it is a lifetime of love for leathercraft. He has put together a great place to come look at works of leather art by many of the great masters like Al Stohlman, Ken Griffin, Christine Stanley,Robb Barr, and many many more. I believe Jim said he has works from 17 Al Stohlman Award winners. There is, of course, also many of Jim's works to look at. In addition to the leatherwork there is a huge library of books, magazines, patterns, doodle pages and other publications on or about leathercraft. And for those of you who are tool junkies like me, he has a set of stamping tools and swivelknives that is beyond description. Tools from nearly every maker you have ever heard of and some from makers you have never heard of. I am proud to say he even has a couple of my stamps on display. The studio is set up perfectly for people to come and utilize the library with a comfy couch for reading the many books and magazines. It is also set up with a classroom having several two person work stations. I like this because it will be a non comercial setting to learn with out added sales pressure. Jim is planning to have a class soon, check with the LoneStar leather guild or Jim for any info on class dates and subjects. If you find yourself in the area I highly reccomend getting ahold of Jim to set up a tour, or attend a class when they are set.

Welcome Dave, I am in Temple. If you are interested there is a leather guild in Austin. We meet on the first Wednesday of the month at the Tandy store. There are demos and tips at most meetings and group projects. Tandy also has classes on Saturdays and the guild helps with some of them. Clay Miller

Great Job Bruce! I hope to make it there in person some day! Clay Miller

I used a scissor type knurling tool on the lathe. Clay

Colby, Sorry for not answering sooner, Sam is right, Uptmore Saddlery can help you with the sewing. They are on Hwy 6 west of Waco. Take the Speegleville Road exit and follow the frontage road almoat a mile and you can see their sign and shop. Richard and everyone else, thanks for the complements. Clay

I think it is not about saving time, but rather that if it is tooled all the way to the end the tooling can get distorted and even split when there are swivel knife cuts at the fold. great question, hopefully others will chime in with there thoughts.

A belt I finished today that is goping to California. I felt a little rusty after being away from the tooling bench for several months while I persued other employment. Happy to be back in my own shop!!

Tina, Very cool! I am in awe!

fivesixthree, Thank you for your offer, another has made a bigger offer and I am going to go with it. Clay Miller

you would not offend me, I will just counter your offer with a bigger number LOL. Clay

Yes they are still available, I had placed them on Ebay and did not get any responce. I am open to a reasonably offer. Clay Miller

Swivel knife cut all lines ClayM centers flowers MarkB camoflauge flowers and some vine center shader flowers thumbprint/ pear shader flowers, leafs and petalsLeatherrookie lifters flowers, some leafs leaf liner leafs, acanthus veiner leafs, flower pod, acanthus beveler all lines ClayB seeder flower and leaf stems some seed pods mulefoot flower and leaf stems, vine junctions bargrounder/ backgrounder non-plant parts of pattern Terrymac swivel knife finish cuts to accent flow of pattern Let me know which one you would like to do and we can get started on this. Clay

Swivel knife cut all lines centers flowers camoflauge flowers and some vine center shader flowers thumbprint/ pear shader flowers, leafs and petals lifters flowers, some leafs leaf liner leafs, acanthus veiner leafs, flower pod, beveler all lines ClayB seeder flower and leaf stems some seed pods mulefoot flower and leaf stems, vine junctions bargrounder/ backgrounder non-plant parts of pattern Terrymac swivel knife finish cuts to accent flow of pattern Let me know which one you would like to do and we can get started on this. Clay

So far we have seven people willing to take part in my little experement. If we don't get more interest maybe we can each do two or three steps.. I have not drawn any pattern yet but thought I would start soon. Also what all tools will we use? Typically I use about 10 to 14 different stamps and the swivel knife. These are the steps that I typicaly do on a pattern in the order I use them. If no one has any objections to it I think this is the order we should use to tool this project. Swivel knife cut all lines centers flowers camoflauge flowers and some vine center shader flowers thumbprint/ pear shader flowers, leafs and petals lifters flowers, some leafs leaf liner leafs, acanthus veiner leafs, flower pod, beveler all lines seeder flower and leaf stems some seed pods mulefoot flower and leaf stems, vine junctions bargrounder/ backgrounder non-plant parts of pattern swivel knife finish cuts to accent flow of pattern Let me know which one you would like to do and we can get started on this. Clay

The best way is to form it to a solid mold and then tool the leather while it is on the mold. The hard part is building a mould that it the right fit for the project. Clay Miller

Thannks ClayB and Mark, Still looking for more people to take part.

Ok here is mine, Clay Miller

A while back ClayB, Kathy Flanagan and myself did a leather project where we each did some carving on one piece. The idea came from ClayB, he did his Buffalo Feathers carving, then Kathy added some Flying Buffalo Calfs, and I did some floral carving. It was cool to see what each of us did to add to the piece. I have been wanting to do something like this again and I have come up with an idea. I would like to do a floral carving piece where we break it down to each step and stamp used in the process. The way it would work is one person would draw the pattern, the next person would do the swivel knife cuts, the next would do the flower centers, the next would do the thumbprints, and so on, with each person only using one stamp. The piece would have room on it for each person to put their makers mark or signature and what stamp or tool they used. Once the piece is finished it could be raffled off to help pay some bills for LW. The number of steps and what order the stamps are used would have to be determined, but with a little planning it would be easy to set up. The only cost would be some time and the postage to the next person. I am willing to donate a piece of leather and draw the pattern. I am open to suggestions and further discussion on this. If there is a lot of interest we could even do more than one piece. Let me know what you all think! Clay Miller