mendedbowl

very nice seat David, and your new camera works fine you always do such great seats. ken

Hi Tom, as always...your work is wonderfully rich in detail and craftsmanship. and i really appreciate how much symbolism you put into your art. these are the feelings this bracer call to my mind: with every sunset in life...there is always a ray of hope. hope that tomorrow's sunrise will bring a new beginning. and what a wonderful watchful raven...(it almost looks as if she is smiling) with rays of hope (and healing) beneath her wings. thank you for sharing this piece, ken

Tina i just love that purse! truly wonderful colors and a great idea. may i ask which highlighter you used? you always amaze me with your projects ken

the swivel knife is to cut anyone who tries to take her fancy phone case! nice work. ken

nice looking wallet Allen, i like the colors. just a thought... instead of making the entire diaper bag out of heavy leather...how about just adding a panel of tooling leather to a lighter bag of garment leather, denim, or canvas? ken

Wow!! clay that's fantastic! a true work of art in the making... i hope to see more pics of the progress. did that video come with a starting pattern? ken

i recently got part of my hidecrafter order (i had orderd all 3 pebbler tools) but i only got 2 of the set after waiting over a month. the third one is still on back order... they're great tools if you can get em. ken

Jordan please show your chess pieces after you make them. (i wish i could carve wood worth a flip) ArtS if you're looking for chess pieces for a board...here are a few places i've found online. chess pieces at the chess store chess pieces at chess usa ken

very nice work!! i like that board a bunch Jordan. may i ask what ounce leather you used for that? i'm a chess nut...so i think i'll be trying one of those soon. i have a roll up chess board now..but it's just cheap vinyl. yours has so much more character to it. ken

when my son was 3 years old, he pronounced that word "ditta-wee squatch" ...i nearly fell out of my chair...

I wouldn't use latigo for tooling. you can't case it well because of all the extra oils, and even though you can get it to take a nice impression from stamping tools at first, the impressions will lift over time. i experimented with it once just to see what would happen. after about 4 hours or so the impressions had lifted about 50%. ken

Very nice work Tom, I remember when you started developing that skull design, and sharing your pics here. It really turned out well. The flames are a great addition also. may i ask what oz. leather you used? hope to see more as it progresses. ken

Peter Fonda's skull! cool just kidding tom, it's looking better, but one thing i noticed is the teeth area looks a little flat. imagine the teeth running around a very small cylinder. look at tasha's skull picture and see how just below the eyes and nose, the skull shape looks like a cylinder down to the chin. (or if you have children like mine, when they bite each other just look a the bite mark...that bite curve is your cylinder shape) follow the curve of that cylinder with your teeth and the grin won't be so wide. and i think that would make it look more menacing too. ken

About 5 months ago my work surface was a little cluttered, i moved too quickly, and knocked a swivel knife off the edge. I was wearing shorts at the time...and the blade made a nice decorative cut in my bony shin. Thought I'd never get the bleeding to stop. That's the only injury so far...but i have developed a nice dance step while avoiding falling pointy objects. ken

Kate you're right on the money...wild wild west was laced with steampunkery (if that's a real word) Leatheroo your mask is fantastic...it being your first steampunk makes it even more impressive. and Banewell you mask is just amazing!!! thanks for posting the info about using resin molding to make your parts...i never would have thought of that. i love this site!! so many great people!! ken

LOL!!! that is so cool!!! i love it very unique and interesting idea Troy. Kate...i was just about to contact the nation enquirer to report another elvis sighting... oh well... ken

very nice Luke! did you make your own pattern for that? ken

very nice!! i like the one formed to fit the handle. i don't see any stitching on that one. is it held with rivets only? nice color and look. ken

very impressive work!! what a wonderful gift. from your pictures it looks like you had already folded it for the spine before carving...make i ask your process for that? did you groove the other side, and wet it before folding? any help would be appreciated much. thanks, ken

Very good! now you got me wanting to read comic books again... ken

Beautiful masks! i like the textures of the stamped ones...and the fox turned out very nice...lol the way you did the nose is cute. ken

hi Cal, that's a very interesting idea. sounds like you'll end up with a portable shop! i've seen several different styles of handmade leather tool cases on ebay...but nothing like what you're planning. i've seen one that had room for a tiny granite slab for stamping (maybe about 6" x 6") but i'm thinking your box will get heavy quickly as you add your tools and stamps. from your picture it looks like it will have most of the weight in the bottom, but your straps are attached at the top edge of your leather box. i would suggest extending your straps down to the bottom edge and securing them to the plywood to take the stress off of your leather top. or another option might be to make your box like a piece of wheeled luggage, then weight wouldn't be an issue. if you're planning on tooling the leather i wouldn't use sole bends. i'm working with some 13 to 15 oz. saddle skirting now that is very sturdy...and i can tool on it...but it takes a lot of wetting and giving it time to soak in to get it to feel right. the more i think about your idea the more i like it! please take pictures as you construct it and share them here. ken

very nice work. and i really like that design....hmmm... i sense another book purchase in my future... thanks for showing ken

hi Chuck, look like good saddles to me. looking at the close ups i can see a few rough edges...but you were making working saddles not show saddles so no problems. if it does all you want it to do, and you feel comfortable sitting in it, and your horse feels comfortable under it...i say great work.

hi Johann, very nice show pad. and i love your wife's wallet! can you share the dye and finish technique you used on it? thanks for showing both works. ken