immiketoo

Another alternative is to use a round knife. It might be a little difficult at first, but I bought mine specifically for this reason. Tight curves. Plus its handy to have in the shop. That being said, the round hole plus connecting the dots is probably the easiest way to go about it short of custom dies.

Well, that marriage was a LONG time ago. I remedied that problem in 98!

Lol, Jeff. Couldn't agree more, except for the wedding coordinator I was required to "Purchase" at the church I got married at who didn't do anything. Stood there with a big frown on her face and charged 400 bucks.

The biggest thing I see is it looks like you're carving with your leather too wet. You'll find you get a much cleaner result with leather thats moist, not wet. This and more time behind your tools will help you improve. As stated before, there is a way to artistically go outside the border lines. This makes the eye wonder what happened.

Barge and any benzine glue have toxic fumes. Renia is incredibly strong and is non toxic, plus its flexible. We have both in our shop.

E6000 does NOT work for leather in my opinion. I tried it and its a mess. Never dries firm enough to give clean edges and its not very strong. You can use white glue in a pinch though.

Personally, I'd use 4mm and let the screw compress the biothane a bit. Also, I'd lock title the threads.

Thanks, everyone. This was a fun piece to do

I'm a big fan of round knives and they are one of the most used tools I have. That said, I bought a few of them from different manufacturers. My main cutting knife is a Knipshield french model. I'm not the kind of guy who wants to go spend 300 or 400 dollars on the tools to make a knife that I can buy from a professional for 250, so for me the math is easy. Kudos to those of you who can make their own knife. I have a LW as well, and I love it. Great skiver. I have an old Gomph too. Sharp. Hard as hens teeth. They each serve their purpose, and you can't really go wrong with any of them. Just keep your off hand behind the blade at all times!

I'm a big fan of round knives and they are one of the most used tools I have. That said, I bought a few of them from different manufacturers. My main cutting knife is a Knipshield french model. I'm not the kind of guy who wants to go spend 300 or 400 dollars on the tools to make a knife that I can buy from a professional for 250, so for me the math is easy. Kudos to those of you who can make their own knife. I have a LW as well, and I love it. Great skiver. I have an old Gomph too. Sharp. Hard as hens teeth. They each serve their purpose, and you can't really go wrong with any of them. Just keep your off hand behind the blade at all times!

Thank you! Thank you!

Yes they are. Well, and some beveling in certain spots. Thanks! That was the plan Yeah, that's funny I realized after I put that post up it was kind of stupid... ah well

So four years ago, I started this crazy leather thing, and this is one of my best pieces so far. What do you think?

Sadly, Paul is no longer with us. A great man though.

Almost everyone makes these kind of errors. Its what we call EXPERIENCE You just got some!

Nice looking rig, and you're right about the no wrinkle policy. No bueno.

Yep. They're expensive though!

Also, there are a lot of ways to build them. Some use more leather than others. The only real way is to have the experience of your process and take a good look at the hide to see whats useable and what is only good for practice.

It is lined. 6oz on both sides. I was up against two guys that were from Japan who did full western rigs. And they were really good.

Jeff, did you know Robert died a few months back?

Defunct as far as I know.

I don't care what they call me, as long as I get paid

I have one, or had as its still in the states. Its an ash tree. All I did is sand the top of mine and I used it for bag punches etc. This piece of log is so big I doubt it will ever split, but I suppose you could bind it. I started using mine right away, and it dried as I used it.

Never heard of it but it looks cool!

Welcome! Cant wait to see your work. Most wood workers transition quite well to leather.