First Time Carving

[ArkieNewbie]

Hello Everyone!

This is my first time submitting something here and it just so happens to be my first piece of leather carving I've done. It is a pattern from Jim Linnell. 

Please critique the carving and stamping and let me know what I can do better and how I can do it. Also, I would appreciate some tips on getting even and correct color dying. This dye is supposed to be Fiebling's Light Brown. 

Edited September 26, 2022 by ArkieNewbie
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[JazzBass]

That’s a really good first try…mine didn’t look that good!

I don’t know what leather you used, but I can say that after I started using Hermann Oak veg tan, I got better results in the depth and smoothness of cuts/bevels, and it takes dye better than almost anything else. As to the dye, stick with the Fiebings PRO dye, if you’re not using that already. 
 

Hope that helps… the rest is just practice. Your cuts and bevels will get better in time. Keep going! Do the same pattern multiple times, instead  of immediately jumping to something else. It’ll pay huge dividends later, as you can compare each version, and improve all the way. Again…it’s really a very good first attempt! 

[Gezzer]

Looks pretty good for a first   I like to light oil anything I do before dyeing  , may just be in my head but I think it helps even out the way the leather accepts  it .

[Burkhardt]

Like JazzBass said above oil first will help dye take more evenly, but remember every coat of dye will get darker and darker with every coat you add. Dye's not like paint where you can keep painting over for even color.

[tsunkasapa]

+1 on the oil. And I never use my dyes full strength. Usually, I dilute 1:2 with alcohol. Then you can do repeated coats without too much darkening.

[PastorBob]

8 hours ago, tsunkasapa said:

+1 on the oil. And I never use my dyes full strength. Usually, I dilute 1:2 with alcohol. Then you can do repeated coats without too much darkening.

+1 on dilution and using pro dye.  I get the best results from dip dyeing my pieces rather than daubing on the dye with a wool dauber.  As others have said, keep up the practice.  You may want to add a few "cut" lines to the petals as well with your swivel knife to give it a little more depth.  Nice job!!!!

[ArkieNewbie]

18 hours ago, JazzBass said:

That’s a really good first try…mine didn’t look that good!

I don’t know what leather you used, but I can say that after I started using Hermann Oak veg tan, I got better results in the depth and smoothness of cuts/bevels, and it takes dye better than almost anything else. As to the dye, stick with the Fiebings PRO dye, if you’re not using that already. 
 

Hope that helps… the rest is just practice. Your cuts and bevels will get better in time. Keep going! Do the same pattern multiple times, instead  of immediately jumping to something else. It’ll pay huge dividends later, as you can compare each version, and improve all the way. Again…it’s really a very good first attempt! 

Thanks Jazz! It's definitely not Hermann Oak. I used one of the cheap "hat patches" from Springfield Leather. Good advice on doing the same pattern again! I'll have to make myself do that. I'm kind of a squirrel when it comes to moving on to the next thing. And I am using Fieblings Pro Dye, I have light brown and royal blue. My daughters like the blue and honestly I do too on certain things. 

17 hours ago, Gezzer said:

Looks pretty good for a first   I like to light oil anything I do before dyeing  , may just be in my head but I think it helps even out the way the leather accepts  it .

Good tip on the oil! Like neatsfoot oil?

Edited September 27, 2022 by ArkieNewbie

[ArkieNewbie]

15 hours ago, tsunkasapa said:

+1 on the oil. And I never use my dyes full strength. Usually, I dilute 1:2 with alcohol. Then you can do repeated coats without too much darkening.

I had read about diluting with alcohol! I'm going to have to try it out. 

[Gezzer]

11 minutes ago, ArkieNewbie said:

 

Good tip on the oil! Like neatsfoot oil?

