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DJole

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  1. DJole
    Welcome to the forum! As you spend time here, prepare to be amazed at how much you can learn and improve you leatherworking skills.
  2. DJole
    Lovely work! I was wondering how you had shaped it, so I am glad you included the wooden molds for it.
  3. DJole
    Welcome to the forum!
  4. DJole
    Watch Ian Atkinson's video "Leather Turning and Bindings" for a review of various ways to edge, including folding and creasing. Video is here on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOiuBcl2fek
  5. DJole
    Do you have any kind of camera right now? If so, is it a DSLR or a smartphone/tablet camera?
  6. DJole
    Your most severe critic, the horse, seemed to think it was okay. I've never worn a breast collar so I wouldn't know what a good one was. Oh..wait...you're asking about the tooling? Well, that's fine too. If Patty doesn't mind....
  7. DJole

    Knot help

    DJole replied to Raksha's topic in How Do I Do That?

    Your dog is too smart! Give her a merit badge!
  8. DJole

    Knot help

    DJole replied to Raksha's topic in How Do I Do That?

    For security, you can't go wrong with the bowline. It doesn't come untied by itself or slip. It can also be untied easily, if you need to. Scouts and climbers know and use this knot for those reasons. The hangman's knot has a cool name, but I don't know if you can depend on it in this case.
  9. DJole
    The whole piece is a great design in which all the elements work together. That is some very nice work with that "scale"-look stamp-- getting geometrics to work is a pain, but you did it very well here. Maybe you shouldn't hide the work by using a colored antique dye/stain at all, but a highlighter, instead, which will darken the leather slightly but help the tooling to "pop." The stamped elements already have a nice dark contrast, and I'm not sure that darkening them would be an improvement. This looks like a job for the scrap leather test!
  10. DJole
    What kind of project is it? Is it thick veg-tan (like a sheath) or softer leather (like a purse)?
  11. DJole
    An interesting question. It could be one long row, with a single stitch down the middle which makes the pocket, like this example: (the colored line is the middle stitch.) or it could be this way: My thinking is the second way, to reduce the leather thickness like you say. I am curious to see what the actual experts think about this. I'd spend some time with some templates and possibly some scrap leather, making a mock-up.
  12. DJole
    Maybe these past threads will help you find the answer you need. I don't know enough to risk answering you myself!
  13. DJole
    Nice work -- but you only show one side! I want to see the other side, too!
  14. DJole
    This is a practice piece, looking closely at patterning, and stitching. And it's green -- because I wanted to use some of my nice Angelus green dye and some Forest Green linen thread. My brother-in-law is a Green Lantern fan, so he gets first crack at it, but if he doesn't want it, I'll find another home for it. I learned some important things with this project: 1) I get straighter stitch lines if I don't try to make holes in all three layers at once. I laid out the lines and (using my 3 mm stitching chisel) made the holes on the top layer only, then I marked the ends of the next line on the next layer down. I then made a nice straight line going from one set of marks to the next, and then made holes along that line. Same for third layer. 2) Make the inner piece slightly bigger than I plan for, because trimming to fit is better than trying to get it exactly right. 3) cutting card slot pieces is exacting work. 4) skive, skive, skive!
  15. DJole
    You might also find what you need at Brettun's Village: https://www.brettunsvillage.com/leather/hideindex/ They stock sole bends, and they also will cut you a partial hide if you don't need a full piece.
  16. DJole
    Using a GRINDER?! Egads.... good thing you rescued this antique beauty from its tormentor!
  17. DJole
    I'm working on an idea for a wallet. I'm thinking about using a nice piece of soft green garment leather for the outside, with a cutout "window" showing a white background (a nice piece of white garment leather). Both the green and the white background will be stitched to a thicker piece of tooling leather. I'm thinking about the best way to stitch it, after gluing it down, considering the following diagram: (A) represents the normal saddle stitch, close to the edge. The edge of the green is not underneath the thread. (B) represents the other possibility, where the stitch passes over the edge of the green, locking it down and precluding the possibility of the edge being pulled up as the wallet goes in and out of the pocket over years of use. Is this something anybody here has experience with? There are two other possibilities: 1) Forget the inlay idea, and just tool the design into the leather. 2) Keep the inlay idea, but cut it into the tooling leather instead, dye it green, and then stitch the white background behind the tooling leather. What do you folks think?
  18. DJole
    Lovely work! I like the curved lines for the inlay. Too beautiful to hide in a pocket!
  19. DJole

    when to stamp

    DJole replied to biker55's topic in Stamping

    It's hard to stamp after you mold the leather into a shape. It could be done, but it would require a molding object rigid enough to stand up to repeated blows and to make crisp impressions. Plus, you would now be working in 3-D, instead of working on a flat surface. So stamping or tooling is going to come first, before you mold the tooled/stamped leather around the object.
  20. DJole
    Nice work -- Great design on the dragon and the color work. I really like the wings turning to birds. I can't imagine trying to cut that intricate design by hand-- I need a laser, too. Anybody got a spare one?
  21. DJole

    Samurai wallet

    DJole replied to DJole's topic in Figure Carving

    I find that the woodcut matches my abilities. I'm not up to the realistic, more natural looking modeling, but woodcuts are pretty straightforward: where there's a cut in the wood, there's a cut in the leather. It's basically outlining, with thick and thin lines, background and foreground. Not much 3-D modeling needed, but there's enough there for the tooling to work.
  22. DJole

    Samurai wallet

    DJole replied to DJole's topic in Figure Carving

    Got it all stitched up and ready to roll: There's our front Samurai, with Antique black all around him, which matches the worn, pseudo-historic look of the white-dyed skin. Inside the wallet, with card slots. I'm not sure what happened down in the lower left corner -- one hole short on the inside, but not on the outside! So I took an extra stitch through one hole, and the outside looks fine. The outside of the wallet, with the edges all blacked (permanent Sharpie marker makes it so easy!) and slicked with gum tragacanth. So now it's all ready for its new owner! I hope he likes having a one-of-a-kind wallet like this!
  23. DJole
    For my tooling things, I use something similar to this, with modular compartments so I can change the sizes to fit the tools. My modeling tools, awls, swivel knife, sharpening stones, lacing and stitching chisels, and burnishers all fit here. However, this only holds half the tools--- the bigger tools (mallet, L square, strap cutter, rivet assortments, thread and needles, sharp tools) are in a box. And the leather dyes are all in their own box!
  24. DJole
    The blue fringes are surprising touch of whimsy-- a nice idea! Can you do a closeup on that tooled flap? Western floral isn't my thing, but I still love to look at and learn from good tooling, no matter the style.
  25. DJole
    Here's a work in progress--- this is the outside of a wallet, using a historical woodcut as a design. The dyes are Fiebing USMC Black, Fiebing Red, Angelus Tan, Fiebing White. I like how woodcuts translate to leather. I was also pleased by how the white turned out -- it looks antique here.
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