Family Crest Stamping / Tooling

[xlr8tn]

Hey all.

I would like to make a sheath for my head knife that has my family crest on it but I am not sure the steps I need to get this done correctly. I know practice makes perfect. Take a look at the pic ... should I carve the fleur-de-lis images or should I find a stamp to do that? I would like them to be raised. What do I used to trace the pattern onto the leather? I was thinking about starting out with the armour section and maybe add foilage last. Am I supposed to cut all of the lines with my swivel knife? I wish there was a class I could take around here.

-Brent

[tashabear]

Hey all.

I would like to make a sheath for my head knife that has my family crest on it but I am not sure the steps I need to get this done correctly. I know practice makes perfect. Take a look at the pic ... should I carve the fleur-de-lis images or should I find a stamp to do that? I would like them to be raised. What do I used to trace the pattern onto the leather? I was thinking about starting out with the armour section and maybe add foilage last. Am I supposed to cut all of the lines with my swivel knife? I wish there was a class I could take around here.

-Brent

Working on something that complex at a size that small will drive you insane. You can always toss the helmet and mantling (the floofy stuff around the shield) and just do the shield. That's the important part, anyway. Tandy sells a fleur de lis stamp, but obviously that won't make them raised.

When I carve heraldry, I print out the design, cover both sides with packing tape, and then put it on the cased leather and trace it with a stylus. I cut most of the lines, except for ones I want to contour instead of tool.

Where are you? I don't see it in your info under your name.

[xlr8tn]

Thank you very much for the advice. I'm out in Northern Virginia and the nearest Tandy store is in Richmond...some 2.5 hours away. I just finished up a practice run on exactly what you mentioned...I just did the shield and attempted the fleur-de-lis...but it is very intricate. Can you recommend any tools that I might want to get? What would you use to flatten the background?

Thanks again,

Brent

[tashabear]

Thank you very much for the advice. I'm out in Northern Virginia and the nearest Tandy store is in Richmond...some 2.5 hours away. I just finished up a practice run on exactly what you mentioned...I just did the shield and attempted the fleur-de-lis...but it is very intricate. Can you recommend any tools that I might want to get? What would you use to flatten the background?

Thanks again,

Brent

My very first carving project involved fleurs that were less than 1/4" long... 24 of them. (The thingy in my avatar is an escarbuncle. The ends of the arms are tipped in fleurs, and I carved three of them. They're approximately 1.75 - 2" in diameter.) I'm surprised I ever wanted to carve again. Next time I do that design, though, I won't use a beveler to push down the cut edges, I'll use a modeling tool.

You can use matting tools to press down the background, or you can use backgrounders, if you want a texture to give it a bit of dimension. I like the E294 series matting tools that Tandy sells, though I want to get a pebbler at some point, too.

[xlr8tn]

But here is where I ended...

I decided to just do the shield and put a letter on the opposite side to represent the initial of my last name.

Thanks for your help,

Brent

Edited January 18, 2009 by xlr8tn

[HARVEY]

Working on something that complex at a size that small will drive you insane. You can always toss the helmet and mantling (the floofy stuff around the shield) and just do the shield. That's the important part, anyway. Tandy sells a fleur de lis stamp, but obviously that won't make them raised.

When I carve heraldry, I print out the design, cover both sides with packing tape, and then put it on the cased leather and trace it with a stylus. I cut most of the lines, except for ones I want to contour instead of tool.

Where are you? I don't see it in your info under your name.

"Floofy" stuff? I like that!

Harvey

[dbarleather]

Brent,

That is a nice looking case. Clean and crisp! I really like it.

Daryl

[Ian]

very sharp - what kind of background tool is that?

[tashabear]

Nice job!

[xlr8tn]

very sharp - what kind of background tool is that?

Craftool Backgrounder #E294

[MADMAX22]

LOL and you were having problems, man that is very nice, you did a great job. Nice work with the backgrounder as well.

When I first started I kept trying to do celtic designs on projects that were way to small and kept getting frustrated and throwing stuff away. I had to go bigger at first and started working my way down in size. Getting better but I also know my limits now so I can slowly push them instead of trying to stampede thru lol.