LakeOtter

Nice big oak leaf... I often associate that sort of leaf of chipster99's with more Northern areas, but then I think I saw some similar to this changing colors on a different road about 10 minutes from here. Cool that you showcased the dried leaf with the good carving

I put some shapely, smaller oak leaves (from my yard adjacent to Ocala forest) onto my scanner. I did not squash them flat with the lid (rather I laid paper over them) but since they had twisted shapes, even forcing them flat-ish did fold over some of the lovely U-shapes (the U-shapes waiting for undercutters or lifters on leather). You can see where these few folds happened, so when I trace over them I will draw U-shapes there instead of the folds. In case you'd like some of this size or species to trace. Each full image equals one 10x8" or so standard sheet of paper. and is around a half MB each. I'm still a novice but wanted to draw up something original.

Hello, I recently reached a nice, helpful lady at Barry King tools via the number on their website: 307-672-5657 There's not been any answer at numerous, different times today so I was wondering if they are closed Mondays, all at a show, or just busy. Anyone know? Thanks! Jeff in FL

Hey, to each of you, thanks for the considerate and thoughtful replies including extra resources I'm genuinely checking out. I have a nice little Jim Linnell library and most of the stamps I should need, having gotten some years ago and then now... a variety of brands (you know how a lot of cheap ones are fine but some either need to be either premium ones, or modified). When I was learning before, I don't remember how I stitched on the straps to this poorly-beveled archery arm guard I made years ago (Pics attached, LOL) Pretty beginner-looking but it works great, still! I made the conical pattern by holding thin cardboard up to my arm. The Hobby Lobby ReaLeather veg tan has held up pretty well with conditioners. Over Time: I am and will be practicing small carving patterns for skills to eventually design and make unique FL/tropical-influenced pseudo-western patches to sew onto trucker hats, hand tooled instead of the laser ones popular now. You'd think some of the folks dropping a mint on tack and belts and boots still don a cap instead of a cowboy hat sometimes, and might drop a few extra bucks on a hand-tooled patch. Even buckstitch around it maybe sometimes. And I'll be doing collars for my dogs which would be great collar or belt practice. I also aspire to eventually make sheaths or cases for Native American-style flutes. I'll check out every link sent, thanks! The Linnell videos will continue to have me practicing a lot doing the walk-thru pieces repeatedly and finding hatchets and things to strap the practice pieces on (maybe starting with the next one... I ain't showing my recent piece, lol... it's that beginner Stohlman flower he and Jim start you with except I sized it down considerably, to fit on a tall trucker hat, lol.... so it made it harder and I ain't showing it, lol. The decision was made for me to move to this craft I admire, from wood and Native American-style flutes I spent years on and developed a trusted name (Otter Lake / Jeff Burris)when I moved to a wonderful forest cabin (but tiny with no garage) and wasn't able to afford the expected add-on shop to my new place. I could no longer set up my machines and continue flutes , and so my lathes and gun drills etc. will all be pickled in a 10x10' shed or maybe sold. So I'm starting over one last time at 54 and re-entering carving leather with the same dedication and zeal, to glorify God and make things pleasing to hold and look at, that I had for the studio-ready wooden instruments that, once sold on occasion to instructors and recording artists, are now permanently out of stock, while I've set up to practice leather daily and give it my all for years to come (if the creek don't rise). Thanks -- you all are like the flute crowd in that there is a bunch of stand-up, friendly help.

