AfroCrafter

I third Bob's advice. I spent my first year carving on badly card leather, then I read Bob Park's tutorial and have never looked back. It makes everything just work! You've made a nice start. Well done.

Lovely items Ron. I see got have stitching around the stamped guitar strap. Is that laminated? Or is the stitching just part of the design?

I like the style and especially your carved panel on the side. I've never thought of doing that. I've wanted a tote for a while but have only ever worked veg (I love to carve) so now I'm inspired to get some chrome and make my bag. Thanks for the great idea.

I recently got given some wonderful riempies leather made out of steenbok skin that was tanned and prepped by a bushman tracker over 60 years ago. Apparently the animal was skinned and the skin was sun dried and then simply scraped with a knife to thin it and then worked by hand till it is soft. It has an amazing texture and is unbelievably thin and strong. But even after all these years still smells pretty rough. I know also that aardvark leather used to be alum tanned into riempies which was worked soft by tying them in a continuous loop to a rock suspended beneath a tree. the rock was then spun till the was up in the tree. Then it was released to spin down and wind up again. This was done A Lot to make the riempies strong and supple. And apparently a single strand could be used to tether a bull. Not sure of the truth of it all but that is what I was told.

A really handsome sheath. Great edge.

I take reference photos of anything i can find (been asked to leave a couple of highstreet stores for looking too closely at their designs:-). To draw a section, I cosse what general type of flower/ scroll work will fit the piece and then after allowing for seams and straps etc, I start blocking a general layout. I use normal wax paper coz you can erase a million times and it doesn't rip. basically if you start with an overall layout of where the design will go, it is quite easy to add the small elements like leaves and flowers and fill out the design. Once all the scratching and rubing is done, i photocopy /scan the design to keep for later and then i work straigh from the wax paper and transfer it to the leather. something that I love about leather is that you can change you design even after you have laid down you initial design to the cased leather. it is very forgiving and i often find myself moving lines a little here and ther whilst I am actually cutting it in with the swivel knife. So that is how I do it and, while it is not very exacting, i have never tried a really complex design so have not yet run into compounding erros by being out a few mm. Just because I am sitting at my bench now, here's what i am working pon at the moment. just some practice scrap to see if I can over dye pen marks on leather. Hope it helps. Cheers Alex

Stunning design and the colour is terriffic. Well done

Please could you explain how you did the side stitching. I have been asked to make a pair of these and am clueless as to how to stitch them nicely. I dont have a machine so am hoping to figue out how to saddlestitch them.

I had a piece of black kudu hide from when I was at school in Zimbabwe and at the tender age of 35 I made a tooled tablet cover and it is wonderfully soft. so don't throw anything out. just keep it nicely and it will work out. cheers Alex

excellent tips, thank you

They look great. you can tell coz people are commenting. That means we genuinely like them The dye job actually makes the bag stand out beautifully.. I did a book cover which i hashed up so badly, i nearly threw it away. It was for an artist friend and when he saw it he loved it so much that it lives in his coffee table so he can look at it all the time. I have even gotten two other commissions for a similar "dye effect". So believe me, what we think is a mess is often not seen as that by others. cheers and God bless Alex

The shrinkage was not really noticeable but some say it can be up to 30% which is a lot. i didn't find that though. I think it was also because it is just a sheet of leather with no real proportions. eg. if you made an arm guard, it might not fit. I set the oven to its lowest setting of 70degrees celcius. and it took about two hours to dry. Next one I am going to try suntanning at midday to try and get the same effect. I did make one that I tooled and it was ok. That was back before i really knew what tooling should look like and I can't really remember. your tooling definitely shallows out a lot. cheers Alex.

Hey guys, I made myself a new tablet cover and didn't know what do to with the old one. So I chopped it up and made a "Zeroz" wallet. It holds bank notes and 8 cards. The tabs are made out of an old plastic sketch pad cover. I saw the design online and the guys are charging $35-$70 for them. This took me about 30 minutes to make! (Copywrite blah...) I've been using it for a couple of months now and after a bit of getting used to, I am really happy. My only problem is that I keep losing it coz it is too small Cheers and God bless Alex

Morning all, My first attempt at boiling and hardening leather. I did this about a year ago (it takes me a while to post) and it is still rock solid. I initially didn't think it would be strong enough so I have a thong from the back to the front (hence the punched hole). But it never needed it. This was a piece of "un-toolable" leather off the side of a scrap hide from the local tannery. All different thicknesses and in really bad nick. I just gave a a scrub with some soapy water to get the factory grime off it, dipped it in boiling water, formed it and dried it in the oven with the door open. Then antiqued it in mahogany. This was done before I knew how to finish edges etc. But I still love it. Cheers and God bless, Alex

Love the stitching and proportions of the blue and black. In todays world of black, black and some more black, it is good to see some nice bright colours. Nice one

you do beautiful work bobocat. a real inspiration.

