DJole

If it's not a raised letter, perhaps using the inverted carving technique would work? The line would still need to be wide enough to do this, though, and that doesn't seem to be your case here.

I've been working on augmenting my existing arm protection, which is adequate for nylon sword simulators, but I want more for steel. Plus, armor is cool! This is the whole shebang together: Leather: unknown source -- I have a variety of veg-tan leather, and these pieces are from the bellies I got last year. Dye: Angelus Burgundy, and gold Acrylic paint. The arm guard is meant for motorcyle use, but it covers all the bone points of the elbow and has a nice 90 degree articulation. But that 90 degree caused problems in this design -- originally there was just one piece riveted to the plastic plate. But I found that I need the arm to close to a more acute angle than 90 (30 or 40 degrees), so the elbow kept popping open and locking. Oops... So this is my solution-- I cut the piece in half, and added an articulating lame at the back. So now I get this: Note the lugs just under the circular pivot joint -- those are meant to only go 90 degrees, yet they can pop out under stress. The articulated lame lets the arm bend more: You can see the cracks in the cuir boulli leather -- there are just so many variables that make it a risky proposition. The surface here is rigid, but the leather underneath is not. The lame is water hardened a different way-- I got it wet, shaped it and dished it (onto the plastic here) and then let it dry in the sun. I am lot more satisfied with that method (I've used a wall heater in the winter to do the same thing). I used split rivets to fasten the lower leather piece to the plastic (easier to remove them in the future) after drilling three holes in the plastic. The rerebrace is closed using cotter pins -- eventually I may have additional holes so that I can close it tighter if I want. And inside, held on by the bronze covered rivets, is a Kydex plate (.080 thickness), heated into a nice U shape with a heat gun, adding a layer of plastic rigidity to the leather. Here's a shot of the backside: The cutout over the split rivet will make removal a lot easier. The articulating lame is sewn to the lower plate, and riveted to the upper plate. After I put the articulating rivets in, I'll test this Wednesday night and see how it goes. I may also take the heat gun to the plastic "dish" pieces and flare them out so they'll "catch" on each other, preventing any pop-open.

Your brown block seems to be a sharpening stone of some sort, for the swivel knife or other sharp tools. I don't recognize the hardness or the grit, but my guess is it seems to be a fine grit Arkansas stone. Is that wooden handled tool an edge creaser?

That's an interesting "negative" effect!

What nice work! I am happy to see that you were able to develop this into a small business, too. More success to you!

It's always scary to post your work and have others look at it. But take heart -- we understand you are just learning, and we want you to feel the joy and accomplishment of getting a piece to look right. You've got the ideas of various tools; now it's just a matter of practice with the basics! Here are some things that I see, based from my own learning experience: 1) You seem to have cased the leather correctly -- you have pretty crisp imprints, without excessive mushiness, and that helps. I see your granite slab there, and that makes a big difference in tooling. 2) The beveler tilt is not uniform -- it's not a stamp, so you shouldn't see the whole "footprint" of the tool. It needs to be consistently leaned into the cut a bit off the 90 degree vertical so that the "uphill side" (away from the cut line) fades to nothing. You can see where sometimes you did that, and sometimes not. 3) The beveler needs to be "walked" along the line so that it becomes one continuous line, rather than discrete imprints. Use a series of lighter taps with the mallet and a continuous motion along the line. It's a "tappity-tappity-tappity" motion, rather than a "*smack* -- move the tool--*smack*" action. It takes time to get your hands to do this, and properly cased leather makes this possible. I have found that It may also be necessary to go over the same bevelled line multiple times to smooth out the tool marks. It's a pain, but it's worth it! 4) Using a lighter touch on the beveller will also help you follow curved lines. You can see this in the wing edges, where the delicate curves look like a series of straight lines. Part of that may be the cutting of the lines, which leads to... 5) Swivel knife practice -- the knife must be sharp and stropped, and the leather properly cased and ready to carve. Then, you need to practice cutting curved lines. Spend some time learning the feel for the tool so you are relaxed when cutting. It should be like drawing, rather than actually trying to "cut" the leather with force. I can tell you are still tense and unsure of the lines, so they end up straighter instead of sweeping curves. We all go through this at the start! 6) It seems you are cutting deeply enough, but I am not sure-- people who have more expertise can correct me if I am wrong. 7) That's an ingenious use of the textured pear shader for the eyes! I think that the effect would have been better if the tool had not been turned for the 2nd eye (so the pear shape orientation matches on both eyes). And to suggest the convex bulge of an actual eye (rather than the concave tool-print), maybe bevelling around them would work? It may be possible to do modelling from the back to push the eyes out, but that may be more than you want to do. It's also possible that there is one tool, a concave shader or flower center, that would do this, but I don't know if it's worth the time and money trying to find the ONE tool just to make dragonfly eyes! 8) I see you did some bevelling on some of the lines on the front legs and the face area, but not doing all the lines makes the design look incomplete. If you didn't do them because you realized your beveller was too big, then you know that a smaller beveller might be something you need to have! (That's what happened to me.) 9) Doing all six legs is a scary proposition, because in real life they are very thin! I am guessing this is why you only did the front two. It's possible to make a thinner line than the ones you used here, bevelled on both sides. It takes some practice, though, especially if the lines aren't straight! Or what might be possible is to not tool them (so they stand above the leather) , but sort of "draw" them in with the stylus end of a modelling spoon tool. 10) Using the camouflage tool on the body was a good idea. But up towards the head some of those lines got tilted and crushed together, like you were rushing it. 11) Dragonfly wings would be tough to do in leather, since they are delicate and lacey! I think I can see why you went minimalistic here, because doing those wings with all those lines would be a LOT of fiddly, complex swivel knife work. (I Googled dragonfly images, just to see what it might entail .) But it does leave the design looking half finished. Maybe using a checked backgrounder tool might work to suggest the texture of the wing. There are my 11 cents worth of comments. A dragonfly is a nice subject, and not a simple one to tackle -- I certainly didn't try doing realistic insects back when I first started, so good on you!

