DG Leather Report post Posted December 27, 2009 I kow what backgrounders are and bevelers...what is a matting tool? is this the checkered beveler? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Storm Report post Posted December 27, 2009 (edited) I kow what backgrounders are and bevelers...what is a matting tool? is this the checkered beveler? Hey Bro, After you have beveled a cut you will notice that the leather rises up and away from the cut you just beveled. By using a smooth or lightly checked matting tool you are flattening out that one sided valley; helping to increase the feeling of depth and making the carving look like it is laying flush to the leather. Gives it that stand alone feel. For figure carving Tandy once had the F995 and F996. These are both smooth matting tools and very helpful with figure carving. They have been dicontinued by Tandy...once again their reasoning fails me, but the still have a checkered patterned one, the F901. You can still find F995s out there but I have also created one for a large nail prior to getting the real deal. Some have even purchased the F901 and carefully ground the face down to achieve a tool similar to the larger F996. Considering that the F901 is on sale right now at $3.33 it is worth trying to smooth it out. Hope you found this helpful. Storm Edited December 27, 2009 by Storm Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DG Leather Report post Posted December 27, 2009 Thank you very much. I just was not sure if I was on track and i think i will do some research to find some of the discontinued ones you state. maybe on ebay? I have not really used the site before but I keep seeing it suggested here so i will try it...ebay should do an advertisement and pay this site becausde of the amount of times its been mentioned..... Storm thank you....this site rules....but only because of its members...all of you! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ClayB Report post Posted December 27, 2009 The way I learned it, checkered matters are generally used in sky areas and smooth matters are used on the areas where a figure has ground for background. As Storm said, the matting tools are used to "matt" down the area around a figure to get it to stand out more from the background. If you read through some of Stohlman's figure carving books, I think that the figure bevelers kind of replaced some of the smooth matting tools. By tilting the tool back on it's heel, it doesn't leave tool marks and you can smooth the leather out away from a figure. Another way to make a smooth matting tool would be to use a pear shader and file the face down a little making it flatter. You'd probably also want to grind the end down flat so it would set down into a beveled line. That's kind of how Bob Beards figure matters are shaped and they really work well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TwinOaks Report post Posted December 28, 2009 I picked up a 3/16ths SS bolt from Lowe's, then ground and sanded the head of it, and finished it with a good polishing on white rouge. The result is a 5/8ths diameter mirror polished matting tool. When I decided I wanted one with a flat face, I did it again and made one side flat. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hidepounder Report post Posted December 28, 2009 (edited) I picked up a 3/16ths SS bolt from Lowe's, then ground and sanded the head of it, and finished it with a good polishing on white rouge. The result is a 5/8ths diameter mirror polished matting tool. When I decided I wanted one with a flat face, I did it again and made one side flat. Good idea Mike! Edited December 28, 2009 by hidepounder Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DG Leather Report post Posted December 28, 2009 So generally do you bevel then matt it? or just matt it? I got a crap load of stamping tools....bevelers and so on...I do not know which is which with the bevelers I think i got 4 seperate smooth ones...one a use for bevelling, then a couple other odd shapes i use for tough spots...then i got a couple weirdo shaped bevelers...would those be matt-ers? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ClayB Report post Posted December 28, 2009 (edited) I do bevel first then matt. Here's a link to an article on Bob Beard's website about bevelers, matters and backgrounders that might help you out. He show's pictures of the different tools and explains some of the uses of each. There's another one that explains the differences between a lot of different bevelers. You can see it here.Hopefully that will answer a lot of your questions. Edited December 28, 2009 by ClayB Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Storm Report post Posted December 29, 2009 If you want to buy a finished one F995 smooth matting tool you can got to the following site. http://www.beckleather.com They are quick and the service is good. You might want to get a Tandy catalog and check out their tools. It is a good quick referanxe source. Storm Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SOSHorses Report post Posted December 30, 2009 I picked up a 3/16ths SS bolt from Lowe's, then ground and sanded the head of it, and finished it with a good polishing on white rouge. The result is a 5/8ths diameter mirror polished matting tool. When I decided I wanted one with a flat face, I did it again and made one side flat. Would you mind posting photos? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TwinOaks Report post Posted December 31, 2009 Sure, I'll post a pic of it tomorrow, when I get back home. A slight edit....it was a 3/8ths bolt, not a 3/16ths. oops. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SOSHorses Report post Posted December 31, 2009 Great Thanks!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
