Tophee

It originally didnt let me add more pictures... but now it let me add one more to this but not the third picture. Lol

First bigger project compared to the key fobs I started making, been a bit since I made something else. Was waiting to get some leather in. Very plain, but I wanted to make something for the coming hunting season.

I see, thank you all for your inputs. Ill give that search method a try next time I wanna check something.

I was looking at some videos on patterns I am planning on trying to make. I noticed that some cut the pattern out of their leather while wet and some did not is there any benefit to cutting wet? I am not talking tooling or stamping or anything, just cutting the shapes you need out of your piece of peather for a pattern. I have been cutting my beginner projects out from dry leather but was curious on if I should be wetting the leather for an easier or cleaner cut? Also sorry if this was already a thread, I either am blind or not searching it correctly if it is.

Thank you for the suggestion. I am short on space though, so like the presses suggested by others I wont be able to go for this. But it is something I will keep in mind for the future. Looks good, I have a couple die's saved in a list for when I get some funds to spare. I have this exact die saved in a list on amazon at the moment. I tried making a book marker out of leather, did not think of a magnetic one though.

I appreciate all the advice. Alot of things for me to try out in future projects. Im focusing on smaller things at the moment but will work my way up to bigger projects as I get better.

I do intend on picking up some other punches ill have to give it a look. I dont have a place to put a press atm even a small one so any die I get will be mallet use. I did try to sand another piece I made that I did not post here. But all it did was fray the leather and burnishing didnt help fix it. Maybe I was using too coarse a paper. I do intend to pick up a dremel, they seem to come in handy for all kinds of crafts and things.

Im looking at a couple of those, but most are for presses I dont have a press I would need one I can use with a hammer. Yea I use a utility knife atm or a rocksheet knife as I tend to call em. Was looking at a knife off of Tandy thats on sale if I cannot find a a die I can use with a hammer since I dont havea press.

Still new, but these are my latest creations. Still cannot get the cuts all even.

Yeah i just ordered the rawhide mallet. It will most likely serve me better

Was not a wooden mallet, I dont know the name but it was a nylon straight head mallet. Very cheap one but I did not expect this much of a catestrophic failure during use. Many of the youtubers I watch, specifically DG Saddlery uses those sheepskin ones with the wool on it still. I may pick up a small pack, or there is actually a sheepfarm down the road from me that has a craft shop I may stop in and ask if thye have some.

I took these 2 leftover cuts of leather and did what you 2 suggested. Also I went and changed the surface I used to stamp on. Impression was MUCH better looking before dyeing and antiqueing. I did kinda rush the antiqueing so it isnt the best it can be. But I think this looks better than the others. I do need a new mallet now though, one Ive been using is one that came with the cheap set I bought and the handle cracked when I gave it a harder whack and the whole thing came apart. I do think I could of let the leather dry some more but overall I think I made some progress with it. What does everyone typically use to apply and buff off the excess antique? What I have been using is cut up rags and seems to not buff very well and it removes too much antique I think.

Shoulder cut, I got it on sale online from Tandy. Maybe not the best quality but to practice on I try to get on sale leather so mistakes like these dont bother me. Im gonna try something in the next coming days, gonna change the surface I am putting the leather on before I stamp it. Maybe the table I am using has too much give underneath the slab I have and its not pushing back enough to get a good impression. So im gonna give soakin it like you described a try and a better surface and I will see what happens.

Im using a 7oz leather. From a post or 2 ive found on this forum, minimal for stamping and tooling according to some would be 4-5oz I believe what was said. So I should be good with that at least. Gonna have to play around with casing the leather with these scraps I got. Appreciate the help from everyone by the way.

I do have a little spray bottle that was originally for a hand sanitizer I cleaned and filled with water. But figured it was wetting the leather too much so for these i just made sure the surface was moist. Even with a bad stamp tho I would think an antique paste would make its way into any of the impressions well enough to not come out when wiping off the excess. Again maybe im just not doing the whole process incorrectly.