That's a nice red on the owl piece -- what was the dye used? Is that 100% strength?

Or, you could just not do any basketweaving patterns... I hear you about the expense, but you realize that you don't really need ALL the toys to make it work! (Ian Atkinson has a lovely video where he points out what you can do with minimum investment -- find it here--> http://ianatkinson.net/leather/videos.htm For a long time, I got by with an Xacto knife, one modeling spoon, an awl, and thread. Nothing else other than dyes and thread. Talk about cheap (except for the leather, of course!) As time went by, I started adding tools, one, two at a time, as I realized I needed them to do certain things (like skiving and edge beveling). And one doesn't need many of the specialized modelling tools -- I used one beveler for a long time, till I realized that a certain design needed a smaller beveller. I recently picked up some under-cut bevellers on sale, and so now I have 2 smooth bevellers, 1 patterned cross-hatch beveller, and 2 undercut bevellers. This is all spread over 10 years, mind you. I only recently picked up a Camoflauge tool -- I don't do floral tooling, which is where that's mostly used, but the sale price was right. Only one basketweaving tool, though, which I rarely ever use... It just doesn't match the style of the things or designs I do. I myself don't have an angle grinder, but I bet I can find a friend who does have one-- if, of course, I wanted to grind a tool. A machine that will sew leather--that's something I'm not sure any of my friends has! Maybe one day, if I really needed to crank out stuff, I could save up for one. But for now, hand stitching is still what I do. It certainly isn't for the faint of heart and the unsure of hand! One slip with the knife, and WHOOPS..

I've done a bit of hand-carved basketweave in the past. Doing it by hand probably takes just as much as planning, placing, and time as using the basketweave tool. But the look is certainly different, as immiketoo states. (This makes me wonder just where that piece with the basketweave is located...hmm...did I give it away, or what?)

If you change the title of your post to be more specific (i.e. asking about machine advice instead of just setting up a workshop) you should more quickly get the attention of the sewing machine experts of the forum. While you wait for their input -- have you searched the forum for posts about flat bed. vs. cylinder or post? I bet this topic has been addressed at least once in the past, and perhaps the thread discussions will give you good information.

I see you live in Norway -- my family emigrated from Aurdal, in the Valdres region, in the 1840s. I have a distant cousin who lives next door to the farm my ancestors left! Sadly, I have not managed to visit Norway yet.

Wow! That's...mighty pink, all right! I don't remember my oxblood dyes looking like that! Here's the oxblood of my wallet: That's full strength, not diluted. This is Fiebings Oxblood-- Angelus makes an oxblood too, which you can see here in this other piece (the boar's tongue):

Angelus produces some pink dyes: Rose and Light Rose. Maybe those will work for you.

Isn't it great to show off a project that you have completed...or at least nearly completed? I like the border design on the 2nd piece, using three stamps in a new way.

That's really nice! the face is really a striking design. Did you use a mold for that?

Dye colors can be tricky. . Different hides take dye colors differently, so testing the dye out on a scrap taken from the same hide as the project is a good idea. I have a Fiebing's red dye, but it never ends up purple like this. Maybe Angelus red will work for you-- Angelus' own website: https://angelusdirect.com/collections/angelus-dye-1 An alternative source I use for Angelus dyes, through Dharma Trading: https://www.dharmatrading.com/dyes/angelus-leather-dyes.html On the above websites, I find that the Dharma Trading on-screen color examples are more accurate than Angelus' own website. Angelus makes a few shades of red: red, oxblood, winetone, burgundy, rose, light rose, russet, brick, brandy. Maybe one of these will work for you. As far as the applicators go, the wool daube r applicators should work fine for large surfaces, as long as you remember the basics: swirl it on with circular overlapping motions, making sure you don't miss any spots. Then let it fully dry before deciding if you need another coat. Is this what you are doing, yet you aren't happy with the results? I rarely use the daubers-- I just prefer using a variety of paintbrushes (especially since a lot of my work involves multiple colors on tooled designs). I use a paintbrush to apply resist (Eco-shene, and so on) onto designs (like the letters on your sample photograph.) Here's what I do with my paintbrush: That's Angelus yellow, Angelus oxblood, and (much to my surprise) Fiebeing's white, which is notoriously unreliable.

