TomSwede

Just a few snaps from what I call home in a nature aspect, be glad I didn't dive into my abstract photos;-) Tom

Awww this one is going crazy all the way around!!!! Don't wear this one in a djungle....you'll bring the home all the frogs and snails!! The tooling is top notch as usual and the coluring is to dye for!!! I don't know how you can keep topping yourself all the time, started smoking again???;-) Seriously, and then comes the colouring! Exceptional! Lilbro

Ha ha I'm too young to retire, lol. It could be made smallish and simplified but it's a great motif of the oneeyed one (yes, I realize that he's depicted with two eyes on this illustration) so definetly like to make it big and get all details with his beard and hair and all that and for that I want some more practice with figurecarving. I'm glad you brought up the subject Pinto because the Roman and viking connection strikes me often when I see those florals here but I don't think I have mentioned it before. I have sometimes posted snippets of info I have on vikings and stuff. I'm known to be ranting and drifting off subject sometimes too, ha ha nowadays I don't seem to have time for it. Tom

If you feel any smell while working with the dyes you should consider to set up with better ventilation...I know I need that..ehum..lazy too Sometimes I paint the dye on very small details and sit with my head very close to the brush and leather and get my loungs full and I get dry coughs for a few days sometimes. (lazy) Tom

Good looking practice pieces Pinto!! Here's more to your theory, some sources suggests that the roman style is also what influenced vikings and celtic people to their wining knot style interweaved animal respectively dragon style ornaments. Some old churches in Norway that dates back to the end of the vikingperiod has detailed woodcarvings with motifs that mixes animal/dragons and vines. In Scandinavia the swirling vines designs remains into modern day. Maybe we can assume theese designs traveled from BC romans to modern day sheridan designs. We may never know for sure but it is interesting to search through history and a great reminder that it is hard to make original designs;-) Attached pic is a modern drawing but the old churches in Norway has this kind of woodcarvings. I just couldn't find a picture of them. Tom

I am just so jealous of you now that I feel like digging a hole and put myself into it. Nice work!! Tom

It's a sweetie Johann!!! Love the whole look of it, it could be used for lots of things. Tom

HOW CAN I HAVE MISSED THIS ONE!! DROP DEAD GORGEOUS MY FRIEND!! I often get so caught up in all this business with tooling and all that and seeing a sweetie like this every once in a while is just a great reminder of the core in what we do, this is truely a fine piece of excellent leatherwork!! Thank you Crystal, you made my day!! Tom

Really cool design!! I like the eyes and the nose, perfect for carving. Looking forward to see it completed, hopefully not black on black. Tom

Hej!! In public threads where information is of public interest I allways speak English but I do joke around with Tina sometimes in native tongue;-) and PMs. Glad to hear you like Sweden alot. I have yet to visit beautiful Finland and just spent midsummer celebration close to Uppsala, Gävle is only about 110 km's north of Uppsala. I should be making belts today but have to go with my son and look for a new bike. I have had alot of requests like the one you got..and...it is not funny...making custom items from your own mind can often cause block on me so piccking the customers brain is important to me. That's when I try to do some research like checking stuff like this: http://www.myspace.com/closedeyevision http://www.closedeyevision.com/ Maybe you get some inspiration from their music or can gather info about their personas to get an idea or starting point from. Looking forward to see wat you come up with. Post new stuff in the show off section, grab a coffee, kickback and relax. Don't eat the donuts if anyone treats you one. Last time I heard Clay was prepping them with formaldehyde to stop them from rotting or sumting;-) It'll be sorted to the proper category later on by the great people of the staff here. Tom

I think it looks cool and it is your first hat and with that in consideration I think you did a great job with it. Hats seem a bit tricky in construction so I think you will nail your very own design and improve alot with the next one. A sewing channel on the hatband and saddlestitch would look really nice. Personally I wouldn't use the bear print all around because the rivets in themselves looks really fancy and the rest of the hat is cool so why draw to much attention from that?? You have something really nice going here, hope you make more hats and show us. There's a lack of hatmakers around here I think. Tom (lifting his imaginary hat)

