MattTheHat

Looks hafty. -Matt

Very cool! For trimming, I'd make some leather covered forms and at least try doing it on the lathe. Of course, I'm using a metal lathe with a 3-jaw chuck which you might not have if you're using a wood lathe. Seems like with a fairly closely fitting form in the headstock and another in the tailstock, maybe with some of those no-slip bench pads in betwixt, you could apply enough pressure with the tailstock to accomplish the trimming as long as you use a very sharp parting tool and very light pressure. Whatever the case, whatever you're already doing looks very, very nice! -Matt

Very nice bag, indeed! And I love the expressions on the boy's faces. -Matt

That's kind of like me! Not pretty with LOTS of "character". -Matt

I didn't think about that, Tom. I don't remember for sure, but it seems like it was dry. I think I only moistened the inside of the folding groove. Thanks for the input, guys. -Matt

This sheath is the reason I got into leather working about six or seven months ago. I had several knives in need of a good sheath so I figured I'd give it a shot. Before I could get around to making one I got side tracked by learning a little leather carving. I finally got around to making the first of the knife sheaths this weekend. This is a first try in every way: I don't care for the carving pattern (but it almost fit the area), I had a misunderstanding with the leather dye, the stitching could be tighter and there are a couple of issues with the border stamping. One major lesson learned is that while you can pull some color off with a wet sponge, if you over do it, the leather is left brittle when it dries. There are a couple of cracks that resulted when I folded it. And this was even WITH an application of Neatsfoot oil. Other than that, I should have made the sheath just a smidge larger in diameter. I am, however, at least encouraged enough with the result to get on with starting take two. -Matt

Well, if you don't have the means to deal with a solid block, you kind of have to do what you can deal with. But yes, I could see how they would really complicate things. Still a very cool idea! -Matt

Cool idea. I haven't read every single post, so maybe it's already been asked, but why not use a sold piece of wood with holes drilled instead of all the tubes? -Matt

I'm sure the telling brushes are fine, they certainly look like quality brushes. I purchased a small 5-piece mid-range quality set from Hobby Lobby for about 10 bucks. MUCH better quality and they do indeed produce superior results. -Matt

Very nice! I'd like to make one myself soon. -Matt

You can if you practice. I think you'd be amazed at how quickly you'll learn. My first few attempts were pretty ugly to me, but each encouraging to some degree. I probably only have 50 hours tooling experience so far. After about 15 hours (I'd work for about two hours per session, so this took maybe three weeks in my spare time) I saw tremendous improvement and was encouraged to keep practicing. I saw noticeable improvement after each subsequent session. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I never thought I would see "acceptable" results in this little time. I found showing my practice work to my spouse and non-leatherworking friends gave me loads of encouragement. I got all kinds of awesome comments from my very first practice piece and each and every one that I showed thereafter. They always seemed to look at me like I was a bit crazy when I mentioned all my mistakes. I still have loads to learn, and I'm sure many folks with more experience will look at my work and cringe, but I'm more than satisfied with my results so far. I've also gotten some very good advice on how to overcome a few different issues here on the forum. -Matt

Thanks for the comments guys! I don't have a picture of the back. All I did was to use a 1" oblong punch to cut a slot centered on the back, about 1.25" down from the top edge. I basically ran out of time for doing the stand part and figured I could add it later if need be. Tandy Leather's Leathercraft Library has a video showing how to slot the back, as well as how to make a simple folding stand. You have to pay for access to the premium videos, but the pattern can be purchased https://www.leathercraftlibrary.com/p-1766-leather-picture-frame-pattern.aspx for $1.99. Once you see the pattern, it's dead simple, I don't think you'd need to see the video to see how it was used. -Matt

Thanks for the kind comments! The frame was made from two 10x12" pieces of 5-6 ounce Herman Oak leather. I backed each piece with Tandy's bag stiffener material. The stitching holds the two pieces together. The bag stiffener worked great, except when it was time for burnishing the edges. After several attempts I settled on a lot of sanding to get the edges really smooth and a very thin layer of Edge Coat. -Matt

I used one of the Tandy Craftaids for the pattern, which I have practiced doing about a dozen times over the past month. That and a dozen or so other similar practice sessions have been my total carving experience. Still new to leather craft this was the first item I felt good enough about to give as a gift. Still loads of room for improvement, and I would have preferred some kind of finish other than Satin Sheen, but my wife assured me the natural color better matched the young lady's shoes in the pic. -Matt

I agree completely. Being new to leatherwork in general, I'd never dyed the background like that. Just make sure you get decent brushes. Mine wasn't very a very good one and in some places, I could sure tell it. The bristles weren't springy enough for my limited skill. -Matt

Here's the end result. I should have cleaned up those edges. -Matt

I won't be tooling another anytime soon, that's for sure! Maybe a basket weave or something, but the carving took much longer than I had anticipated. I got the antique finish and a top coat on it this evening. I hope to be able to buff it a bit and fold it back up tomorrow. -Matt

Here it is after dyeing the backgrounded areas. I've never done this before and only had a really sorry paint brush. I'll definitely be investing in a much better quality and much finer brush before trying this again. As I've stated before, I'm decorative cutting-challenged. The decorative cuts came out a bit better on this attempt than any of my previous ones, but they're still kind of straggly. -Matt

I couldn't resist this cute little Tandy kit. Once you decorate it as you please (it comes with a carving pattern and a basket weave stamping pattern) you add the finish of your choice and fold it up. Here it is with the suggested carving completed and with some Neatsfoot oil. After this pic I dyed the background areas black. I'll add a resist finish as soon as I get a chance, and then fold it all up. The leather couldn't have been any thicker than 2 ounce, but it handled tooling better than I anticipated. This was a fun way to get in several hours worth of practice. -Matt

Thanks, Troy. I try to practice as much as I can, but that's only about five small pieces per week. A couple of months worth of practice has really helped. My main problem is not knowing what leather carving in general is *supposed* to look like, as I've never really been exposed to anything other than internet pictures. I still need lots and lots of practice, but I'm about ready to start actually making some of the stuff I got into leather working to make before I got sidetracked by carving. -Matt

I believe this is my fifth try using this particular Craftaid pattern. This time was on some 5/6 ounce Herman Oak. I guess I should have anticipated a goodly difference between it and the cheap imported Tandy stuff I've been using, but wow! I think the most interesting difference is how much easier it is to follow a layout line with the swivel knife without straying. I'm not sure why other than maybe tighter grain for whatever reason? It also appears to take much more moisture than the imported stuff. I obviously still need much more practice, especially with the backgrounder. There are probably too many decorative cuts where things split apart, and I can't bring myself to add decorative cuts to the flower as they turn out pretty ugly. -Matt

I think it's beautiful! I'm a newbie too. There is more room betwixt the vines and what not than you'd normally see in a Sheridan pattern, as Randy mentions, but I still think the design looks very, very nice. I'm going to get around to designing some of my own patterns one of these days, and I hope my first looks a fraction as nice as yours. -Matt

There's more than one pic? I can't take my eyes off the first one I guess. Absolutely stunning! -Matt

Looks pretty good to me too. I'm in your same shoes, probably done about four carvings so far. -Matt

Very nice. One of the reasons I got into leatherwork is to make a nice leather case for my Pedersoli clone of the Colt Lightning pump-action rifle. So leather rifle cases and scabbards really interest me. This one is very, very nice! -Matt