Dan Hammons

Thanks Clay ....Don't know how I did that but My pics aren't here. They are on the other Post ...Dang the bad luck

Hi All, Was reading and trying to catch up with things here. With the oil boom on I've begun to feel like I quit tooling. Why is it as soon as you get swamped with your day job people decide they would like some leather work done too? Flasks are the hot item around here right now and I'll post some as I get them done. Took some things to the County Fair a couple weeks ago and thanks to some liberal judges recieved 10 Blue Ribbons on my 10 items entered including The Best of Show and The Chamber of Commerse Award for the Black Bear Carving.A few Pics of some of the entries that I have not posted here already . This is the very best site on the net by a long shot as if you all don't already know that. Thanks Dan

Candy, Carving these is just the same as carving anything else except that you are carving on the fleash side. You will need to push harder while transferring your pattern and with your swivel knife as the fleash side is alot harder. A sharp knife is a must! A silhouette pattern is the only type of pattern I have used when carving a ROUGH-OUT . After the leather as dried I dye the silhouette as usual and then use coarse sandpaper and sand it in a circular motion . This takes some elbow grease but you will see the effect right away . Sand it untill you get a nice even suede effect and then blow and or brush out the loose particals and your done. It doesn't take very long to get it sanded but some leathers are harder than others. One nice thing about a Rough-Out is that even though your leather is a light color and will show dirt fairly easy all you have to do to clean it is to sand it and it will be like new. That alone is a very good selling point plus the only dye or finish needed is on the silhouette. I should mention that it does make a bit of leather dust when sanding that will need to be cleaned up . I hope this helps .............Dan You can find some information on this type of carving on the last two pages of Inverted Leather Carving by Al Stohlman

Hello and welcome ! You will find that there are alot of good people on this board with a wealth of good advice learned the hard way. Have fun and enjoy.

Hello and welcome. I have found that the stupid questions I ask are alot easier to handle then the stupid mistakes I make because I didn't ask. Most of us here are hoplessly addicted to this leather thing and we will do our best to help you with your addiction as well.

Your right Jo! After a while we all start thinking small things aren't important on this board and take things for grated.I made one post here and will post one on a Bling Bling wristband that I have been making.Thanks for the reminder or swift kick you might say. I remember learning this stuff the hard way with no one to show me and God knows I could have used some help. Dan

Here is a couple of Rough-Out purses with silhoutte carvings that I made recently. The ladies seem to like these better than my other purses and they are not hard to make.

Remember making these out of buttons when you was a kid . It is a simple project that my grandkids love to do and is fun for Grandpa too. The ones shown here are 4 in. but the rounders from TLF work just as well.Punching the two holes for the string is very important since balance is the key to getting them to work. I ususlly put these curved lines on them and let the grandkids color then with markers plus they love to use grandpas 2D and 3D stamps also. I'll admitt I found myself having fun right along with them. You would be supprised how many parents will pull out there wallet and buy there kids one just remembering how much fun these are. Thanks Dan

I have been giving this some thought and with the amount of visitors hitting this site it seems to me that while we have them here we could and should give them some options so they can purchase the item or items they are looking for. I went on a search of online art galleries and not all of the prices were the same for each artist and it was left up to the buyer to decide who's print or original they want to purchase. The site could be set up based on merchandide rather than Artist. If a visitor is looking for a set of saddle bags then there could be a page of saddle bags that are avalable and contact informatiom for custom tooling or add ons. We have some of the very best leather workers in the world right here and when a potenal customer or client stops in why not take advantage of the situation. If you pull up pack boots on Cabelas website they aren't all priced the same and for a good reason. Not all of us can afford the best packboots made but we want and need a good reliable pair so we get the best pair we can for what we can spend. Not everyone can afford to buy one of my fully tooled Bookcovers laced with roo but they may still want and need one .They look at whats avalable and decide on a machine stitched bookcover with a basket weave on it. That doesn't bother me nor should it bother anyone else. It seems to me that when we as a group have our customers right where we want them we should cash in and I'm sure it would be a learning experiance for alot of us. Just my two cents worth. Dan

Here is a clutch purse I made for my friend in Idaho and a framed Sheridan panel. When it was suggested I carve this , to be quite honest I was reluctant. After finisnishing it and framing it, I must admit it , surprisingly, I like it. I am working on another one now. All comments welcome. Thanks, Dan

Hi All. A couple of orders recently finished. A book cover to fit AA Manual and a small card case Thanks Dan