Hello and thanks for having me! I am excited to immerse myself into carving leather, which I'd done a little of years ago. Moving back to leather craft allows me to operate (on some level) with less space for all the machines I had to have for making Native American-style flutes, like two lathes end-to-end with a rifle boring drill modified for cutting wooden bores for woodwinds, etc... it may require a couple years practice before I'm comfortable selling anything, all over again (like it was with my better flutes), but I always did want to get back into tooling leather, so now's the time, since the plan to build a wood shop has fallen through (long story, it wound up costing twice what was expected to build the new shop on the new property... when I'd originally priced it, before selling my home and moving, two outbuilding/shed builders both lied about being licensed or insured). I didn't want to get set up to be sued, didn't have time to DIY being a contractor, and so I'm caving in and adapting to a smaller space, but still doing something I do love on the side (leather, now, again...not that I got really far with it before like I did flutes). At least I made a splash in the flute world while I was there, and I will love the larger niche of leather tooling, esp. since I have unique spins in mind for the designs, which I hope someone will want (like Florida imagery for cowboys and cowgirls, here, instead of us all showing out-of-state flora and fauna on our leather in FL). Or a premium, hand-tooled leather patch on a trucker hat instead of the ubiquitous $4.90 laser patch or one-giant-stamp-smush. The cheap leather patch hats are popular (like Hat Bars mix and match tables at certain shows) and so I thought if someone is wearing a $450 tooled belt and expensive boots, mightn't they get a trucker hat to match that's got a hand-tooled leather patch instead of the $5 one? Just a thought. And I have flute bags and other things in mind, maybe belts one day with lesser-common, FL imagery like hibiscus and manatees in between the acanthus leaves etc.) Thanks again. Jeff in FL Stuff I was making before I moved (all out of stock indefinitely, nothing for sale): https://otterlakeflutes.com/shop/ (you might have to dismiss a wordy farewell-for-now notice to the NAF community to view the page)

Thanks for the replies, guys! AlZilla -- I don't have much stitching experience at all with leather. I've either glued and/or run leather lace through big, punched holes up one side of an easy, folded-over holster build. Just that kind of stuff so far. Lots of crafting and shop experience in other ways, so I'm no noob at craftsmanship in general. I pick up on stuff fast. How do you like to stitch without a pony? Are you using the two-handed saddle stitch method or a Speedy Stitch or some other method? I do think about maybe stitching a premium, hand-tooled hat patch directly to a trucker hat (not a $5 laser engraved one, or one stamped with one big stamp) instead of just gluing it (esp. when you want at least decorative stitch anyway) and am trying to learn the different options out there. The book I got is pretty much one method, I think (saddle stitch with pony). The Speedy Stitch thing gets looked at as unprofessional, it seems, but I want to know my options. And I guess you can do the same thing as a Speedy Stitch just with an awl and needles, just a different stitch(?). I know people often advise not over-equipping oneself as a "beginner" at any one thing (like stitching leather), but I also go through long, dry periods of not having the money to buy much of anything but food and meds, so I want to get most of whatever I might need for the next long while (while I have a little bit of cash now, left) so I don't need something new when I'm broke, lol. Right now I'm looking at stitching supplies like awls, forks, needles...holder, etc. Thanks for your input! (that goes for everybody)

Thanks very much for all the replies. I got the .020" thick file and love it for some stuff... but yes, indeed, I'd forgotten how some of the needle files even at HF, while not super thin like this $23 file, do come with triangular ones and stuff to help get in tight spaces, thanks! I actually have some, somewhere, for fine-tuning Native American-style flute parts and stuff I was doing before I moved to a smaller space with no machine shop. I know I saved them, somewhere...

Hello and thanks in advance! I am practicing to make pieces that can be small or narrow (hat patches, hat bands, belt) but that have detailed work including figure or pictorial. You spend hours of time and effort on depth and 3D relief for animals and flora with fine textures etc., you know... But then even master Al Stohlman's "The Art of Hand Stitching Leather" front cover shows a tooled belt clamped right there under the wooden vice grip of a stitching pony. I just feel like it wouldn't take that much pressure to at least slightly compromise certain, painstaking work. People always talk of accidentally, barely nicking or scratching their work with xyz tool. I do not want to even slightly compress the shoulder of a bear or something, and almost considered a Speedy Stitcher, but I want to learn quality-with-efficiency, for an indefinite commitment. And stiches look great even when not needed structurally. Are there any tips you can think of other than: 1) Let the work dry good and hard before clamping into the pony 2) clamp it just tight enough not to shift or wiggle, but do not over-tighten I see some ponies have material buffering the piece from the direct wood jaws; maybe I can try some different rubbers, leathers as a buffer? I thought of felt but maybe it allows movement too much unless too tight....? Any experience or thoughts here are appreciated, Jeff in FL

