Stirrup Fender

[rustyriggin]

I thought I'd try my hand at a Don Butler design, so here it is! I know I need lots of work, and would really appreciate any pointers y'all can give me, Thanks, Rus

Again, sorry for the picture quality.

[rustyriggin]

Sooooo??? Is it good or bad to not get feedback on a post?? I know someone has to have some input on this tooling. I did this one about 6 months ago. I either need an ego boost or a realty check.

[coldmaker0]

rusty, looks good to me, someday i will try tooling something and hope to do as well. what little tooling i do is a basketweave on a holster.

[rustyriggin]

coldmaker0, thats pretty much what I started doing 3 yrs ago, the first stamps i got was Tandy's barb wire set, and a basketweave. Also thanks for the input!!

[Tkleather1]

Now I am no expert by any means but it looks too me like you need to work on your thumbprint. Your flowers look a little flat to me, and some of your vine work needs to be cleaned up a little the swivel knife cuts is what I mean here, its just a practice thing you know. I dont mean for any of this to sound like I am an expert at all because I am no where near that.

[jana]

Here are a few things to consider:

1) Are you beveling as deep as you a cutting? Are you cutting at least 1/3 of the thickness of the leather deep?

2) The pearshading should flair. You want to imitate the curvature of a true petal

3) When using a mulesfoot, don't use the same amount of force when when making the impression, start with a medium hit and go

lighter from there, Stay with an odd amount, 3 to 5, of hits. You are looking for a wedged shaped design, heaviest at the top and

lightest at the bottom.

This is a good piece, keep going... You know that old saying. How do you get to Carnagie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.

Jana

[rustyriggin]

Thanks everyone for your input, I will try the sugestions for sure, if it wasn't for leatherworker, I would be TOTALY on my own for learning this stuff.