Birthday gift = WIP

[DieselTech]

Guys & gals it has been a while since I have posted anything. Been like a year since I have had a swivel knife in my hand. 

Boy I'm Rusty! Lmao like I was any good before. 

This is my very 1st figured carved fish. It's supposed to be a large mouth bass. 

I am pretty Dang proud of this! I know my friend will like it too!

Well how bad is it? I am a long way from being done. 

Edited September 25 by DieselTech

[AlZilla]

I don't know, looks like a seasoned pro to me.  Clean, precise, tight. It's going to be great.

[DieselTech]

2 minutes ago, AlZilla said:

I don't know, looks like a seasoned pro to me.  Clean, precise, tight. It's going to be great.

Thanks. It is much appreciated. Lol I am really surprised it turned out this good. I improvised on a couple tools I did not have, but close to what it called for. 

[DieselTech]

Only thing I am not happy about is my fish was not centered in it's window. Again my fault, cause I tooled the fish, then decided to add a southwest style border to it. 

Time I background it, it might all blend/flow better together. 

[AlZilla]

Put something in the bottom left corner to balance the panel out. A ripple of the water out of which he's leaping, maybe.

[DieselTech]

46 minutes ago, AlZilla said:

Put something in the bottom left corner to balance the panel out. A ripple of the water out of which he's leaping, maybe.

I'm not sure I can draw that. The bass pattern is a tandy special, lol I can't draw. 

I am thinking about using a pebble back grounder around the bass & initials. 

Do you think I should put something in the center panel of the wallet? Or just leave it blank?

Thanks. 

Edited September 25 by DieselTech

[AlZilla]

1 hour ago, DieselTech said:

think I should put something in the center panel of the wallet? Or just leave it blank?

Tough call at this point. I think I'd sooner leave it blank, if it doesn't somehow tie into the other 2. Mirrored bass left and right with the initials in the center would have been interesting.

Some kind of 2 or 3 part diptych, rather than 3 unrelated panels.

I'll be interested to see where you land with it 

 

[Gezzer]

That's it , I am laying my knife down for at least a year !!!!!

Very NICE !!!!! 

If it were mine I'd leave the center blank assuming it's a bi-fold .

[DieselTech]

Ok guys. It got the the best of me! Maybe I got carried away. 

I pebble back grounded around the bass & initials. I then decided to use a tufted diamond in the center. 

I think it still looks OK. I am happy. 

[AlZilla]

Yeah, that looks good. Don Gonzales has a video where he demonstrates a quilted technique. He laid the diamond pattern out, swivel knifed it, beveled with a shader and used ... I think it's called a Beader ... in the center of each tuft. It looks similar to what you have.

Nice work.

[DieselTech]

4 hours ago, AlZilla said:

Yeah, that looks good. Don Gonzales has a video where he demonstrates a quilted technique. He laid the diamond pattern out, swivel knifed it, beveled with a shader and used ... I think it's called a Beader ... in the center of each tuft. It looks similar to what you have.

Nice work.

Thanks. Yeah I have been meaning to use Don's quilted technique on a project. 

 

[TomE]

Looks like a winner and thanks for personalizing it for me.  Last time I tooled leather was in the 1970s. I sold small items, mostly Tandy kits, in the general store at a resort where we spent our vacations.  Still have my little collection of stamping tools and I use one of them - a large pear shader for molding leather straps in a rounding block.

[kgg]

14 hours ago, DieselTech said:

I am pretty Dang proud of this! I know my friend will like it too!

Nicely done. Your friend should really like it.

kgg

[DieselTech]

5 hours ago, TomE said:

Looks like a winner and thanks for personalizing it for me.  Last time I tooled leather was in the 1970s. I sold small items, mostly Tandy kits, in the general store at a resort where we spent our vacations.  Still have my little collection of stamping tools and I use one of them - a large pear shader for molding leather straps in a rounding block.

Thanks TomE. Yeah I have kinda been slacking here lately. I am hoping at some point I can make some horse tack as nice as the stuff you make TomE. 

[DieselTech]

4 hours ago, kgg said:

Nicely done. Your friend should really like it.

kgg

Thanks. I thought earlier I had ruined all my nice work. I tried a new Fiebings Saddle tan dye & my leather turned black & kinda splotchy. 

I was freaking out at 1st, but it is going to be a beautiful color once dry. So far it is lightening up & the splotches are slowly disappearing. 

 

[Cattleman]

That looks awesome to me... The fish being up a little high just gives the impression that its really jumping, I like it.

[DieselTech]

1 hour ago, Cattleman said:

That looks awesome to me... The fish being up a little high just gives the impression that its really jumping, I like it.

Thanks Cattleman's! I appreciate it. We will see what you think of it after a bit. 

I had a wonky piece of leather I believe & there was a few spots that would not take dye very good. 

But after dying & antiquing it, I like the effect or results of it. 

Lmao I will just tell my friend that his wallet is wonky like him. 

Edited September 26 by DieselTech

[DieselTech]

Well other than the drunk driver behind the sewing machine. It turned out Ok. 

1st thing I have sewn with the Cobra class 26, boy do I need a lot more practice. 

[JDFred]

Turned out really nice.  The diamonds in the middle panel really tied the other two together well.  Your letters turned out awesome as did the bass. The splotches in the dye look good, they make it look like shadows on a lake close to the bank.  Good work.

[DieselTech]

38 minutes ago, JDFred said:

Turned out really nice.  The diamonds in the middle panel really tied the other two together well.  Your letters turned out awesome as did the bass. The splotches in the dye look good, they make it look like shadows on a lake close to the bank.  Good work.

Thanks. I appreciate the positive feedback. For not handling my leather tools for over a year, the wallet turned out pretty nice. 

[AlZilla]

The so-called splotchiness actually looks purposeful. Inside the panel, outside the carving itself. I wonder if you had some contaminant on your hand while you were carving.

I'm not a fan of perfect anyway. Vinyl is perfect. Leather lived a life and working hands don't replicate the exact same motion meticulously, exactly the same, every time for 10,000 times.

[Cattleman]

That turned out very nice. As others have said, the splotchiness really looks good... Gives it a unique character.

[Cattleman]

What I'm curious about is what caused that funny egg shaped discoloration on your tooling rock? Is it just a reflection from the lighting???

[DieselTech]

4 minutes ago, Cattleman said:

What I'm curious about is what caused that funny egg shaped discoloration on your tooling rock? Is it just a reflection from the lighting???

That is from my drafting lights I got on my work bench. I got LED light bulbs in them. 

They are the drafting lights you can adjust to about any configuration you like. 

[DieselTech]

3 hours ago, AlZilla said:

The so-called splotchiness actually looks purposeful. Inside the panel, outside the carving itself. I wonder if you had some contaminant on your hand while you were carving.

I'm not a fan of perfect anyway. Vinyl is perfect. Leather lived a life and working hands don't replicate the exact same motion meticulously, exactly the same, every time for 10,000 times.

 

17 minutes ago, Cattleman said:

That turned out very nice. As others have said, the splotchiness really looks good... Gives it a unique character.

Thanks. Much Appreciated. Yeah the splotchiness is growing on me. I am wondering if my leather had some glaze spots. I have heard of leather getting glazed & needed de-glazed before dying. 

Lol I'm not sure what to look for or how it happens.