Is the "natural" color the "off-white" you are looking for, or something actually named off white? Maybe Royalwood, Ltd. has what you need. They sell basket weaving supplies, which includes waxed linen thread. Website (direct link to the waxed linen thread page): https://www.royalwoodltd.com/cat14-17ar.htm Royalwood Ltd. 517 Woodville Rd. Mansfield, Ohio 44907 Phone: 1-800-526-1630 Their page lists color selections for 2 ply thread up through 4, 7 and 12 ply. I have bought some waxed Irish linen thread from them in the past, for hand stitching, and it's good stuff. Great colors and strong thread.

Looking good! I must say that my heart almost stopped at the beginning of the video when you laid your first pattern piece onto the MIDDLE of the designer leather piece! But then you used the rest of the leather, so I relaxed.

Well, first you need to figure out what kind of thing you'll be doing, so you can know if you need tooling leather, or harness leather, or leather for shoes or bags. I did a quick Google search and found some businesses out in your part of the state that might help you out. Give people like this a call, and find out where they get their leather, or if you can get leather from them: Judd Miller Custom Saddlery 19350 Balis Rd, Red Bluff, CA 96080 (530) 529-6615 I see the previous poster has already recommended the Hide House for you. It's further than Sacramento, but here's the full contact info: The Hide House Quality Leather & Hides For All Industries Po Box 509, Napa, CA 94559 (888) 849-2816 I don't know either of these businesses, nor have I used them for supplies (and I don't get money by advertising for them, either!)

Are they going to go 4-wheeling, getting stuck in bogs and mudholes and streams with that gorgeous tooling on their seats?! Brave souls!

Sporrans are born, not made?! Seriously, though, the attention to detail there is very good. I greatly enjoyed looking at all the pieces in progress, and then the final product.

I like the dimensionality, the tactile surfaces. It's really low-relief sculpture. A 2d drawing is nice, but it's flat. Good tooling just begs to be touched.

I'm sure our sewing machine experts will be along to take a look, but in the meantime, you could help them out by giving some information: 1) What machine are you using? 2) what kind of leather, and what thickness? 3) What kind of thread, and what thickness?

Ah, a question that I spent years in graduate school discussing! ;-) Let me throw my 10 cents into the ring.. The word "craft" really has the same root as the word "art" (from "artifice," or something created.) Over time the notion of "craft" has been relegated to 2nd or 3rd place to the notion of "art," which has come to mean fine art. People have basically three overlapping cultures: folk culture, popular culture, and elite culture. Here is how they are different: Folk culture is traditional over time and space, passed down usually in an oral context in small, face to face group situations. Learning how to play the guitar from listening to Uncle George's playing in the kitchen is likely folk culture. Popular culture is mediated, meaning that it's passed down via mass media. Listening to a recording of George Harrison, and watching him play on TV, as you try to replicate what you hear and see, is pop culture. Elite culture is taught in formal instruction, and considered the "best." Studying guitar in school under a teacher's instruction, learning guitar tab, and playing in "art" concerts is elite culture. A traditional song, like a Blues piece, or a fiddle tune, can originate in a live setting or folk culture. But then it gets recorded by Bob Dylan, and played on the radio to millions of people outside of the original live culture, and now it's popular culture. You can then learn the song from listening to the record, and then somebody else may learn it from you and it could be folk or elite, depending on the situation. Art is slippery! The only actual difference is the amount of money people will pay for a "fine art" object, which is basically an object that is useless for anything other than some expression of an idea. Paintings and sculpture are considered fine art. There is also "art music." Then there is popular art, usually mass produced (like movies, or art prints or posters). So... what about leatherwork? When does it become art or artistic? Well, artistic means that there is another layer of meaning in the aesthetic qualities. Think of a saddle -- that can be a finely made saddle, but was the creator adding on non-functional aspects to express delight, or culture, or some other idea? A craftsman can say that's a well made saddle -- good stitching, good design, and so on. But it's not really "artistic" yet. If the saddle maker decides to add some decoration, by tooling (non-functional, really) or use dyes to change the color, then it becomes artistic -- there is something beyond the thing, another layer of meaning. Why add tooling or color except to delight the eye, or the touch? What if somebody made a fine-art saddle? Well, it would lose its saddle-ness. It would be a piece of art, resembling in shape but not likely to actually work well as a saddle. But it would certainly command a hefty price! And who would take a million dollar saddle out to work on the ranch? TL, DR: Yes, leather workers can be artists-- it's just that what they are doing is rarely fine art (there is some out there, but not much). For many of us, the pleasure is not just the concept or the aesthetic choices, but function is important. And above all, the tastes and demands of the audience -- are they making pieces for people who want fine art? Then it's fine art. Are they making pieces for people who want a holster that works well but also looks good? Then it's still art.

Try Ohio Travel Bag-- they have a selection of buckles and a lot more hardware: https://ohiotravelbag.com/ I have got some things from them in the past.