Hello! This is only one example but, for example, I can see how I can take a modern, cheap F918 stamp (a figure-carving stamp like a camouflage) and modify it to be more like a vintage one if I had a very thin file (and maybe my slow speed grinder, too). I could sharpen the ends of the little metal lines (and maybe round the end over a bit more with the grinder). What kind of files do you/they use to tweak thin lines on stamps? I heard that even Barry King "used his coarsest checkering file" to customize a special order, vertical lined thumbprint for a guy. I wonder what a checkering file is like... like if it's made for the purpose(?). At first I kicked myself for giving away my banjo nut files, but then realized they only were abrasive on the edges whereas I could use something like that with abrasive also on the flats, as well. Those files came as thin as .010" thick, but you one use the thin edges. I do see a file .020" thick for sale, but, before I order, do any stamp makers or serious DIY stampers have go-to files for getting in tight spaces and making, or at least fine-tuning lines on a stamp? Thanks! P.S. I know some cheaper stamps are chrome plated. While I prefer tool steel or stainless stamps, I have found I can modify a chrome-plated stamp, removing chrome, and and still get along okay as long as I clean it with test stamps first so I don't get oxidized pot metal on my leather if it sat around for ages or something. I just don't have any thin files to get deep into grooves.

Thanks, I appreciate it.... I did mean to mention why I'm working with the aniline powder, versus other options, when there are options that don't have the same concerns: It's because I'm super strapped, can't really go buy anything new right now (esp. various colors) and already have gobs of red, yellow, blue, and green, pure aniline dye powder I bought from Bingham's for archery bow wood, and I'm loving the colors. I discovered I already had at least a year's worth of any color I wanted, using those (including any brown hue or mottled combo thereof). It's an interesting development finding out that: Professional aniline leather does not appear to be made with water-based aniline dyes like bookbinders use, because they repeatedly refer to the "oils in the aniline dyes" soaking into the leather with the soluble pigment. I've noticed aniline dye, aside from being soluble in water, is also soluble in pure alcohol. As long as there's no water in the alcohol, pure alcohol mixes with oils. I'm thinking something like this is how they formulate oil-based aniline dyes (or solvent-based aniline with oils in it). Dissolve it in pure solvent then add to oils. I might be able to try that, too, unless my red dye (which was already made up by me a long time ago) contains any water. If I used pure denatured alcohol like it smells, then I can try making the oily kind of aniline dye which I'm betting won't leech out with water like it can with water-based aniline dye (and why bookbinders buy expensive Hewitt Dye-Fix "Methanamine"). We also have to mitigate the oils we use on bookcovers, too, but I do use them. I'm sure even if I use the water-based aniline dye recipe that by buffing the surface and using a oil/wax conditioner well, there won't be any real problem. I was just really curious why bookbinders insist on using expensive methanamine fixative on leather they aniline dye when no other craft seems to. It's probably because (besides the whole archival thing) they are using water-based aniline dye whereas those who professionally make aniline leather for other uses use a solvent-and-oil based aniline recipe that is less susceptible to water getting on it and causing ruboff. I know waxing and oiling repels water... but I can really go to town on pro aniline leather and water won't make it leech (even though they tell me they use no fixative). Instead, if I hose it down with oil (which they say never to do with aniline leather) maybe it would, since it was formulated that way, but it never rains oil on the side of a car seat. I really appreciate the replies, it furthers my suspicion that it's not a big concern, and I learned about a new colorfast dye for the future and I'm really curious about finding out it Retayne for fabric is chemically anything like the expensive Hewitt Dye-Fix that is the status quo for book binders and conservators.

Wow I did also just find out that there is a total difference in aniline dye formulas. At a tannery (or place where they get the dye) the aniline powder appears to be liquified with solvent that will mix with oils, not water, because it says there are oils in the dye (whereas bookbinders and wood workers use water and sometimes alcohol). If you put oil in water-based aniline dyes like bookbinders make, it would just float on top or emulsify and make a mess. This explains why you can use oily conditioners with neatsfoot and lanolin on new book leather dyed with water-based aniline dye, whereas everyone says "never apply oil" to "aniline leather" like used for auto upholstery. I'm assuming oils would interfere with oil-bearing aniline dye, whereas oils protect water-based aniline dye. This also explains why spilling water on "aniline leather" won't make it leech aniline dye out no matter how much you soak it. They haven't used a methyl-anything fixative... they've made it basically oil-based, instead. At least so it seems, with multiple sources saying "oils soak through the leather along with the soluble pigment" when making "aniline leather". And no one sits there soaking their car seat in oil until a little dye leeches out. But they do accidentally get rained on. It's all making sense now.

