DJole

Lovely design work! The multi-colored leather is very striking, and the primitive archer designs are nicely done. Great work, with a lot of attention to detail.

Got the first side all sewed together tonight -- padding glued in place and the liner sewed to the outside piece. The front edge has lacing around it to protect it from sword cuts. I didn't use blemish-free leather for this project, because it's going to get banged around and distressed pretty quickly. I am using Resolene on the outside for water resistance. Here is the reverse:

Having a forum like this is a great thing-- in the non-digital world, how would we ever have found all these answers? How many actual leather workers could we have actually met and learned from? Welcome to the forum, RedDun, and glad to have you aboard! It's likely that somebody will ask a question about horses or mounted shooting and you can get to be the expert of the day!

I like the concept! A nice design, and good styling details. It must have been frustrating coming back after 10 years, thinking to yourself, " Self, I used to know how to do this!"

Your persistence paid off at last! Nice to see a piece of working equipment being returned to work, instead of gathering dust in a corner.

That is some VERY nice work! I lower my awl to you in salute.

Well, I made this just for myself, and it's the first time I ever tried doing this... so here it is, in its flawed glory: I like the tooling design. It's based on metal work found on the Sutton Hoo purse (an Anglo-Saxon ship burial from about 600 AD). Dye color is Fiebing's Oxblood; hand stitched with red linen thread. (Back from before I even knew what a pricking iron, or a stitching iron, even was.) Trifold design-- I find it bulky in actual use. Black pigskin liner--fitted like an amateur (see the wrinkle to the side of the ID?) 2 card pockets on the left side-- you can see the gold card in one pocket, and underneath that one is a custom pocket open on both sides -- the card can be slid out to the left or right. I like this feature. Middle ID holder, with plastic sleeves. Realistic DMV photo not included. Right side has one card holder (diagonal line marks it) and change pocket (with small rivets to reinforce.)

Best of luck to you in finding the right person, and may the right person find your offer!

Ooh, nice work! Cleanly executed, delicate touch. That's a lot of stud work, too. No wonder the horse likes it-- she looks great in it!

Here are the upper side pieces in their current stage. (there will be lower side pieces also, but those are still in the design stage.) I flipped one over so the red lining is visible. The perforated area is right over the ears. I was surprised at how much sound those holes actually let through. I'll have to do the same through the red lining, also. Underneath the lining I am putting some padding strips, and I am going to lace the front edge, because that edge will take a lot of abuse. The lacing will help lock the red lining, the padding, and this thicker piece together. I don't remember what this thin red leather was -- it was in a bin of bargain upholstery leather at Tandy, 15 bucks for the side. It's a bit thicker than pigskin. No tooling here, just a nice diamond design made with a filigree punch, and some nice slick edges (gum trag and elbow grease). It certainly took some pounding to punch those diamond holes in the thick leather, and lubricating the punch with wax helped a lot in pulling the punch out afterwards.

Mjolnir, here are some Angelus dyes that might be exactly what you want-- take a look at Light Rose and Rose at their online catalog: <https://angelusshoepolish.com/collections/leather-dye> I have a bottle of the Rose dye, and it's certainly pink.

I am satisfied with regular Fiebings dyes for my small projects. The rounders you mention earlier are great for learning not just how to dye, but how dye works on the leather (i.e. color changes, need multiple coats, is black really black enough, etc.) You might also want to look at Angelus leather dyes. They are a spirit dye, like Fiebings, but they have colors that Fiebings does not. I get mine via Dharma Trading, based in California , so as a California resident you should have no trouble getting these shipped to your house. (See Dharma Trading online catalog here: https://www.dharmatrading.com/dyes/angelus-leather-dyes.html?lnav=dyes.html)

Here's my project for today-- I am making a heavy leather over-glove to go over some lighter hockey gloves that a couple people in my longsword class use. Hockey gloves aren't the best protection, so if they take a good strike to the hand it HURTS. And if you are worrying about hurting your hand all the time, it's hard to fight well. So I offered to help protect their hands better, and they thought that was a great idea! Here's the project so far: This is the thumb, two pieces wet molded onto the hockey glove and then hardened by hot air blowing over them. (I set them next to the electric wall heater nearby -- not too close, but enough so an hour or so dries the leather). Next step: Got the articulation point in the middle, and a nice curved dish shape, too. Here's a better view of the thumb tip: It curves around the thumb tip very nicely! Details: 8 to 10 oz veg tan, cut from tooling belly (I got them for a great sale price, so I don't feel bad about having to throw away a prototype that doesn't work). Dyes are Fiebing USMC black and Fiebing red. This is the right thumb -- the left thumb is drying off to my left a ways. Next step is riveting, and then on to the fingers.

I found a used copy of this book: Leatherwork Manual, by Stohlman, et al. (Here at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Leatherwork-Manual-Patten-Wilson-Stohlman/dp/B007QGQ8PM/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1516419918&sr=1-1&keywords=leatherwork+manual+stohlman) It's a basic illustrated step-by-step leatherworking course in a book from 50 years ago, which introduces basic techniques: How to prep the leather for carving (casing the leather), and skiving. how to use the standard tools (swivel knife, beveler, shader, camoflage, etc.) Basic dye work. Basic edging. Some simple projects with patterns. It gives some lacing patterns (which is why I have it), but not much information about stitching. I don't have any of the other books mentioned, so I can't say if this one is going to be better for your needs than those ones already mentioned.

Well, that would be a REALLY exotic leather. Right up there with some Tyrannosaurus belly.

So down on that side of the equator, do you stitch leather in the opposite direction? Heh-- just kidding, and welcome to the forum! I have an Aussie friend who is an Algebra teacher and Scout leader down in Tasmania.

