immiketoo

A steampunk Nerf rig.

Same thing in the holster world. Only so many ways to wrap a gun in leather. That said, there are many stylistic cues that are "borrowed" all the time.

Only if people know its you, then I agree.

Reminds me of Garbage Pail kids cards.

Good. Good. Let the hate flow through you...

The winning piece was amazing. As in I need to go back to school amazing. Gary, your piece is cool and whimsical and I like it. You and I will both indulge this fantasy and we will get better. I have a LOT of swivel knives, but none of them were free

This is a fine piece, although you're right, it wouldn't have won. Neither did mine, because the winners were at such a high level in each category. I'll take it as challenge to raise my level for next year.

Leather people are the best! Paul and Rosa are great friends and super helpful. Everyone is really great and the amount of money I've spent at shows is staggering. Glad you enjoyed yourself!

Double action allows you to control both airflow and media flow. A single action controls the mix so if you're looking to do only finishes, or a single color, you could use a single. However, you can do that with a double by holding full stop for both actions AND you can do fades and shading. They aren't difficult to learn to control if you want.

I have several air brushes, Paache VL x2, two Iwata, one siphon feed and one gravity, and I can tell you the best bang for the buck is this set. https://www.amazon.com/Wakrays-Master-Airbrush-Professional-System/dp/B01JISBYN6/ref=lp_8090750011_1_25?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1488268594&sr=1-25-spons&psc=1 I have two of them, and the features and extras for 30 bucks make it easily the best money. They aren't as smooth as the Iwata, but they spray just as well, and only take a little more maintenance than the Iwata.

Thanks everyone

Here is a sampling of some of the letters I carved over the last few years.

Ah yes. Ive never heard it called lazy stitch before. Why is it called that?

I don't even know what that means...

With the exception of the Tandy Euro bends, and the HO they sell, I find that almost everywhere has batter leather. I only buy HO and some of the italian leather now. You can't beat quality.

Shit, I moved to Greece and it cost over 11K for the move. And thats not counting the IKEA trip

Did you move? Or are you getting a new toy?

No idea on Chrome tan. Maybe a leather conditioner that has a nice smell?

Pics would help tremendously in diagnosing the issue. Please post some. Otherwise, we're just guessing.

The pictures of your work help on a diagnosis. There are many ways to achieve the look you're going for and it appears to me you're using a standard beveler. A figure beveler is a far better tool for this type of work, but a modeling spoon will work in place of one of you don't have any. As for the book, Al tells you what tools he uses for every image in it. If you don't have those particular tools, you'll have to improvise. What the book can't show you is the technique. Only the aftermath. The reason you don't like the depth isn't only because of the matting, although that will help. What's causing you problems is the steep little Vs where you beveled, with the surrounding leather still at the same level like a plain of wood with channels routered in it. You have flat leather with those Vs beveled in it. What you want to do is create wide stair step effect, with each peak or valley standing at different levels (Or at least appearing to do so). Lastly, your book has everything you need to know, but if thats still not enough, seeing HOW the technique is done can help tremendously.

That is a possibility I hadn't considered. You might be right. Still I'd pick a henley every time!

Check out www.learnleather.com. There is a video by Bob Beard about beveling that shows how he does this technique. Very informative.

Splicing is your friend. I do it all the time for larger items. Conversely, you could take it to a print shop with a large format printer.

I agree. I use the photocopy method as well. Saves time, energy, aggravation and materials.