Thanks I really appreciate it. I know Hewitt "Dye-Fix" works but its expensive. I can understand using it on a priceless museum piece with velum documents pressed up against it... I will likely buff to eliminate rub-off as you said. That will keep from most rub off but theoretically if the object got really wet and was no longer repelling water 100% from oils/waxes it could dribble out. I'm not going worry about it a lot but: Wow! Thanks for mentioning "Retayne", though! I'll be comparing it to Hewitt's "Dye-Fix" and maybe ask the company about leather. I was able to find that Retayne's ingredient is a trade secret but the family of chemical is a "cationic methylene guanidine". Dye-Fix is "Methanamine" or "N-methyl-, polymer with 2-(chloromethyl)oxirane" ...sounds suspiciously similar. But Retayne is wayyy more affordable. Just no telling if it causes the leather to break down faster, not being washed out (unless I could confirm it's the same stuff, since Dye-Fix is archival and museum conservator approved. That's also cool about the burnishing formula. It definitely seems that things that polymerize are known to lock the aniline into a bonded state where it can't leech. Thanks again

Hello and thanks for your time. I have leather experience, and aniline dying wood experience, but not much aniline dye on leather experience. You can buy pure aniline dye powder and mix it with water, alcohol, or a combination, but I have a feeling professional "aniline leather" has had some fixative or process used so, for example, auto upholstery aniline dye never, ever rubs off on clothing. Something more than just a coat of oil/wax/UV blocker over the top of it. Something to make the aniline dye never reactivate with moisture that gets past a mere topcoat. That is, unless veg tan leather simply bonds to it, alone, adequately so it can't reactivate like aniline dye dried up on the bottom of a jar. I was wondering if any of you have ever dyed leather with aniline dye and then either: 1) used a fixative so moisture doesn't re-activate the normally, very water soluble dye or 2) ever had any problem with the leather getting wet and rubbing off on someone's clothes. As soon as you enter the bookbinding realm, they apply Hewitt "Dye-Fix" after applying aniline dye (that they prepared from powder and water) to lock it in so it doesn't reactivate with a spill or a dash through the rain. The MSDS reveals is some strange chemical "Methanamine" or "N-methyl-, polymer with 2-(chloromethyl)oxirane". It is supposed to chemically lock the dye itself from reactivating, not just topcoat it like an oil and wax product. Since I have never heard of "aniline leather" staining anyone's cloths from a car seat that got damp (the only reason they recommend conditioners is so it doesn't fade) I figured professional tanneries treat it with a fixative. But some auto upholstery places even sell DIY aniline dyes, but no fixative and, when asked, they were unaware of any fixative in the product and said "Hewitt's dye must not be real aniline" which is simply not true. You can buy powdered aniline dyes for leather and wood and other things and they are real aniline dyes, period. It does make sense that, unless a chemical bond is 100% formed with the subject getting dyed, it could moisten and reactivate and ruin someone's shirt. That is... unless the chemical nature of vegetable tanned leather already forms an adequate bond. For this I'm about to do some tests. I don't want to buy expensive fixative (which is, seemingly, only even known about in the bookbinding niche) if all the career leather guys know it's totally unnecessary with veg tan leather. Sure I'm going to rub on oil and wax but I don't like the thought of it being a ticking time bomb to rub off and expose dye that can stain clothes). I know aniline is more a solution and not so much a suspension of pigment that lies on top of surfaces but fact: you can, nonetheless, allow it to dry to the sides of a glass jar and wind up with re-usable dye powder. So there's got to be a bond formed to something before it won't transfer to something else. If tests show it just isn'ty an issue, this means aniline dye tends to form its own bond to veg tan leather without "Dye-Fix"... if it rubs off badly with a mist of water, though, it must mean tanneries use a fixative or process of some sort beyond just oil and wax. One of the two must be true, I just don't know which. If you have any true insight about this, I'd really like to hear your experiences or knowledge, thanks. Jeff in Odessa FL