Corvus

This is a beautiful piece of work, your customer must be well pleased! Can I ask what you use to finish it with please. I assume that the white on the tiger and the colour around the lettering must be paint rather than dye so how do you stop those from rubbing off in use.

Is there some hand painting on the plaque? I actually had a bit of a go at this technique last night - just on a tiny scrap of leather otherwise I would have taken a picture - and I kind of see what you are doing from that much clearer for it but it also highlights just how good you are at it! I have to say it quickly made me look at my stamps in a new way, not just seeing the whole but small parts of them as well. My partner liked the look of your work too, he would be great at doing something like this I think. Looking forward to seeing more

There must be a lot of fancy computer assisted machinery coming out these days? Laser cutters and the like? Don't worry, I'm only joking about the apprenticeship I would love to have a look at how you do things though, could I perhaps tag on to Rays visit? (If no one minds) I'm very much a beginner with leather work and so although there are lots of things I want to know I probably can't ask the right questions as yet ... I might learn more just watching and listening to other people talk,if that makes sense

Hi Davy, these are very inspiring! Looking forward to that tutorial. On the wall plaque you posted on the first thread, what kind of thickness is the leather? The impression look very deep. Looking forward to seeing lots more from you.

Hi! Nice work, I like the colouring especially.

OK, so I wouldn't make much of an apprentice Fascinating photos though, it looks like you must have a machine for everything! Do you dye your own leather?

They look very good bags but I am not sure of the purpose of the bucket bag, what were you imagining it woild but used for.

Hi Steve! We're neighbours as I'm in Somerset Let me know if you are looking for an apprentice Your set up sounds great, please post some photos I would love so see.

Personally, I would use a backgrounder for all of the background both in and outside the knotwork and then use the beveller to do the parts where the knotwork crosses itself.

I really like the feathers, a tutorial would be great. As long as it is in your own words you would not be breeching any copyright.

This is a very interesting thread! I don't have much to add, I use a sponge and water at the moment and don't have a problem with that but don't have anything to compare it too. All Essential Oils have antiseptic properties so they will probably all be antifungal to some extent but Rosemary Oil and/or Tea Tree would be the ones to select for this - just a few drops in the water you use should work fine. I never understood the term 'casing' but recently read something that explained that when you wet leather the water mixes with the proteins in the leather to effectively form a glue and this is why the impressions we make are retained. This made me think that 'casing' might be a bastardisation of 'casein'. Presumably anything you can add to your water to improve the glue mix might give you better results. Milk is the obvious one but somehow I don't fancy it! With regards to water soluable oil, this put me in mind of Aqueous Cream which is a pure cream made of water and petroleum oil, it should be fine on leather as it is meant to go on living skin to soften it. You can get it from most Chemists - a big tub costs a few quid. A small amount of this in water would be an interesting experiment. Any amount of oil should stop the leather drying as quickly and also as the friction between the leather and tools would be reduced you may well see clearer impressions and find it easier to work but too much could be hazardous I guess. Only the info about essential oils is factual, the rest of this post is spectulation based on a fondness for kitchen chemistry experiments so approach with caution!

The cover looks great, I like the way you have combined the knotwork and circuitry. What is on the inside of the cover though? Is it made to take a standard notebook?

I read recently in a leather work book that sheeps wool is often used for padding. I'm wondering about similar things myself for adding a bit of padding to dog collars but need something that isn't going to get water logged so I'm interested to see what you come up with.

Thanks for all the greetings, this is a quick message to say that my broadband connection has died on me so I'm on limited dial up access until I sort it out ! I will reply to everyone then, I just didn't want you to think I was ignoring you all. Really looking forward to catching up with the forum once I am back in the land of the living . I'm in North Devon BTW.

Hello, Not sure what to say after that! I live in England and I'm just starting to do some leatherwork. I'm really inspired by the possibilities it offers and keen to try everything. I've made a couple of dog leads and collars so far - easy ones - and now have plans for bigger and better collars and leads From the little I've looked around already this forum seems a great resource with some fun people too so I'm looking forward to spending more time here. I'm intrigued by the selection of emoticons offered! -- Live long and prosper.