MarshalWill

Very nice work on both. That elephant hide has an interesting look.

That UHMW is great stuff. That's what I use on mine.

LOL, I understand that. I don't stand mine up either but some people do so they don't roll off the work bench. Then that's not an issue. Enjoy that fine maul you made.

Beautiful work on that handle. Very attractive as well as functional. As an alternative to putting an acorn nut on the head end, just recess the nylock nut so you can stand the maul on its end if you wish. I did that with one I made. Not a maul but a mallet. Still it's nice to not have anything sticking out up there.

How about putting a piece of poly cutting board on the base to raise the leather a half inch? That would also give the punch something to cut against that won't dull it like a piece of steel base would.

Looks good. I look forward to seeing more of your floral carving. There are a couple things I do in my patterns. This is not absolute but I like to make an odd number of focal points for your eye to land on as it moves around the pattern. That makes it more dynamic. An even number gives the design a more stability and slows the visual flow. There are times when that is beneficial, like a border around a central design where the central design is more important than the border. Transition lines are another aspect that make it work. In this one, the horse's nose directs your eye into the base of the floral part and the direction of flow then follows along the floral carving until it gets back to the horse, which then starts it all again. If the horse was facing the other way, it would hinder this flow.

There are a lot of things that make this an outstanding job. Including the horse, I see 5 main focal points which makes the whole thing balanced. That horse looks real and like it's going fast. The floral work has different growth stages of the blossoms. And I like that little curlicue at the base of the main stem. Very well done.

Another good idea. Can't wait to see your next one.

Very nice! That's a pretty cool way to make a wall plaque. Looks great.

Looks good. I like your plan to stitch all the way around on the next one. I generally like 5 stitches per inch, which I think is close to 5 mm. Good work.

That's a great design. It's easy to see why hunters want them. Very fine work.

Looks great! The tooling and BW stamping is good. Bruce's suggested adjustment would make a slight but nice improvement to the BW. As AIZilla mentioned, the blood knot on the zipper pull looks good.

That's an excellent strap design with the contour the way you do it. Just the right amount of decoration on both. Fine work, there.

I like mallet heads for stamping. Never got used to a round maul. The weights I like are mostly an 4 oz one I made from UHMW and a 10 oz one I bought for larger stamps. For very large stamps like a maker's stamp, I use my drill press to make an impression or, on occasion, a 28 oz Barry King mallet. For BW, like you were asking, I use the 10 oz one. In the photo: the 28 oz BK mallet, the 10 oz mallet and the 4 oz one.

Good apron design with the crossed straps instead of the waist strap. I might have to make one myself like that. Yep, familiar with kickbacks, too. Not only is an apron good for protection but it keeps your clothes from getting too trashed. Can't say your shop shoes would be my choice, though.

I'll remember that. Thanks.

A burnished or rounded leather cord sounds like a good idea. It would probably still have enough friction to keep it closed. fIt might also give it a more finished look.

This is a fascinating thing to make. I've never done one. Yours is very good. Beautiful work.

That's some mighty fine leather. It has a very nice grain to it. Beautiful notebook. Good work.

I've used Preval cannisters for many things. If you just need a small amount of dye, you can clean them out to use for another small job later. For the most part, though, a full jar just about uses them up.

Those big sunflowers really look good.

Very nice. That antique finish really makes the stamping stand out.

Looks good. Nice even BW. That had to be fun to do.

Thanks. I wasn't familiar with that design aspect.

Beautiful tooling. Looks good. Very nice work. What function does the hole in the middle of the strap fulfill?