DaleksInc

Have a merry and blessed Christmas, everyone!

Basically what it says on the tin. I like doing leather carving, and I would like to use my own designs. However, whenever I try to (for example) a Sheridan pattern, it never seems to turn out right. Therefore, I'd like to get a good book on how to draw the designs used in various leather carving styles.

Excluding "genuine" leather, most leather watch bands I see tend to fall into one of two price ranges: $50-$80 and $150-$200, with some outliers on either side. However, when I look at pictures, it is often very difficult for me to tell the difference in terms of quality of construction. Is there something I'm missing, or is the upper price-range due to brand-name markup?

Recently, I acquired a shearling and a couple rabbit furs (both were pretty deeply on sale). After some thinking, I've decided I want to make myself an ushanka (known as a trapper's hat in the USA.) Are there any tips/suggestions I should keep in mind?

When I use rivets and burrs in my projects, I tend to hammer the shanks down flush with the burr using a big ol' ball-and-peen hammer a relative acquired while working on the railroad. However, when I see rivets and burrs used in other people's projects, they usually seem to have barely domed the tip. Therefore, I am interested to hear y'all's thoughts on how much to hammer shanks.

Is 4-5 oz. appropriate?

Yesterday, I went over to Tandy to pick up some hardware and a side of veg-tan while it's on sale. As sometimes happens, one thing led to another, and I ended up also getting a dark-brown "Utility Crazy Pull Up Buffalo Side" since it was heavily discounted and my sister commented that the feel is similar to that of a dog collar she's been wanting me to replicate. Since a whole side is (hopefully ) much more than I need for one or two dog collars, does anybody have suggestions for projects I could make using it? My experience with aniline and chrome-tanned leather is rather limited, since I usually work with veg-tan. While I'm at it, is there anything I need to watch out for when working with this hide?

Look into Civil War cap boxes and pistol boxes. That said, you probably won't need a pattern; they're essentially just a basic belt-mounted box with a flap lid. The main difference is the addition of either a second, smaller flap or a piece of shearling (in some cap boxes) to keep the contents from spilling. If you have FreeCAD, I have a pattern I can send you; it's for a belt-mounted glasses case, but the design is similar to that of a pistol (just using saddle-stitched gussets instead of box-stitch.) You'd just need to add something to prevent the shot from spilling as you run around.

Looks very good!

I just picked up a couple of rabbit pelts for cheap (my local Scout camp's trading post had them for whatever reason, and was doing a blow-out sale.) How do you suggest I use them (and/or how do people typically use them)? I generally do figure carving, so I've never used furs before. For reference, I've attached a picture of the pelts.

Unfortunately, I don't have space (again, it's a glasses case.) Would stitching around the rivets help? I see it a lot in American Civil War-era leather goods such as cartridge boxes. Edit: for reference, here's the body and flap of the case. Not the best picture, but it should give a good idea of what I'm working with.

Thanks! Unfortunately, I've already cut, dyed, and varnished everything, so I'll probably have to just leave it on the outside for now. I'll keep that in mind in the future, though!

Skiving. I can never seem to get a consistent depth.

I'm currently working on making myself a belt-mounted glasses case. Since I don't expect the belt loops to hold that much weight, should just rivets & burrs be enough? As it stands, I am planning on two rivets per belt loop (one at the top, one at the bottom.)

Thanks! I'll try this. Ironically, I was just at Harbor Freight yesterday.

For whatever reason, I always have horrible luck when skiving projects. The skiver seems to occasionally "catch," resulting in severe gouging. I suspect this may be due to my skiver (a Tandy SuperSkiver.) Would a well-stropped woodworking plane produce a more even skive?

I can't remember: is it light dye first, then dark, or dark first, then light? Also, while I'm here, where in the process should I apply antique?

Per the title, I'm interested in using some (mid-sized) embossing plates, but don't have a clicker (and probably won't for a while; those things are somewhat expensive.) Is it possible to use an embossing plate without one, or am I out of luck?

Where can I find embossing plates for Union and Confederate leather equipment nowadays? Somebody on here mentioned Weaver et al. several years ago, but it appears that none of them carry 'em anymore. Here's an example of what I'm talking about (end result): By the way, sorry the picture's so big; I didn't realize it until I'd already posted.

Thanks! That's quite helpful.

From what I understand, people often use Angelus leather paints. However, from what I understand, they're basically just acrylic paint. Is there some important difference, or can I just use regular acrylic paint on my projects?

@Mablung I have been using edge bevelers.

Whenever I try to skive the edges on belts, I get really inconsistent results. Some areas end up skived very deeply, others barely at all. This causes them to look very unprofessional, especially once I apply Edge-Kote. How do you go about getting a consistent skiving depth? Please don't answer with "get a skiving machine"; that's out of my price range.