cruxx

Yes....although I had to look up the term "welt". I have been calling it a blade guard. I took the design from a beautiful old Buck knife that I have. I think I will run the experiment that Northmount suggested except run it on two pieces, then dye one and put a beeswax/oil finish on the other to see how much of an effect the alcohol in the dye is having. This forum is a godsend

Northmount Excellent advice, I will absolutely do that tomorrow fredk I never noticed that they asked where I lived but I will add that. I am in SW Florida ABHandmade Ummm, guilty of buying a 20 piece set for $15 although I have since added a few stamps of better quality. I had no idea what I wanted or needed until I started. joet yes, still learning how to use the tools and I find it frustrating to not be able to produce the image in my mind. Just impatient. YinTX that did occur to me when I started reading about people's opinion of Tandy. I have to drive an hour just to get there. I haven't found a closer supplier yet and hesitate to buy online if I don't understand what I am looking for. I usually take classes in whatever new media that interests me and I go on from there. I just haven't found anyone around here yet. Thank you all for your interest and suggestions, you have all given me new directions in which to look

I never get tired of practicing but I doubt I have 60 years. A good 10-15. I will watch my depth and try to smooth my cuts. Thank you

Sorry, not good at resizing photos

Hey guys, thanks for the comments. fredk, hard to know if I'm casing correctly without having experienced eyes on but it seems right and takes a good impression. Once I knew it was too wet. I am hitting the stamps pretty hard. Rhale, my first one had stamping but I am mostly carving right now Aven, Using 6-7 oz Here are pictures of my first 5 pieces in the order of completion. Please keep in mind that I am teaching myself and had to design the sheaths. My sewing is getting a bit better and I manage to correct a few mistakes with each piece. Hubby is making knife handles and needs sheaths. First one is from a Hobby Lobby kit, the second one was too wet.

I am trying to teach myself leather work from books and Utube. I am making progress but my leather tooling patterns seem to shrink up or go away when I dye them. So far, using Eco Flo or Fiebing's water-based. I get nice deep, articulated designs that dry well but the minute I apply color they seem to dehydrate and flatten out. Not sure what I am doing wrong.