Mike

Freak, Are ya gonna color it??? If so, I wanna see it. Mike

Did you create the drawing yourself or work from a pattern? If a pattern, try a different one or compare your work to the pattern. If they do not match, try to determine why they don't. If it's your own drawing, same thing. Does the carving look like your drawing? Sometimes itty bitty details will get you. If you cannot make this a happy dear, you may look for a different pattern. There are some in Stohlman's books. A couple of observations, deer eyes are on the side of the head not the front so they won't be staring at you like that. If you looked straight down at the head, they would angle so that the deer see mainly to the sides. Secondly, the chin, I do not believe that you will have an abrupt sag like that. The area from the muzzle goes smooth from chin to chest. Again, I would start with the pattern. I think that's where you will find your answer. You may have carved it exactly as it was originally penned. If you look here (http://www.pmrleather.com/leather/skidboot.htm) you will see what I went through to carve a dog looking straight at me. You will also notice that not all of the carvings are equally accurate. Just some suggestions. I too have been frustrated when trying to get animals 'just right'.

The ones we used at work were somewhat flimsy and just had wool nailed to the top rails. I was able to get some leftover carpet from a neighbor so I built the front end up some to resemble withers. The hard part was cutting the steel. I was going to put more teeth in it but found it did not need them. I doubt I'll work on saddles. I've got videos, books, curiosity and such but no resources. The saddles built by the shop I was at were a cross between English and Western style. That didn't teach me enough about the western saddles in use around here. Not only that but hundreds if not thousands of saddles are turned out each week just 20 miles north of me in Greenville, TX. I do not have the experience to compete in that market. I may hold on to it in case I find a saddle cheap that I can work on but more than likely I'll let someone around here have it for a reasonable price. I haven't gotten any use from it. In case your curious, it's made from pressure treated lumber that I had left over from building a deck.

Typically white 'dye' is acrylic paint. A liquid may need mixing prior to use. I have always just used acrylic paint when I need white.

I do not think I have used kangaroo lace yet but I have used goat lace. It was very nice and I would not hesitate to use it again. The stuff I used was made/sold by Tandy in the 90's.

A couple of years ago, I worked for a saddlemaker for a very short time. When I left, he asked if I could do saddle repair on the weekends. Well, I work weekends. As a result the drawdown stand I built is left ignored. It's the first one (only one) I have built and it is nicer than what we had in the shop but it's not fancy. What do you guys think of it and should I keep it? It's made with simple tools and the teeth were cut out with a hacksaw.

It was a Tandy kit. There is a front, back, gusset and handle. I also installed a liner.

my first steps is plan. design, pattern fabrication, test fit using scrap paper (brown paper bags), then repeat until the fit is right. Then I'm ready to cut out. I also apply finish after dyeing and before assembly. I make sure I know where the hardware goes prior to assembly. Does it attach to a liner, the outer, does it hide under something. Try to test it before cutting up nice leather.

I keep thinking I should build these but it is tedious work. Here's the one I did when the kits first came out.

The pattern is by Kathleen Bond and was an alternate included with the kit.

The saddle in question does not have a pan. It is a hammock type. There is a frame at the rear to which the leather is riveted. The leather than stretches to the front adjustment mechanism where it is also riveted on each side. Between the front and rear is air below the seat. Rails connect the back frame to the front adjustment. These rails do not contact the seat except perhaps lightly at the sides. I do not know how the factories formed the leather. You can try asking them. Another alternative is to cover a seat that has a 'pan' or body. This latter type also uses foam and thinner leather. I also believe that both Brooks of England and Ideale of France used about 9/10 oz or better. It's pretty sturdy leather. My Ideale seat has lasted me over twenty years.

Thanks for the nice words, folks. I had to mold it to keep the knife in. He used it when he went fishing.

The black piece is 11 sq ft. In the 90's while Tandy was independent, it sold for $46. The flesh side (of the leather) is smooth suede. No hair pattern on it like with pig. I guess I'll just call it thin, supple black leather. It feels like garment leather. The brown is much more rugged and could be used on book and notebook covers. That just gave me an idea. Now I have to go back through my magazines. I think Peter Main or someone used to use non-carving leathers as background in carved works.