I use olive oil but whatever oil is used ,    start with a light even coat

[chuck123wapati]

great 1st try. all you need is more practice at this point.  Knife practice, getting a smooth flowing design is the first step, make sure your knife is sharp so it runs smooth, keep it straight up, get some scrap and practice. Use a background of some type or if just beveling then work on smoothness all around your outline. i bevel with  my mallet trying to get good even hits  then i take my beveller and by hand smooth out any rough edges all the way around Dying is somewhat of an art in itself, you can dip dye or use an air brush for even look or a natural sponge if you want the mottled look. block dyeing is another option or you can use a brush and paint on coats of dyes like red for your flower . i have never had good luck dyeing with wool dauber.

[ArkieNewbie]

10 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

great 1st try. all you need is more practice at this point.  Knife practice, getting a smooth flowing design is the first step, make sure your knife is sharp so it runs smooth, keep it straight up, get some scrap and practice. Use a background of some type or if just beveling then work on smoothness all around your outline. i bevel with  my mallet trying to get good even hits  then i take my beveller and by hand smooth out any rough edges all the way around Dying is somewhat of an art in itself, you can dip dye or use an air brush for even look or a natural sponge if you want the mottled look. block dyeing is another option or you can use a brush and paint on coats of dyes like red for your flower . i have never had good luck dyeing with wool dauber.

Thanks, Chuck! I'm starting to wonder if my troubles with dye has been the quality of the leather I've been using. So far I haven't wanted to spend the money for Hermann Oak so I've just been using the cheap stuff from Springfield Leather. I want to try out some of the tips from others above and see if I can make it work. 

Good tips about the background. I did feel myself tipping the knife from time to time. Thanks for your input!

[Burkhardt]

I'll probably get hammered for saying this but I mix the dye with veg oil in Tupperware because I hate the little dye bottle messes. You run the chance of over oiling to get darker but I add more dye to oil to darken it. The import leather is trial and error. I have to dye the leather before antiquing where as Herman Oak I don't. Get some of the scrap veg bags from Springfield leather and you will get a good mix of both types of leather. Every bag I've ever gotten has big enough pieces to actually make items out of, wallets, sheathes ect.

[Doc Reaper]

Dip dying makes a good even color. 
using an airbrush (wear a nuisance mask) gives you the ability to do even color or produce a fade from lighter to darker or Vice versa. 
when using a thinner like alcohol and in rare cases oil, do it in very small quantities. Better to ruin an ounce than to waste four ounces

[tsunkasapa]

5 hours ago, Burkhardt said:

I'll probably get hammered for saying this but I mix the dye with veg oil in Tupperware because I hate the little dye bottle messes. You run the chance of over oiling to get darker but I add more dye to oil to darken it. The import leather is trial and error. I have to dye the leather before antiquing where as Herman Oak I don't. Get some of the scrap veg bags from Springfield leather and you will get a good mix of both types of leather. Every bag I've ever gotten has big enough pieces to actually make items out of, wallets, sheathes ect.

Veg oil?

[PAMuzzle]

1 hour ago, tsunkasapa said:

Veg oil?

Olive oil.  I use Extra Virgin Olive Oil according to Chuck Burrows and Will Ghormley and a few others.

ArkieNewbie:

Springfield Leather sells Hermann Oak precuts:

https://www.springfieldleather.com/Hermann-Oak-Grade-1-Pre-Cuts?quantity=1&pre-cut=3

Edited September 28, 2022 by PAMuzzle

[tsunkasapa]

I know some use olive oil, but I would never use any other vegetable oil. It goes rancid and turns to a sticky glue.

[PAMuzzle]

3 minutes ago, tsunkasapa said:

I know some use olive oil, but I would never use any other vegetable oil. It goes rancid and turns to a sticky glue.

Thanks.  I edited my post to remove the vegetable oil.  I forgot about it turning rancid.  I use EVOO when I use oil or Pure Neatsfoot Oil if I want the leather to get darker.

[Burkhardt]

2 hours ago, tsunkasapa said:

Veg oil?