Hello and welcome to the board Handwerker!!! Good looking knife sheath/case!!! Leatherworker is a very friendly and helpful place no matter what level of skill. We love pics above anything!! Tom

Image search on google provides good results for me. I typically search with a keyword, lets say heraldic and put it like "heraldic lineart" and if not satisfied I try with "heraldic drawing" and last instance I would just use "heraldic". Hope it'll help!! Tom

A quick research on google tells me that CAS IBERIA manufacturer of the Braveheart sword doesn't carry it anymore but I found this re-seller that has both the sword and a scabbard + showing one of the scotsman pics I posted. It is here: http://www.swordsdirect.com/leather-back-scabbard.html Tom

This is the William Wallace aka Braveheart sword and it's a replica from the one used in the movie. The dimensions are impressive, take it outside and have a testswing with it;-) Don't loose your balance!! The research I have done gave little answers so I never built a scabbard for it. Apperently there is little evidence left of the original scabbards that can tell us how they wore them. However I did find a source that I've now forgotten that suggested that they were carried on the back in such a manner that when they pulled the sword the whole scabbard came loose and from the swinging motion and gravity it came off by itself so the sword was ready for action as soon as it was drawn. For that type it was also suggested that the sheath part only covered the tip of the sword like the one on your pic. Theese two pics shows a man with something like a crossing harness wich has a clasp/hanger type thingie on the back that the sword is hanging from. I just have theese pics on my harddrive without further info on the whereabouts of the depicted scabbard but I think it may have been someone in Scotland that produce and sell those. Tom

One thing to consider is that if the strap is for a DSLR camera it can be very heavy and some cameras hooks is fraying very hard at that point so if you're gonna build exclusive straps for selling you may want to consider some sort of metal attachment to hook up camera to (or replacable ones). My Canon 20D DSLR wore out the strapends in three years. Tom

AWWWW NOW YOU HIT MY SWEETSPOT!!!! BEER!!!! One of my fav beers/ale is the SIERRA NEVADA Pale ale from Chico CA. http://www.sierranevada.com/ Thanks bud Thanks Johann!! I tried that allready and the black didn't want to mix with the red wich created a strange reddish black so that is why I carefully brush the red after the blockdyeing. Tom

Congrats Crystal!! Glad to hear we get another fine member to the modstaff!! Tom

Welcome to the board GFS!!! Nice to have members from my beautiful neighbour country! I'm sure you'll find it a very interesting place here and will get lots of new inspiration too. This place has it all, from mild to wild creations, friendly people who shares secrets of the trade, guides to tools, techniques and whatever you need and last but not least, great leatherbuddies!! Do you speak and write in Swedish too?? I'm totally lost with the Finnish language since I only have Finnish relatives married into my family and not close enough to have the need of learning it. I just got an order from them to make four belts with the Finnish lion tooled on the buckle. Best regards Tom in Sweden (Gävle)

Thank you very much Kate!! Yeah, definetly added to experience with this one and prolly another dayplanner to make:-) Thanks Darryl!!! That is the font of the Quake3 videogame!!! Thanks Milli!! I bought a complete dayplanner for this one and used the measurements from that one and just added the bent shapes to it using round objects from the kitchen. Thanks Mbogo!! Yeah that's a great rule (to try) and live by!! Tom

Great looking belt Schno!! The small "letter" carving seem to be pretty well done alltough the blurriness doesn't give final detail. I hate to shoot belts aswell, I took the last one outside wich is a good idea with black leather. I'm not sure how that will go on a bright sunny day but I never take pics during sunny midday unless the sky is clouded. Dusk and dawn is best but long shadows can cause problems. Tom

Thanks again John!!! I know that song... Thank you Pirate!!! Looking forward to see your bracers, I really like that motif! Tom

Heeey that is a really wild bunch of ravens and viking myth!!! It all looks really perfect and not holding back on anything and you sure have your styl too. The dragons on the inside is great. Did you draw them yourself and how thick was the leather used. Lilbro!!

Hey, very coool design!! I like how the ends hug each other so bonus points for creativity!!! Nice job! Tom

That looks great Shirley!! Glad to see you're back!!! Tom