zman7458

very cool leerwerker. I love your use and application of color. I wish I could get my colors to blend so nicely. excellant tooling too A+

thanks Tae, you have to look really really close , but the border (you mean the ring right?) is actually burgundy. I was using a 50 percent wash to get a lighter color, but it kept comming out uneven and in the process of elimnating streaks it turned too dark on me. I wanted the burgundy to sit next to the redish color of the background. the background of the dragons are both the same color, but the matting changed the tone of the one on the back. I did this project to test out how the dyes are affected by different tooling and application techniques. sometimes that works out good, other times not so much.

thanks Spider, that means alot comming from you. I love your stuff, my minds eye could use the skew that yours has (grin). as for talent I don't think you have to worry about that from what I've seen. thanks for the compliment Walletman.

thanks Linda, I would like to think so anyhow. it really makes me itch to get on with my bigger projects, but little baby steps at first right? thank you Ian. I was worried that the brading might throw me, but I muddled through and only got stumped at the very end where they meet. I re did that several times before I got it right.

Wow! where do you even start to do something like that? I strugle just getting a passable image on a flat surface, but that is so dimentional, I can believe it when you say too many hours. beutiful work Roo. as for the vaccum thngy, do know that when they mold carbon fiber and fiberglass they use what they call a vacuum bag. which is basicaly just a bag big enough to fit the form and molding material into and it has a port on it that they hook a vaccum to. everything sucks down tight and the slick plastic leaves a perfectly smooth finish. but that would seem to be less craftsman like and more of a manufacturing type of rig. this was done completely by hand and the little imperfections just tend to accentuate that fact. just my 2 cents.really really nice work!

just finished this and I have to say I think I enjoy this more now than I did way back when. I've been trying to remember how old I was when I quit playing with leather and I want to say around 20 years old, so I guess its been more like 30 years. my how time flies, it seems like only yesterday. well anyway, I hope you like it, but if you see something I can do to improve please be free with any advise you have to offer. I did the edges in double cordovan, I would like to have done the round/mexican basketweave, but I chickened out at the last minute. I need to see some more of how you pro's do that before I'll feel confident enough to attempt it. perhaps my next project.

outstanding. perfect fit and finish.

the colors came out really nice. thumbs up here too.

way cool, thats the type of thing I have to do to be original ( I don't have an artistic bone in my body) so I borrow from this and that until I have something I like. wish I could freehand something like this, perhaps with practice. very nice work.

very cool, I too enjoy the way the matal and leather work together. almost primal. nice work

sweet seat or should I say, something superior for someones posterier (sorry my good judgement hasn't kicked in yet today). it'll be a shame to cover it with someones big burly butt, but it'll sure look nice when its sitting still!

nice recovery, I think it looks great now. besides leather is never all one shade anyhow.

I really look forward to seeing your work posted. its always so clean and balanced. not to mention your meticulous lace work. a quickie question for ya, I can't quite make out how you tooled the scrollwork. it looks like you beveled just one side from the inside yes?

what a cool way to use up those little scrap peices we all have layin' around (my cats usually wind up turning mine into toys). I've considered turning some of my longer scraps into place holders for books. now I have something to do with the smaller peices. thanks Drac

nice work there. I like the way you made the back bone look wood grainish (if thats a word?). Ive been working on a book cover for my notepad for work just to get in some practice before I start my main projects. I decided to do mine in 3 parts so I could get some sewing and lacing practice in, although I do prefer the all one peice look like yours. again nice work!

lol, yeah I worked like that when I was a youngster, but nowadays I work when the spirit moves me :D and yeah I have 2 and a dat (dog the size of a cat), but so far I've been lucky and no incidents to report as yet.

you can find them for way cheaper and still made of marble... http://www.theglasswarestore.com/asp/show_...d=FR260-FBR1542 but I think you could probably find decent quality for 50 to $75 I put my poundo board on mine for pattern transfers and cutting in, just to keep the leather from sliding on the slick marble. I don't think it would be sturdy enough to tool on though. I was afraid to try

you mean when I'm done for the day. not while tooling correct? I wet the front a bit if the leather dries out while I'm working it. I agree, I must have done something wrong and just didn't catch it. I'll have to pay closer attention this next one.

yep, thats when I would wet it a bit, but thats how Iknow that at some point while I was tooling the leather had to be perfect for tooling if I did indeed start with the leather a bit damp.

anyone else out there using one of these for carving? I find I get a much smoother curve being able to easily rotate my work as I cut. the marble turntable has nice weight to it and feels more substantial than a regular metal one. although I imagine the metal type would work as well. you can find them here http://www.marble-art-gemstones.com/-Grani...CFQd7IgodL0ZaNQ a little pricey, but you can find them around for cheaper. I bought mine years ago, but around 50 - 75 bucks I would think.

thanks for the tips. I use a fairly heavy strike while tooling and I had just finished spooning all the bevels smooth and was pleased with the deep dark even color of the shading. the bevels held their depth fairly well, but the color was totally gone. perhaps the leather was a little on the damp side when I started, but it dried enough (leather warm and getting tool bounce) that I had to dampen it a bit during the two/threee hour session. I'm using tandy's premium veg 7-8 oz. and would think it should be of fair quality. I had done a smaller purely test piece the day before and it held its color nicely. I would take a pic to show you, but since I'm going to be doing this for a black bike with all black and chrome trim, I've already died them dark. ah well it's a learning experience. I'll try this again and post pics this time. thanks again for the help. phil

I've always just spritzed my leather for tooling, but I decided to try bagging it after reading about it here on another thread. everything went well on my first session, but when I rebagged my project for tooling again the next day I noticed that all of my shading from my tooling the day before was gone. so does this mean that you can only bag your leather once and for the rest you just spritz like normal or am I hissing some important step? I was taking picturesalong the way, butI panicked when my shading had disappeared and in my attempts to correct the problem I ruined the project. any suggestionx?

thanks for the warm welcome, hope to be posting pix soon.

hi, my name is phil. I am a 49 yer old union electrician, I have two teenage sons and a wife of 25 years. I was really into leather about 20 years ago, but a house fire destroyed all my tools, patterns and my commercial grade leather sewing machine. after that loss I couldn't find it in my heart to start all over again and I moved onto computers instead. last year I bought my first motorcycle in 25 years so now I find myself with an excuse to get back into leatherworking and I am loving every minute of it. I stumbled onto this site while searching for artwork for a couple projects I have planned. I am very pleased to have found this forum and after lurking around the past couple of days I feel like I have found a comfortable little community of like minded folks who seem to share the same intrests as I. I've been doing some practice peices to try to get the feel of the tools again and can't wait to startwork on one of my planned projects, namely saddlebags, seat, toolbag and travel bags. I look forward to getting to know you all and hope I can contribute to the vast knowledge base you have assembled here. thanx for a great site!