A friend wanted a case for his pocket knife. He wanted it open at top so he could get to it easy. Here it is. He liked it.

calf, I guess it could be. Elk, I dunno, elk is usually heavy. This is thin, about 2 oz. I have a deer skin and this is thinner than deer.

I have two saddle lamp kits that Tandy used to sell. Anyone interested? They were $64.95, so I'll ask $50 each. If you are not familiar with this kit, it has a rawhide shade and the mini saddle kit made by Tandy. All parts, wooden and electrical are included. Sorry, no bulb. If you have some nice lining leather, I might trade.

I am going through leather I acquired a number of years ago and I'm not sure what I have. Please help. The black leather is very soft and supple and might be deer or lamb(cabretta). I don't know how to tell. The label says KLC (the tannery?), Caprice, black, 11 sq ft. about 2 oz in thickness. The brown leather has Geiger hand written on the flesh side. about 4 oz in thickness. Very nice pattern to it. It is not as supple as deer skin. This is only about 2.5 sq ft. I have a kid skin and some deer to compare these to but they don't match in suppleness or weight so I'm not sure what they are. I can't tool 'em so I'm not using them. hmmm maybe I can cover up a cheap frame? Any other suggestions?

Here is the horse and leaves purse completed. (Can I count these oak leaves ) My camera's flash has developed a mind of it's own and is giving me fits.

Just yesterday at work a cow was being branded. I was heard to mutter something like 'watch where you brand it, I may need that leather one day'.

I used to have a Classic by Luberto. Very nice but probably not in the price range you want. It and the Campbell are the only ones I have any familiarity with and their kind of pricey.

Yeah, you did good. I wish I could trade work for tools or leather. I got stuff here I need to clear out but no one to sell or trade it to. If you look at my website, what I don't list as gone is probably sitting around here. Several years ago I had ulnar and carpal nerve surgeries and couldn't carve for awhile. I was tempted to give my stuff away. It's only been the last couple of years that I have tried carving again. On the thistles, I'm pretty sure it was a Texas thistle. Normally I just get dandelions but this was larger and got real fluffy after the flowers had been there awhile. Real spiky/thorny. The ends of the leaves were sharp. Bugs love em. You can probably make some neat patterns from that and similar plants. Like Silva Fox did for the video pattern. If you got pix, I'll be glad to have some copies. I try to use photos or living plants when I make my patterns.

I have been trying to learn more. Here's how I think it goes when selling something on ebay. pay to post the notice pay a selling fee pay for accepting paypal pay to ship the item If I sell something for $125, I pay $2.4 to post, pay $4.56 for selling, $4.20 for paypal. I won't deduct shipping since I can charge for that. hmmm.... that's about $11.16, let's round it up since paypal gets a cut on the shipping too... about $11.50 is my cost to sell something for $125. Did I do the math right? Does this sound like the typical cost for selling? Since I'm new to this, I need to know what my costs are so I can recoup them in a sale.

Not too shabby, Clay. What did you do with your picture? Mine are stored in a portfolio with a couple of other things I've done. I can't afford to frame it yet. I think I emailed Silva with the results. I'm on a different PC now and would have to go boot the other one up to see. BTW, after I did this last year, a thistle grew up in my yard. In over twenty years out here, it was the first, I took several pictures of it but it was pretty chewed up by grasshoppers and doesn't look near as nice as the one that Silva did. I keep waiting for another to grow up that I can try to protect from the bugs but no dice.

Here is an carving I did last year when I decided to try to learn how to color. It was my second one based on the Silva Fox instructional DVD. What do you think? I still have this one and the original that I did. Here is my first attempt:

There are a lot of them out there. Beth Berry has one in her book, I believe there was one in a doodle page, older issues of leather magazines have them and there was also a craftaid with one. Some clutches hold checkbooks and some hold change while some do both. You can also browse the catalogs of places like Tandy/TLF and Hidecrafters to get ideas. As for sizes, a clutch that holds a checkbook will be about the same dimensions as a checkbook. Add a bit to the length if you want to add lots of pockets. You'll need thin leather for the interior as well as snaps and/or zippers. Just keep in mind that there are tons of variations. Make up some paper patterns from brown paper bags and fit them together to work out the details. When that's done, make real patterns. I hope this helps.