Greg528it

I agree, most people would realize it's a name not a description of your work. Though I'd need to see examples of you work to make a fair call on that. ;-) "Petty Leather Works" or similar would be good. "Petty Great Leather" and let the customer fill in the R. :D

Good to know. When I started this spring the manager at the local Tandys, who had several NICE holsters on display in his shop, said to glue the layers as you go to avoid wrinkles on the inside. His were beautiful inside and out. Hmmmmmm

nice Is it lined front and back? I see the 3rd piece , looks to be back side..

Good point, Mercedes does put their logo front and center. But it does not say "Mercedes MAKER Benz".

Very clean design. I really like it. Great workmanship.

Red, I like your mark, size and your placement. Maybe there are not that many out there.

OK.. I get them for branding.. but why do some (a lot) of them actually say "MAKER". That's what I want to know.

Dont get me wrong, I'm all for makers marks, just more like a brand or a signature or a pattern. When I sign a nice piece of sandblasted glass art, I have a set signature / mark that I place on the rear low and out of the way.

Why do people have their maker marks made with the big word "MAKER" in the middle? It seems redundant to me. If it's stamped on the piece, name of the craftsman, and possible something like "ye old leather works" um duh that's who made it. A name personalizing it is generally going to be bigger, not a premade stamp. Also why do holster makers, some, put it smack dab in the middle? Did Picaso or Rembrandt sign a painting in the middle? NO. Its off to the side out of the way. On a holster it seems likemit should be on the back. If you want detail in the front, do a basket weave or something.

I like. Pictures of the inside?

I made this knife several years ago. This week I finally made a sheath for it.

I'd like it better if it was an old Ford truck spring. Just kidding. Very nice work on both.

Nice.. for sure line the next one.. My wife looks at my unlined holsters and goes WHY?

Studio N. See my attached picture. Can you run slightly different paths at different intensity to carve different layers? When I've sand blasted them, We've plotter cut some masks, peel the area we want.. blast.. peel again. blast again.. etc... carving from deepest to shallowest. If you can run multiple paths right next to each other you should be able to cut each path to a different depth.

I was wondering what the surface looked like after you laser carve. With sand blasting it is as smooth as the media you blast with. In my case for glass I use pretty fine grit. When sand blasting the edges tend to round so it makes it pretty natural looking. I still think, 3 dimensionally speaking one is not going to get much effect in leather. maybe just rounding to another level. I guess I'll have to try one.

I've carved glass in 3 dimensions. The depth of glass up to 1/2" thick. I've just started with leather, but it seams that the depth differential would be very small. I imagine that at most you could have 3 -4 depths. I do not think one would need fancy software to achive this. Think about what you want at what layer and make your laser pattern to those depths for cutting.

You can also try sandblasting.

I also JUST started, I did experiment with using a vacuum storage bag. Between my house vac, then a Mini Mite hand vacuum pump. It formed, pulled the leather down tight. I even tried putting a large silica pack in with one, to try and give the moisture a place to go. Umm the moisture has no place to go. But once I pulled it out of the bag and let air dry, it kept it's shape very nicely. It sure saved a LOT of pressing with my tired old fingers.

Did you laser engrave that into a metal blank for a stamp?

Electrathon. What is that 2 lace pattern called? I feel I need to figure it out, watch a video, read the instrctions. I dont know what I will use it on but its beautiful. Great work.

I didn't pre seal the stained leather before I blasted. The seal loosened the stain the it fell into the blasted area. so pre seal.. or.. I should have filled with black stain before I removed the pattern.

I purchased a piece of leather from Tandy a month ago. I didn't think much about it until a day or 2 later.. It fills the office room with a smell. Not terrible but stronger than normal. I made a couple different items from it, and once stained and sealed it was fine. I ended up bagging it in the vacuum seal bags I bought for vacuum forming it. I was back at that Tandy later, and asked about it. The owner indicated it was probably the tanning process. He had once recieved a shipment of leather that had a similar smell. He ended up returning it. You may need to let it breathe a bit??????

I just purchased my 1st awl. Diamond shape.. I asked if it was going to need polishing, to which he responded YES. I tried it anyway, out came the polishing material. I'm sure a round awl may be in need of a good polish as well.

