pete

Thanks so much for your concern! I have been dodging bullets for the past few weeks. The tornado was 5 miles to the west and this rain didn't affect my area even though I'm only 2 miles from town and only 10 minutes from that house that went under the bridge in Cotter. Dry and safe so far thanks again my friend pete

Shouldn't have happened. IF you cased it properly at first and the leather was really ready to tool AND if you were shading properly(deep) then it should have burnished enough that it wouldn't disappear. Let it almost dry out before tooling and if you have to wet it again then lightly sponge the back and put into a bag Zip it shut and maybe put a book on it. If done correctly you should be able to let it sit for 2-3 days in a pinch. pete

There is probably no right or wrong- do what looks the most pleasing given the leaf. By the way for what it's worth- "traditional" sheridan leaves always have 5 veiner stamps per side.(not 6 or 4 etc.) pete

Just as a tip to those who use a wood rack like these. Put a cotton ball or a piece of foam in the hole for the swivel knife. It will keep the tip from damage. pete

Montana Pitch Blend. Pure pitch and beeswax. pete

call Springfield Leather in Mo. They have buckets full of them on the counter. I get them and the dimes all the time. 800-668-8518 pete

fell free to strop on leather with ceramic OR steel. If you don't lift it at the end you won't curl the tip. I had and used a ceramic for the first 20 years of carving. I thought that it was the best and still love it but I recently got a Henley 1/4" angled blade. MAN it's sharp! Nothing wrong with the ceramic at all- it's wider so I use it a lot on decorative cuts. Strop them both on firm leather or a card. Better yet- glue card stock to a paint stir stick. It will allow you to strop an 8 or 10" pass instead of a 3" as with a card. pete

Did you submit the pattern to the silversmith for the stems or carve it and "bend" the silver? And how did you attach the silver pieces? Also- how does one do an 8 round braid? pete

would you be kind enough to show exactly WHERE you really messed up with your knife cuts? I would hate to make miserable mistakes on my attempts! Great work pete

Fascinating! So you just maybe run a dampened sponge over the belt as you are working that area? pete

Stunning!!! How did you finish the seat? colors,dyes, etc. Great work!!! pete

There are SO many here on the forum that do great work in so many mediums that I wanted to show a piece that my mother found and gave to me before she passed. She purchased it in N.W. Montana from the artist (Janet Johnson Howard) . Incredible what some can do.

David, Clay, Bruce, et.al. Please critique this pattern if you would. Re-draw if you can- if anyone likes it it's free!!! It's my first attempt at a serious pattern. \Enjoy!

me too please!!! pete

Hilly- Here's what I have done a couple of times. It doesn't address your question but it has a different look. I use a template for the oval and free hand the wavy border. As to the parallel lines- if they aren't too wavy I use a TLF beader blade in a swivel. t is a ceramic and works ok for straight or smooth curves. Otherwise I use a divider after cutting the first one.

any results/winners from the last or did I miss it? pete

You confused some of the folks here in Arkansas. I thought that you made "sumoin' so purdy it was worth dying fur!" pete

ah HA!. Hence the reason for overlapping each piece of tracing paper (until I get it!) thanks David.

Thank you all for your support that I can actually draw! I've been practicing. Attached is a template for a glasses case. The dotted is the 1/8 stitch line. They fit regular reading glasses fine but not big sun glasses. Enjoy! pete

great job- as usual! How DID you do the edge- how many pieces, what thicknesses, etc??? pete

Check with Springfield leather- they have BINS full of scrap horse butts really cheap. pete

here's the one that I did for MY wife. They can't have enough purses- trust me!

Art- very nice! Did you sew the sides and then trim them or cut them to a pattern and center them? Also- what is the side material. Looks like elk! Beautiful work. I made and posted a stirrup purse last year here- I laced it and pre-cut the sides. Quite a job but I was lucky as it didn't have a twist to it when I finished!!! pete

Thank you both very much. David-I have a new hope and energy from your remarks!Bruce- that's exactly what I was going to attempt. I'm very grateful for your comments as I greatly respect your work. Bruce- why do you vein down on the front leaves and vein up on the backwards leaf? Wouldn't the backside be a mirror image of the front? pete

PLEASE bear with me- this isn't a vanity posting- I KNOW that I can't draw but I'm trying really hard to get the feel for it. I see so many things in my head but I can't seem to get them down on paper like most of you all. So here goes- a few leaves and thoughts. The one marked with an "X" I thought would be interesting to carve with the back 2 normally and the front most one as the BACK of the leaf. I'm going to try to pear shade or emboss(push from behind?) the front leaf on the outer curves and pear shade the upper two normally. I THINK that it will show as the back of the leaf as it should. Thoughts????? ps- David G., Clay(s), and all you others that could do this left handed while watching the superbowl.. PLEASE feel free to re-draw these and make them better and more realistic. Thanks pete