Leescustomleather

Thank you

Sorry about that I didn't realize my foot was in the photo, Lol.

My latest sheath with a marbled G-10 handle

Thank you very much Chuck

You do beautiful work, but if you look at a sunflower the seeds spiral in toward the center in an organized pattern rather than randomly. The only reason I mentioned it is because you asked for a critique of your work.

Regarding fluid looking curves I have watched a lot of videos by Joe Meling and I admire his skill level so I case a bunch of smaller pieces of leather and cut curves over and over. Then I practice more curves starting with a deep cut and fading out and then starting shallow and going deep. Practice, Practice, Practice. Also most of my patterns are drawn many times, people try to tell me I am an artist but I know I am just persistent.

Thank you very much, be careful with Cocobolo you can develop a sever allergic reaction to it. I had worked with it for years intermittently and then one time everywhere the wood dust touched my skin the top layers of skin died like a very bad sunburn. It took almost a month to heal. If you are interested her name is Emerald and her You Tube channel is Lumber Capitol Log Yard. She is the pretty Redhead.

The knife still needs some finish work obviously but here it is. The sheath will last many years despite appearances The only thing I would be concerned about is the turquoise inlay, so I drilled several small holes in the back with a diamond drill and attached a piece of 3oz vegtan with JB weld I have tested this process and the leather is what gives first. The other concern is the Mother of Pearl inlay being scratched, that is why I put the retaining strap at the top to kind of protect it. This Knife is going to a young lady that works as part of her family business running a sawmill at their lumberyard in Pa. And the knife is made to fit her hand not mine if it looks a little small. I am sure it will be well cared for Thank you.

It will be done in the next couple of days and I will post it

Working on a custom knife and just finished the sheath

You can put a lining over them or smash them flat, or if you must use them place them only where they may come into contact with the blade not the handle and use copper or brass, being softer metals, they can't scratch the blade

Thank you I will try that

Thank you I need a program to resize my photo's (free) any suggestions?

The notched part on the spine of the blade is called a choil, not that anyone asked.

Thank you very much friends Sound like it will be beautiful

A knife and sheath I just finished. Olive wood handle and inlay from a dead tree I salvaged some wood from with violet resin inlay where the wood was split from drying.

Those sheaths are very well made, everything about them is well executed and finely done, nice job!

I have made a few with veg-tan I am not sure oil tanned would have the body or stiffness due to it being chrome tanned, but I am no expert in the matter.

In some cultures "sparking" is slang for copulation so perhaps not so grim after all

The checkered add the appearance of depth and texture, try cutting several lines with a swivel knife both straight and curved, use the shaders on both and see which appeals to you the most. You can try striking harder or softer with the mallet and holding the tool at different angles. The more you practice the better and faster you will get and the more options you will have for artistic expression.

If you take your time and polish it, then it will mean more to you and you will treasure it for as long as you own it. But you are right it should have come that way especially the circumference of the face with that hard transition, shoddy workmanship indeed.

I totally get being self-critical it is how my work improves, so many people give praise which feels good, but it doesn't offer any real help which is what you asked for. I see you doing one thing that is something I still struggle with, that is trying to put too fine detail into my work with a swivel knife and beveling tools. For myself it always seems to lose resolution, all kind of blend together, kind of like the difference between throwing one pebble into a pond and the ripples that result or throwing a handful of pebbles into a pond, where the ripples just turn into chaos and lose definition. Sorry for the long-winded explanation I guess that is the best I could come up with. The only way I have found to add fine detail to leather is with stamps with the detail cut into the stamp.

You took the words right out of my mouth, it works great