Tooling letters?

[paintpony7417]

Hello!

 

I'm into making tack for my horse and I've been seeing a lot of really pretty bronc nosebands with names in fancy fonts that look to be in perfect uniform. How are people able to carve such nice fonts? is it just done with a swivel knife and pattern piece? This is probably a dumb. question but I'm still learning when it comes to tooling leather.

[Hags]

benlilly1 uses stamp letters from Turner laser works for her dog collars. They look great and I don't remember them being terribly expensive.

Check it out.

[paintpony7417]

Thanks. I have a set of stamps but I’m more interested in how the larger names are written with different types of fonts and styles if that makes sense? I don’t want to post a picture as it would be one off google and not my own work.

[Gezzer]

While I don't claim to be very good at letters here is what I do.

Choose the font  and size you want

Print what you want out ( resize if you need to )

Once I have it like I want I cover both front and back with packing tape

Transfer to cased leather with ball end stylist , cut with swivel knife , bevel and do any other tooling you want

The fancier the font the more difficult it is for me !!!!!!

 

[Fraulein]

I do pretty much the same thing. This was made with fonts I printed off, taped, traced, carved with the swivel, and beveled. Just like Gezzer said

(Blue spot there to cover up last name, per customers request for privacy)

Edited August 3, 2023 by Fraulein

[paintpony7417]

Gezzer and Fraulein thank you so much! That was exactly what I was wondering. I sure it's a lot harder than it looks getting letters to look. For beveling is it ook to just stick to the basic beginners kit tools? I'm just getting into tooling a bit and just have the basic checkered bevel.

[Fraulein]

10 minutes ago, paintpony7417 said:

Gezzer and Fraulein thank you so much! That was exactly what I was wondering. I sure it's a lot harder than it looks getting letters to look. For beveling is it ook to just stick to the basic beginners kit tools? I'm just getting into tooling a bit and just have the basic checkered bevel.

It's a little tricky to get the hang of it, but you can definitely do it! Just make sure and do some practice pieces. I've used the basic beginner bevelers and it's turned out great. If you use a checkered beveler the antique paste will stick in a little more around the letters. The pic above was done with a smooth beveler. Either is fine and I use both, just depends on the effect I'm going for.

[Gezzer]

57 minutes ago, paintpony7417 said:

Gezzer and Fraulein thank you so much! That was exactly what I was wondering. I sure it's a lot harder than it looks getting letters to look. For beveling is it ook to just stick to the basic beginners kit tools? I'm just getting into tooling a bit and just have the basic checkered bevel.

The only bevels I have are from starter tool kits , like most tools they will work just fine . The more you use them the more things  you will find you can do with them .  Some times you will have to tip a bevel and just use a small portion in tight places .   The pic I posted was done with a Z-B 701 .........  came with a cheap starter kit .

 

Like Fraulein said      PRACTICE  is all it takes .

[TomE]

On 8/2/2023 at 7:24 PM, paintpony7417 said:

Thanks. I have a set of stamps but I’m more interested in how the larger names are written with different types of fonts and styles if that makes sense? I don’t want to post a picture as it would be one off google and not my own work.

So Tandy makes alphabet Craftaids, which are plastic templates to transfer a design to cased leather.  I used them as a kid (before desktop computers).  Now I just create the design in illustrator, print it out, and transfer to leather by tracing the design.

[stelmackr]

Greetings,

Here is what I use to emboss words, letters into Veg Tanned leather.  I use this method because a LOT of my work involves letters:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GLfvsGGEUyjaOgc1dJr75GgUTDiegBah/view

...and an older version

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qgV6aH_FkHa5lBX_kNceroW2elQju_XW/view?usp=sharing

Hope this helps

Edited August 6, 2023 by stelmackr

[Norton Custom Leather]

your question is, How are people able to carve nice fonts........ only one answer..... Practice, Practice, Practice is the only answer

[chuck123wapati]

tooling letters is hard for one reason, everyone knows what a letter is supposed to look like so every little mistake is compounded by the human eyes and minds ability to understand the shape it is imagined to be. Practice is key to eliminating those little mistakes.