They ALL sold?! Well, that's a nice surprise! You must be doing something right, then! Those pens are very nice -- you and your fellow business owners/operators have some talent in tool use and design work. All that shows up in your leather work, too. Good thing you've got the sewing machine to do all those! I can't imagine hand stitching for mass production like that -- it just would not be cost effective. On the other hand, you may consider offering a premium pen case, of a different design with some more bells and whistles, and hand stitched as a value-added point.

And here's the first teaser of what the top, forehead and chin will look like together: I haven't riveted the top pieces together yet, and the chin piece is still loose, because the side pieces are the missing links here.

Here's the next bit: That's the part that goes over the top of the mask. I punched diamond holes (filigree punch) for ventilation, and used a background tool to "pre-distress" that area (since it's going to get hit). The design is a maker's mark -- a red raven perched on a medieval head knife. (I don't have a head knife, but don't tell anybody!) That strip to the right is the link between this piece and the forehead piece. It's being held on with paper fasteners as temporary rivets. I'm annoyed by the little black dye dots to the bottom left-- the bottle of Fiebeing's USMC Black had dried crusty bits, and some jumped off the bottle as I opened it. Important lesson -- open ALL and ANY dye bottles FAR AWAY from any leather you don't want dyed!

Hah! That's gratitude for you! She clearly loves you and your work! ;-) But seriously, well done -- not just on the sturdy leather work, but for the work you put into it for your daughter. Gotta love the pink color!

I have been playing with boiled leather for a few months now, after spending lots of time researching and reviewing instructions and videos from the internet. Marc Carlson's link (listed above) is a very good starting place. Here is what I have found: (1) Boiling water (100 C/ 212 F) is NOT what you want. It cooks the leather too hot and too fast, and you'll have all kinds of warping and shrinking and brittleness problems. There is a big difference between shaping wet leather and shaping "boiled" leather -- you really only need to "boil" it if you absolutely want or need a large degree of hardness or rigidness (like armor, for example). Most pouches or sheathes don't need that much hardness or rigidity, so merely soaking in warm or cold water and then shaping them is fine. So whenever I mention "boiling" here, I don't actually mean "boiling," but rather nearly boiling, at the temperature that is best. (Carlson discusses wax vs. water as what cuir boulli is, so I refer the reader to him on that discussion.) (2) So what is the best temperature? It depends on two factors: the hide itself and the thickness. You will need to use test bits from the hide to find the best results. If you don't, you'll waste a nice big piece of leather. I have one piece of shoulder leather here which I have discovered reaches my desired results at 170 F, for about 20 seconds. The thicker belly pieces I have been using need 180 degrees, for about the same length of time, to reach the hardness I want. I use a BBQ fork that has a temperature gauge to check the water temperature. This is difficult, because you won't KNOW if the temperature and time is right, until after the leather is dry, which can take hours. 190 and above turns the leather into brittle cardboard. (3) It takes some practice to observe the leather in the water, watching it bubble and curl, and know when to take it out. I have read some say to soak the leather for 10 minutes or so before putting it into the pan of hot water, and others say you don't need to do this. I'm not entirely sure yet which directions yield the most consistent results. (4) Any tooling done prior to boiling is not going to look good -- cut lines swell and get hard edges; shapes warp and twist. The simpler the tooling or design, the less likely it is going to be mangled by boiling. I suspect that most historical boiled leather goods with patterns were embossed, rather than tooled. Tooling after boiling may work, but it would be difficult for 3 dimensional shapes, unless you have a rigid form or mould for them. And this leads us to... (5) using some kind of rigid form to tightly hold the leather in a shape as it dries is great for boxes, pouches, and even knifes or shears. I did this for my leather shears -- wrapped them in plastic, then shaped the wet leather around them. Many people do this for knives, gun magazines, and so on. . (6) dyeing prior to water hardening is going to work better, unless you are using a water-soluble dye (like the Eco-flo dyes). Afterwards, you'll need to decide how to treat the leather-- it's only rigid, not waterproof. Water will spot and stain it. (7) it is also possible to soak the project and then dry it carefully in the oven, at a low heat. You need to test it (what heat? how long?), and WATCH it. I've only done this once, so I know it works, but I don't know yet how to get beautiful, smooth, non-warped pieces using this process yet. (Again, I bet that keeping the leather around a form as this is done is the way to go. )

One of the problems that beginners run into is that floral designs are introduced as beginner projects. Yes, they're traditional, and yes, they use the basic set of tools (swivel knife, beveler, veiner, etc.), but that's way too much for a beginner to handle. I have a project from 7th grade shop class (yes, Virginia, in the late 70s there was actually shop class and it included leatherwork!) which is a floral design on a luggage tag. As far as I knew, leather work *was* floral work, so it didn't really stick. I like the idea of a "Celtic" carving class (although the historian in my wants to point out it's most likely not Celtic at all) because it's going to be a lot simpler, with less realism to try to strive for. So a beginner like your daughter can just learn to use, say, the swivel knife, a beveller, and backgrounder and end up with a great piece. Then the confidence level goes up, and she can, if she chooses, work up to more complex realistic floral (or figure carving) designs.

My strop looks like this: That's a flesh side strip with a thin strip for edgers glued to the side. that's the main stropping side (with rouge) and a thin strip for my French skiver. She ain't pretty, but she gets the job done.

What a nice guy!

Somebody has already pointed you to Marc Carlson's medieval footwear site, and that's an excellent place to start. If you are looking for strictly historical patterns, you should get a copy of this book: https://www.amazon.com/Shoes-Pattens-Medieval-Excavations-London/dp/1843832380 Do you have a particular century and country in mind? Are you looking at a medieval illustration or painting and saying "Yeah, HIS boots are what i want!"