A really great description. I love your secret circle lettering jig. very clever. Thanks for sharing Alex

Really nice work. I have just gotten a commission for a binoculars case and will be nicking your idea. I love the clean lines and the fact that it can stand on it's own due to the flat bottom. Ideal for the big heavy binos that you can get. The last thing you want is to have a huge weight around your neck the whole day because the case doesn't stand on it's own. The flat panels will also work well for some tooling accenting. But I love your colouring and finishing. Very neat. Well done Alex

Thanks for the nice comments guys. Redrum, I would love to see a pic if you get yours done this weekend. I might go and get one of those massive dog bones and try making a raw hide one in the same manner. Cheers

Thanks Randy, The "AI gun" is the length of the 6mm threaded rod which I cut to the size I wanted. It is essentially just a long bolt with no head. That would certainly bring a tear to your eye if it were an AI gun! Eish! Thanks again.

Hey guys, Here in South Africa, there is only one place to get any tools ; a third party retailer for the Tandy shop halfway across the country who seldom has stock. As a result, I am always on the lookout for easy tools that I can make myself to do the job. Mallets and mauls are very expensive here and there is only one in stock at any one time! I have been using a hammer handle with an old belt around it for about 5 months now but I am tired of it and wanted to upgrade. I have been coveting an Stolhman Poly Maul and decided that yesterday was the day that I try and make one for my self. No... I didn't really nail it the way I was hoping. It's a bit rough and ready and a lathe would have been a VERY useful tool to have so that I could turn down the handle nicely but, alas, I don't have one. However, I am thrilled with the outcome. and love the new feel of it. Here's a shot of the "raw materials". The threaded bar is a 6mm diameter and I used nyloc nuts to keep it all together. I didn't use any glue at all. It is seriously straight forward to make and so my only advice is to clamp the leather down when you drill the disks out! DO not try and hold it flat on the bench with your hand. I nearly lost a finger nail when the piece I was drilling, bit into the hole saw and wrapped my hand around the drill! It was a painful realisation of just how strong leather is. I have no idea where the center of the weight should be but I recon you could balance it by taking off the end disk, drilling a few small holes in the second disk down, inserting a few lead fishing weights, and clamping the whole thing back together. That way you could add weight to the head if necessary. The center of this one is right at the join between the head and the handle. Can any one tell me where the weight should lie? For the rest of us noobs out there, you don't need a huge budget to get started. Just a bit of patience and some effort, after all, this is a craft and an art so we may as well invest some time into the set up. Cheers Alex

Hi guys, I have just found this thread after following a link from hidepounders casing leather thread. All of Keith's comments are exactly the answers that I was looking for. Thank you so much for your time and willingness to teach. For us clueless beginners, it is a Godsend. Happy carving Alex

Well done Tim, Your designs are top notch and your carving is excellent. The colour, finishing, and craftsmanship are superb I love the idea of making things for the kids because they adore the object and will eventually learn to appreciate the effort also. And with you around, scuffs and scratches can be sorted out and it will last them till their grankids are old I have a son who is starting school in a year's time and I was tossing up whether to try and make him a bag. Now I feel like it is the most worthwhile thing I could be doing. Like Lionfly said, I've got a while to skill up and make something worthwhile. Definitely going to buy Bob Parks book if this is the end result. Thanks for the inspiration. Alex

Thank you so much for all of these comments. We battle to get a range of dyes and finishes in South Africa and so I will definitely be trying the olive oil technique. Thanks guys, Alex

Hey Murray, I was looking for a way of putting a scripture onto a bible cover for a friend and have just seen your excellent swivel knife work. Really stunning work. I am working on getting my carving more refined and it is work like this that sets a great bench mark. Also love the way you incorporate the swivel knife cuts and the emblem to get the fine chain work to stand out. You've opened my eyes to many possibilities. Gotta go practice now Thanks Alex