chriscraft

Since I started tooling, I’ve focused on quality verses quantity. Like you mentioned, Speed wasn’t the objective then. I haven’t seen anyone in person tool leather in a very long time and never paid any attention as to how much time went into tooling. I just feel that I’m slow since I can’t compare myself to anyone else, side by side. I know it’s not a race but I’d like to know what an average time frame it takes to complete work such as the sample I’ve provided. I’ve always had a hard time judging time as To how much time it will take me to complete a project. My mind tends to think faster than my hands can keep up. My mind says for this project it will take me 2 hours but in reality it ended up taking me 4 hours. Double the time I predicted. I haven’t spent hundreds of hours tooling yet to be efficient. I’m still learning and probably always will be.

I feel that I’m slow at tooling. Question for those that tool, Wondering how long it should take to hand tool this logo? Obviously I would get faster on repeat patterns but just want to have an idea on how long it should take so I have a goal in mind the badge is 4” wide

Darn!!! I miscalculated my lettering. It’ll still make a good gift. Oh well, I’ll get the next one right. Live and learn

For my next memo book leather cover I’ll be simplifying it by only tooling in the badge. I’m trying to speed up the process of building a cover. This will also bring the cost down a bit making is somewhat affordable or reasonable. On this sketch I made the badge boarder leaf scrolls a little larger to make it easier for me to tool them in. This cover will go to an officer I’ve ran into frequently while at work.

The Tandy near Milwaukee won’t be stocking them but do have a very nice catalog of Cobra sewing machines. Prices look comparable to what Cobra Steve sells them at

Thank you, I really appreciate it, I do. I have an admiration for the craft and try to do my best but the reality is that I am still a novice. I am still learning and searching for ways to bring out the images out on this material. I am still trying to find time so that I can keep practicing leatherwork. It’s been a while since I’ve tooled leather or posted here on this board. It’s been a rollercoaster ride of starting and stopping leatherwork. I think this time I won’t stop as I’m making it one of my priorities. I need an outlet and creating has always been it for me. I’m proud to be working on this piece that I’ll be gifting to my nephew. He grew up looking up to me calling me an artist and come to think of it, I’ve never really drawn anything for him. So I wanted to make him a powerful piece that shows off my skills and appreciation to his carrier. Something he will carry with him day in and day out and maybe one day pass it on. The project is is moving along super slow. I’ve tooled for a couple hours here and 30 minutes there that I’ve lost track on how much time I’ve put into this. It’s getting closer to be completed. I had to shorten some of the lettering as I drew the word “police officer” a little too close to the center and some of it would be cut off when folded. So I had to improvise. Chris

Modeling spoon on this tiny face...

Using a Craftool Co. 888 stamp

It’s slowly coming along

I’m starting a new field notes leather cover project. I recently made one for a police Chief that had an eagle and turned out great. I’m borrowing that same eagle and incorporating a Police badge. I had this idea and sketched it out on paper. This new leather cover will be completely tooled. I’m making this for a gift and it will be headed to South Texas to provide years of service.

Thanks again. I just finished this cover. Stitched with 277 bonded nylon thread. It will provide many years of service.

I dyed it with pro oil saddle tan

Thanks. I do like the black cover, it’s the color most officers carry.

Here is the first day book cover I made. As you can see when dyed solid black, you lose most of the eagle detail.

I’m making a field notes leather cover for a Police Chief friend of mine. Originally I made one in black but lost much of the detail. I’m thinking dying this one tan or just leaving it natural color. Will decide once I’m done adding lettering.

Very inspirational of what can be done on leather. Great use of shading within the black tiger stripes and fur.

JLS, I think today’s salesmen are now obsolete due to Internet shopping. I mean face it, we really don’t need salesmen anymore if they can’t get us a better price than what we can find by searching on google for a few minutes. I know most salesmen work on a commission base and get a cut off each sale no matter what they say. It’s NOT that they are being dishonest, its just that an honest salesman won’t make any money at the end of the month. My friend recently told me while I’m shopping around for a new 2019 car, “it’s like a police detective expecting the criminal to give himself up without a chase”. So we need to be good detectives and read, search for clues, compare competitor prices just to break the case of finding a deal. After all...The deal isn’t going to present itself without a chase....

I too have noticed I have a few different variants of the older Craftool Co. stamps. These older tools were hand made one by one and not casted from a mold. The 198 and B198 stamps I have are square toe and some have a rounded curved toe. Same thing with my 197 smooth beveler stamp with some square and some rounded. I even have a 197 and 198 that looks similar to the figure carving 895 stamp in shape. It has no signs of being filed off or altered. Has factory plating to the entire tool. I just keep the rounded 198 tool handy and use it when beveling the inside of a sharp tight curve.

Thanks for identifying the RB tools as leaf liners. I don’t do any leaf pattern tooling, reason I didn’t know what these were. I’m sure I’ll find a use for these RB liners now that I have an idea what they are intended for.

I picked up a few Robert Beard pro series aka Black Crack stamps. I am not familiar with these three stamps or how they are used. They are stamped ALB 1, ALB 3 and ALB 5. Can someone explain if these are border stamps or for matting. Thanks

It’s okay to bid against me. Besides, this past week alone, I’ve noticed new listing everyday under “vintage craftool” or “craftool lot”. Just when one new listing looks to have a decent assortment of tools and I’m about to bid, another new listing pops up and has a better assortment of leather tools priced about the same as the previous listing. I send questions to these sellers: can you post better close up pictures of the stamps? Can you also show the sticking end of each tool? Can you list each stamp number? Are these stamped, Craftool Co., Craftool Co. USA, or just Craftool USA? Are the tools showing signs of chrome flaking or chipping off? The answer I get is.. Yes, they all say Craftool, bid with confidence, no reserve. Which is why I’m posting here.