OK. This will be a little long. Acquire a 1x1" glass tile. (it's actually 7/8") Cut a 1" - 1- 1/8" dowel rod to length. Ends should be even and square to the length. initially I cut it about 5" long, enough to clear my hand when using the mallet. Since I started using my arbor press I shortened it to 2" Epoxy the glass tile to one end of the dowel rod. I used 2 part epoxy for it's high strength and thick nature. Use enough so that the whole bottom of the tile is covered with epoxy. I went ahead and let it drip over the side. You must ensure that the tile is fully supported across the bottom. Push the tile down so it is flat on the end. Let epoxy cure. Apply pattern to glass tile: I will list a few options here. 1) use thick vinyl tape and an exacto knife and cut your pattern. I know a couple people who are masters with an exacto knife and can cut some amazing patterns. I am NOT one of them. 2) Use a sign vinyl cutter and cut your pattern with it and apply. I just purchased a Silhouette Cameo www.silhouetteamerica.com This machine is amazing and have used it for several projects to date. You can cut adhesive vinyl and make staining masks for your leather, signs, cards. It's $250 ish, so JUST for leather stamps mmmmmm maybe not the ticket but. 3) Use a system similar to www.ikonicsimaging.com This is the material I use primarily for making patterns to blast / carve glass. When asked the detail I can obtain in glass, I generally indicate a common business card and say I can transfer it exactly. This process is similar to silk screening and uses UV light to cure a film so that you can wash with warm water away the image to be later blasted. The film can be purchased for about 7 cents a square inch. I buy boxes of 10 sheets. 10x14" sheets for about $100. To process you need a UV light source. My original light source was a single grow bulb. I would hold the pattern printed onto a clear sheet and then the film around the bulb, expose for a length of time. I have since built a flat light box. This IS advanced glass and rock carving stuff here but you may know someone in your area that does this already. Once you have applied your pattern onto your glass tile. Sandblast the ..... out of it. Until it has a well defined pattern. You can do this outside, with a respirator on. I did a bunch that way. You can use a cheap siphon feeding sand blasting system, though it takes longer. I blast most of my objects in a Harbor Freight 40 lb capacity Floor Blast cabinet. It goes on sale. It comes with a siphon feed system on board but I did not hook it up. My blast media, comes from a Harbor Freight 40 lb pressurized Abrasive blaster. Blasting with one of these is easily 10x more efficient than a siphon feed system. It can wear a hole in a 1/4" piece of glass or rock in under a minute. Obviously buying all this equipment just for stamps is not very cost effective. Some of you may already own some of it. Or better chance in your eclectic hoard of crafting compatriots, you may know someone who already knows and has this. Now it's time to barter. I've attached some glass blasting so you can see the detail one can obtain.

A couple weeks after I started this leather working thing, I was standing in the local Tandy store. You know, like you do, not wanting to spend $1000 but also wanting to as well. Another man was stopped in and was asking about custom stamps. I didn't say anything but my mind got to working. I deep carve marble all the time. That might work. A few days later, I'm making some carved glass for someone, and I try an piece of granite I had laying around. FAIL. The porosity of the granite did not leave a smooth carved surface. If it would contact the leather it would leave a pebbled imprint. DANG IT. Having previously re tiled some in my bathroom I have a fair number of 1x1 and 1x2 inch glass tiles. Glass used for tiles is about as tough as glass gets. The key is to supporting the glass fully on the back side. Solution, 2 part epoxy tiles onto wood dowels larger than the tile. I epoxied, created a pattern or 9, and deep carved the pattern onto the glass tile. My 1st stamps (pictures) were using a standard leather making mallet, striking it quite hard. I've since started using a 1/2 ton Arbor Press from Harbor Freight. As long as the stamp is against moist leather I doubt one would be able to break it. The only problem one might have is if they dropped it or dropped something else into it.. say a normal metal stamp. For as easy as they are to make, even if one did break it, just whip up a new one. I've made 12 some stamps without having to buy anything. When you are ready and want to expand into making your own I can go deeper into what it takes to make the high detailed patterns. You could always wrap in electrical tape and hand cut your pattern for that matter.