splinters

Got some more practice in this afternoon and thought I would share with you all so you could see how I’m doing. If you have any comments or suggestions about the work please don't be shy. First I want to point out that I used Bob Park’s method to case the leather and what a difference I noticed although I think I may have bagged it a little to soon last night and it may have been a little damp to start the work. Since I had to stop for now I’m wondering how to store the practice piece for at least 24 hours since I will be out of town tomorrow. It’s back in the zip lock bag and I’m thinking of putting it in the frig until I return. Concerned about mold starting??? Anyway, here’s the work in four photos. Photo #1 is the pattern tracing, Photo #2 is the carving, Photo#3 is the border beveling and Photo #4 is a small bevel around the leaf. After some more beveling I’ll be stuck until I order more stamps which I plan on doing this coming week. Can hardly wait. I'm really enjoying the practice and learning.

Since I haven’t received a response to the previous post about the Neat-Lac, Clear-Lac question I’m going to try a practice piece using Tan-Kote and another practice piece using "RTC Sheridan Resist" in the Sheridan Style Caring finish sequence. In my practicing to learn Sheridan Style Carving I’m fast becoming convinced that even the leather you practice with should be leather from a quality tannery such as Hermann Oak that has been properly cased. My thinking is one should be using leather that he or she will be using for projects in order to get the feel of the swivel knife, stamping and practice finish. May even save money instead of wrestling with unknown quality or portion of hide that came with a lessor price and ends in the waste basket.

After the fun of doing you vertical front pocket card wallet I've started thinking its time I add a "regular" wallet to the queue. Like the looks of these you've posted and especially the one in the lower left corner of the photo. Thanks for the info on the inserts since its the back I'm most interested in doing. Happy 4th of July!

Has anyone used "RTC Sheridan Resist" with the Sheridan finish in place of Neat-Lac of Clear-Lac? If so did you encounter any issues? Thanks.

I’m still reading and rereading “Sheridan Style Carving”. This is a wonderful book that is filled with very useful information and will be a life time reference for me. If you don’t have it then I would suggest you make the investment. It’s another quality tool for the inventory. I’m in the section on “Notes On Finishing Techniques” and would like to follow the finishing sequence of products applied in the text and shown with the pictured example. #1 Light coat of neatsfoot oil #2 Neat-Lac or other lacquer based finished #3 antique #4 Tan-Kote Now that Neat-Lac has gone by the way, in my time away, I understand that a product called Clear-Lac has taken its place. Are there any other sealers that could be used in place of Clear-Lac? Would really like to try the above on a practice test piece, but I’m sure not opposed to learning and trying another sequence of products that could be substituted. I would appreciate any comments or suggestions from you all. Thanks.

Would someone please tell me the difference between Fiebing Dye and their Prodye? Also, is mixing just dye compatible with Neatsfoot oil?

Well done Boriqua and thanks for taking the time to post this. P.S. Very interesting that the basket weave is bordered by the stitching. Looks very good IMO.

Beautiful work make for handsome boots. Well done!

More good stuff Jeff. Thanks. Will print your comments off and put in my shop notebook for quick reference. I saw the layout on W/C of how the hide is sectioned which is more for the notebook.

Thanks Jeff. That's a big help and my plan is to buy in some quantity soon and after reading their info on their website Wickett/Craig sounds like a good place for me to start. Since my cash wagon has its limits, will be popping for some more tools from BK shortly, I'm wondering what weight of tooling leather I should order to get me off the ground and that would be related to the projects I'll be interested in doing I assume.? Thanks again, its much appreciated.

Decided it was time I ordered a small piece, sq. ft., of Hermann Oak #2 tooling leather from SLC and give it a try with my practice. Have never used any leather except from Tandy's so I need to start learning the difference in what maybe rated as good tooling leather. Also, wondering now if I should have purchased a #1 grade from them and how does #1 or #2 relate to grade A/B ...... ???

Just saw this and want to say "outstanding". How is the combined shop doing now. Is the young man still progressing? All the best.

Jeff, thanks for taking a look and your critique. I had finally reached the point of being comfortable using the tools but realizing I had a long way to go. Oh, how enjoyable to try and the doing. Hope to get back to at least that point again.

My sister surprised me by sending the following photo this weekend. Hearing that I was starting to get active in learning to carve and tool again she thought I would like to see a photo of an photo album cover I did for her some 50 + years ago. I had forgotten all about it. Had to be around the time I was living in Payson, Arizona. The pattern was one of Al Stohlman’s if I remember correctly. Anyway, I thought some of you may be interested in seeing it too.

Thanks for the encouragement Bob. I did manage a short session of freehand practice this afternoon and the next session will be to get after the practice patterns starting on page 16 of Sheridan Style Carving. Something I found interesting was the mention to try pushing as well as pulling the swivel knife. Tried a little of that and now want to try more of the push stroke...... interesting. Here's a couple of photos one of which is my stropping setup and the other how my freehand looks with the first attempt with the Barry King swivel knife. What a difference compared to my old Tandy that I managed to hang onto all these years. I'm going to like getting use to the Barry King. AT this time casing the leather to the right point is going to take a bit for me I think.