I'll be gone this weekend but plan on carving it and will also post my carving! Thanks Dan

Pete, I like it alot.The leaves are cool and I want to try them. I wasn't able to get them to print but will try again later. Very nice pattern. Dan

Hi Don, I just finish them with Neat-Lac and they seem to hold up well

HI All, A couple of pics of a case I made for my Binoculars and a mouse pad I made foe my nieghbor

Very nice and welcome aboard! We are all in this together and the more we have here the more we can learn from each other! We all have our strong and weak points. My weakness is on the constuction side and my strong point is probably my tooling although that to could use some improvment. Not knowing how to do something doesn't make me dumb it just means I'm uneducated in that department and this is a great place to learn. I really like the nice clean look of your work. Are those hand sewn or machine ? Either way they are very nice!

Hi Pete, I first dyed the background with Fiebing's Mahogany. When dyeing the background I used a Red Sable #6 round for the larger areas then a #1 round to get into the smaller places and remember that your Antigue will fill in the very small places. I don't risk getting the dye on my pattern. Next I applied a light coat of neat-lac and another light coat about 1/2 hr later and let it dry . Next I applied Fiebing's Tan Antique Paste over the entire project and cleaned the highplaces off with clean sheep wool and let it dry . The next day I applied Antique again with clean wool a small amount at a time and taking it as far as it will go and just keep rubbing as it gets tacky . Basicly you clean the highpots and as the antique gets gummy it stays in your pear shading. This is when you decide how much you want to leave or take off. I then buffed it good and let it dry before I applied one more thin coat of neat-lac. I cut the checkerng on the spine with the leather on the dry side of dry with a 3/8 straight ceramic blade using a ruler as a guide. After the 1st cut I used a saddlers compass to mark the next line on both sides and and cut all the lines going one way then repeated the same on the other side. I then just lightly ran a deer antler over it to smooth it out but cutting the checkering on the dry side seems to work best for me. One more thing I thought I'd mention is the lacing was done with 1/8 Kangaroo through holes punched with a 3/32 four hole angled punch. This keeps your lace close together with not much leather showing between the next. On the corners I like to run the lace twice through the hole before and after the corner and three times in the corner. I hope this helps, Dan

Hi All, Ths is my 3rd project useing a Sheridan Pattern.I've did a couple of checkbooks and now this Journal. Its a bit differant to do but it's also good to learn something new. Any helpful hints are welcome !

Clay , Now that is as cool as it gets right there!! He is just awesome ! I have never tried anything like that but it sure looks good. I guess I could have looked but I didn't realize we were that close of neigbors. I may be relocating to the Evergreen area later his summer and if I do will be sure and get with you. Dan

Very cool seat! I like the way the pattern flows and yes it's very true that a little color changes alot. I am going to pick up some food coloring and mess with it a bit. I'll let you know how and if or what when where it works.

Regis. The most important tool you will ever own is your swivel Knife and The Blade In It . It sort of looks like the blade was draging and then jumping on you a bit and that would be signs of a dull blade.I'd rather have a sharp blade taped to a stick than a dull one in the best knife made. { My opinion} For me a ceramic blade is the way to go but they must be kept sharp .Your knife should sort of glide through the leather. I have had some leather that was just plain hard to cut and in desperation I took a very small amount of neadfoot oil and applied it to the surface of the cased leather and it seemed to help and it didn't dry as fast either. Beveling is the second most important step to a good carving and we all do alot of it and I agree with what you have already been told but I would add that where those viens come together use your pointed beveler in there . Line it up and one decent tap with you mallet and on you go. Same thing with the points since you were carving inverted. As far as the ship goes the beveling looks better. The knife cuts on the water is wrong as there are no definate line to cut. water flows the same as the sails on your ship. For things like that i may bevel lighty where I want my lines but for the most part use a smooth Pear shader .Start light and add where needed and your modeling spoon is your friend when it comes to figure or pictorial carving. Hope this helps and feel free to email me off list if you want .

Your not the first to say that . Maybe I should put it to a vote! But I wil be useing spirit dyes and It will be more of hints of color rather than painted .

You can count me in no matter how the judgeing is done. I'm flexable s gumby when it comes to that. You know Just happy to be here.

I am going to make a wall hanging out of it . Not for sure just how yet but I've got a couple ideas bouncing around in here and I'll come up with something.

Hi all, Here is a pic of an elephant that I've finished tooling.I will post another one when I get some color on and finished.