 

1 hour ago, PAMuzzle said:

Olive oil.  I use Extra Virgin Olive Oil according to Chuck Burrows and Will Ghormley and a few others.

ArkieNewbie:

Springfield Leather sells Hermann Oak precuts:

https://www.springfieldleather.com/Hermann-Oak-Grade-1-Pre-Cuts?quantity=1&pre-cut=3

 

1 hour ago, PAMuzzle said:

Thanks.  I edited my post to remove the vegetable oil.  I forgot about it turning rancid.  I use EVOO when I use oil or Pure Neatsfoot Oil if I want the leather to get darker.

And here I thought I was going to hear it for mixing the oil and dye. Veg oil is just as natural  as olive oil and anyone saying it will go bad are basing it on hear-say. I've been using it for years just like people use it on baseball gloves and other leather and it doesn't go rancid. Both Don Gonzales and Denny Lowe said they've heard of saddle makers using veg oil also.

[tsunkasapa]

I am basing it on a lifetime of using on cast iron cookware. If it is not cooked on it WILL go rancid and needs to be scrubbed off and re-seasoned. Vegetable oil is a huge mistake.

[Burkhardt]

2 hours ago, tsunkasapa said:

I am basing it on a lifetime of using on cast iron cookware. If it is not cooked on it WILL go rancid and needs to be scrubbed off and re-seasoned. Vegetable oil is a huge mistake.

Put on a piece of leather and show me stored in normal conditions. I've got stuff 4 years old that looks as good as the day I did it. And to use a comparison with seasoning a frying pan is idiotic.

[Stik]

3 hours ago, Burkhardt said:

Put on a piece of leather and show me stored in normal conditions. I've got stuff 4 years old that looks as good as the day I did it. And to use a comparison with seasoning a frying pan is idiotic.

Name one reputable maker that uses olive oil or veg oil on their goods.
I'll wait.

[Stik]

5 hours ago, Burkhardt said:

Put on a piece of leather and show me stored in normal conditions. I've got stuff 4 years old that looks as good as the day I did it. And to use a comparison with seasoning a frying pan is idiotic.

I don't often see someone so confidently giving bad advice

[Stik]

5 hours ago, Burkhardt said:

Put on a piece of leather and show me stored in normal conditions. I've got stuff 4 years old that looks as good as the day I did it. And to use a comparison with seasoning a frying pan is idiotic.

I don't often see someone so confidently giving bad advice. Olive oil is for salad, not leather. Any professional leatherworker is going to just laugh at you if you tell them you use olive oil instead of something like neatsfoot. It does go rancid. 
I'm not sure if this misinformation is trying to hamstring 'competition' or genuine ignorance. Cut corners all you want, but I wouldn't toot it as advice.

[chuck123wapati]

8 hours ago, tsunkasapa said:

I am basing it on a lifetime of using on cast iron cookware. If it is not cooked on it WILL go rancid and needs to be scrubbed off and re-seasoned. Vegetable oil is a huge mistake.

the inmates where i worked used to use it for lube on the meat slicers and kitchen equipment after about a 3 months it would turn to this rubbery gummy stinky mess, took complete disassembly and soaking in motor pool solvent to loosen it up. It would gum up so tight that it would strip the gears out of the auto slicers.  I"ve seen many thousands of dollars worth of damage to high quality Hobart equipment from using that stuff. My motto is Don't be cheap on something that may be a personal lifelong keepsake.

[tsunkasapa]

1 hour ago, chuck123wapati said:

the inmates where i worked used to use it for lube on the meat slicers and kitchen equipment after about a 3 months it would turn to this rubbery gummy stinky mess, took complete disassembly and soaking in motor pool solvent to loosen it up. It would gum up so tight that it would strip the gears out of the auto slicers.  I"ve seen many thousands of dollars worth of damage to high quality Hobart equipment from using that stuff. My motto is Don't be cheap on something that may be a personal lifelong keepsake.

Using vegetable oil on leather is idiotic!!!