Bob, thanks for the reply. Yes, it was a special time, though I didn’t know any of those folks I did realize I was seeing some grand artists at work. I have never forgotten it. One of the reasons I was there was our dad was having a custom saddle made for my younger sister as a surprise present. I recently e-mailed her to see if she had any photos of it. It was a beautiful thing to see. The saddle’s first mount was my sister’s quarter horse named “What-A-Broad”. A deserving spot for such wonderful work. Well, Bob Park’s “Creating… Western Floral Designs” arrived in the morning mail from Barry King’s Co. this morning. So, as I was having my lunch I started reading and by page 10 I knew it was a keeper and another great addition for my education. What enjoyable, fun stuff. Now, I must go back to the “Sheridan Carving Style” less I get ahead of myself. Plan on following the swivel knife practice suggestions first out of the box and follow any of the other ideas until my feet are at least on the ground with some tooling. Looking forward and hoping I will actually make progress. Fingers crossed!

The Sheridan Style Carving book arrived yesterday and I'm enjoying the way the authors present their work. Also, enjoying the history that has been included and of course a question that came quickly to mind is if Barry King is any relation to Don King? I suspect so. Would any care to comment on that. Also, seeing that Don King did some work for Porter I thought about the Porter Saddle Shop in Phoenix and wondered if it was the same. I was in that shop a few times many, many years ago as a very young man, and always stood in amazement when able to watch some tooling being done by what I considered very gifted hands.

Grand! Thank you.

I agree with you about tooling within borders on holsters and thank you for the proportion. I'll sure keep that in mind. Here's the photo of your wallet design that I finished stitching this morning. All was going well until I turn the corner at the bottom and about 2/3 of the way to the end the thread broke leaving me with the choose of a splice....... grrrrrr. Another issue occurred here as I could not get the needle threaded again because of the small eye and had to use a larger needle to finish. I wish I could find a tad smaller waxed linen thread than I get at Tandy online. Looking in the holster kit you sent me you can see the two threads that you sent. The dark brown appears to be the same size I used on your vertical wallet but the bundle of natural you sent feels and looks to me to be a smaller diameter. Would you mind telling me were you purchased that, size, and do they have it in brown or black too? Do you every use any of the synthetic threads for saddle stitching? Looking at the holster kit and your encouragement I may get underway sooner than I had thought. Looks fun and though it maybe a challenge for me I know the gent who knows about these puppies..... LOL P.S. Your vertical card wallet design was just what I was looking for to carry my ID and a permit in my front pocket. I do plan on another attempt at the wallet with a little tooling on the front. Will try and get a better stitch job too. Thanks Jeff.

Hello JLS, I'm still here ..... LOL, and in the final stage of finishing up your Vertical Card Wallet design to carry two card documents for me. Planned on thanking you and posting a photo of the finished product. Going to do a follow up with some basket weave as practice for the holster.

After some time I’m back into leather work after a long absence from my early learning period in Phoenix, Arizona using Al Stohlman documents to make belts, wallets, etc. It was a fun time and I’m now learning how much I have missed it. I have at least one project now that I’m holding off doing until I begin to feel comfortable with my swivel knife work and stamping before proceeding. It happens to be a holster kit put together for me by JLS. Looking forward to that but not to hurry to prevent a mess in my nest if possible. So, in recent days I’ve begun to think seriously about styles and have been looking at various works like Bob Park’s for example, and find I’m drawn to the Sheridan Style which has led to the beginning of this thread in hopes things I may post you folks will respond to help keep me on the straight and narrow….. LOL. Hate duplicating my mistakes. With that I decided I should begin with what I could find on Sheridan Style work to start building some foundation. Yesterday I ordered a copy of Bob Gardener’s “Sheridan Style Carving” and this morning I order a copy of Bob Park’s “Creating Western Floral Designs”. Received notice this afternoon that both are in the mail and on their way. Looking forward to starting those and getting into Sheridan Style in earnest. While looking around Barry King’s website, from where I ordered hidebound’s book, I noticed Barry has a Sheridan Style Tool List for small to medium work and a package deal if one is interested. Since I won’t be doing any saddle building the small to medium package looks like a possibility for me but study will precede that. Also I think I saw somewhere that “Creating Western Floral Designs” has that kind of information too. So, from time to time I thought it would be good to have a thread to post questions to along with some thinking out loud so to speak. This should be fun……… Fingers crossed.

Lol......... thanks Jeff. I'll pickup some Barge

Reading through you're Basic Pancake Style Holster Making notes this morning and wonder if you would mind telling me what your preferred brand of contact cement is? If temperature is important I keep my workshop at around 60 degrees. Im a skin flint when it comes to the heating bill. Thank you very much for your help and the quick service. A pleasure sir. Off now to look for some how-to threads about wet forming. Patrick

Thanks Jeff. Just sent you an e-mail.

JLS, Just purchased a Glock 43 and see you have a pattern for the G43 magazine pouch. Plan on purchasing the pattern now and wondering if you have a kit of the leather pieces available too? Also, do you have a CC type holster pattern for the G43 available? Thanks for your time.