Started A New Gunrig

[skippy]

just started a new buscadero double gunrig and thought id show my work so far ( as im pretty chuffed at how it turned out )

edges could be cleaned up a bit better and ill have to look into buying a stitch marking wheel to make the stitches look tidier.

only problem now is i have to make the left hand holster identical.............

[CitizenKate]

What method are you using to transfer your artwork onto the leather?

Kate

[skippy]

What method are you using to transfer your artwork onto the leather?

Kate

hi kate

nothing special,i use greaseproof paper ( in the uk we also call it tracing paper from when we were at school).

i just dampen the leather then then put the paper ontop and slowly draw over the top with a byro.

its my third attempt at carving,so if there is a better way then im open to suggestions.

what methos do you use?

skippy

[skippy]

then there was 2.

although some slight ...ahem....differences,maybe taking on a double holster rig isnt the best idea for a newbie lol.

[Leatherman42z]

then there was 2.

although some slight ...ahem....differences,maybe taking on a double holster rig isnt the best idea for a newbie lol.

Hey Skippy<

I think you're doing great. I too am a newbie (had 1st lesson last Feb.) and am also doing a double rig, although I've only gotten the one holster almost done and part of the belt. (had to set it for a bit aside to make a purse for a birthday present)

I especially like the pattern; did you make that yourself? or from a pattern book?

[skippy]

Hey Skippy<

I think you're doing great. I too am a newbie (had 1st lesson last Feb.) and am also doing a double rig, although I've only gotten the one holster almost done and part of the belt. (had to set it for a bit aside to make a purse for a birthday present)

I especially like the pattern; did you make that yourself? or from a pattern book?

thanks mate.have you put up some pics of your double rig,i love gunrigs.only proib is i live in england and guns are a big nono.

ive been leather carving now for about 4 weeks.

the pattern is from buscadero belts and holsters.

theres a pic with the belt,ive now finished the backgrounding and now on to the detail ( getting nervous now lol)

[Draxus]

Looks very good. I like the Carving

Edited July 23, 2010 by Draxus

[Ferg]

Constructive criticism has gotten me through a lot of trouble when building commercial cabinets to stamping/working leather.

Uneven transferring of your pattern.

I see wrong size backgrounding tools

Less than great swivel knife use

Uneven stitching holes.

Four weeks into leather working does not make a craftsman that can readily carve and produce a set of holsters for sale.

YOu need instruction. If you do not have someone close to give you instruction grab every book you can find and absorb

them cover to cover.

Everyone had to start somewhere and I doubt if any had salable product after four weeks.

Keep at it, six months down the road you are going to look back and wonder what you were thinking.

Been there, done that, believe me.

ferg

[skippy]

Uneven transferring of your pattern

could you please explain a bit more,this part lost me.

and would you say i needed a bigger background stamp,i only have one ( tandy A104)

[Ferg]

Uneven transferring of your pattern

could you please explain a bit more,this part lost me.

and would you say i needed a bigger background stamp,i only have one ( tandy A104)

I believe you may be trying to transfer your pattern while the leather is either too wet or not cased. Are you casing your leather first?

If you need some instruction on casing there are quite a few discussions for that on this board. Be careful when you trace the pattern. Use a small rounded

stylus and move your hand in easy, even strokes. when you do your cutting with the swivel knife, follow your lines very closely.

Unfortunately, you need more than one background stamp as in, different shapes for instance.

You are allowing your stamp to cross the cut lines into another part of your design. Look at the edges, see where you crossed over. Some places you actually didn't stamp the entire background space.

The pointed backgrounder you have is great for getting the pattern into pointed areas but it does not do a good job in larger spaces. You need a rectangular backgrounder for the larger areas.

Don't "over stamp" your design. I mean you have too many impressions of your mule foot and veiner. Sometimes it looks much better if you don't get too carried away. On the left hand side of your image, you have used a pear shader twice on the pattern that should not be there.

The same info applies to any and all of your stamps. Use some scrap leather to practice a design, just a small area is good. Practice holding the stamps vertically and don't squeeze them so hard that your fingers get stiff. Relax! Use good lighting.

One more thing: Don't force yourself to do major projects until you have more stamping tools and experience. Practice, practice, practice. You never have enough. I am sure many professional leather crafters will tell you they practice before doing a large new project especially when there are new techniques to be used.

There are many folks here to help you with more technical experience than I have, do not hesitate to ask questions.

ferg

Edited July 24, 2010 by 50 years leather

[dirtclod]

Skippy looks to me like your doing a fine job. Is it perfect probley not, but the way i look at things if everthing you made was perfedct their would never be any room for improvement. I bet if a person had somebodys work that are real good at tooling in their hands and wanted to nit pick they could find mistakes. Might not be a lot but their are mistakes. No body is perfect. I know for sure i'm not !! Do i ever make something that gets cut up and hits the trash can you bet i do. But thats part of learning and it doesn't matter if your just starting or have been doing it for years it happens.

You did take on a big project with a double gun rig. But it's your money and your time to do with what you want. All i can say is make what you want no matter what anybody else says. I do agree with what was said about looking at your first work a year or so down the road. You will see improvement. I seen some of the first breast collars i made a few years ago wondered how in the world i ever sold any of them.

When i started doing leather work i was thrown in the deep end of the pool. Never had done any kind of leather work except for a Tandy billfold kit that wasn't finished years before. All i told was don't mark on the leather with a ink pen, this is how to edge, this is a round knife it's sharp and this how to use a strap cutter and i started repairing saddles. Couple of years later i was lucky enough to have a saddle maker take me on and show me the way he built saddles.Sense then i have adapted other ways of doing some things just because they work better for me. And i'm not above borrowing a ideal from somebody else. But i tell who i borrowed from and why.

Edited July 24, 2010 by dirtclod

[Ferg]

Skippy looks to me like your doing a fine job. Is it perfect probley not, but the way i look at things if everthing you made was perfedct their would never be any room for improvement. I bet if a person had somebodys work that are real good at tooling in their hands and wanted to nit pick they could find mistakes. Might not be a lot but their are mistakes. No body is perfect. I know for sure i'm not !! Do i ever make something that gets cut up and hits the trash can you bet i do. But thats part of learning and it doesn't matter if your just starting or have been doing it for years it happens.

You did take on a big project with a double gun rig. But it's your money and your time to do with what you want. All i can say is make what you want no matter what anybody else says. I do agree with what was said about looking at your first work a year or so down the road. You will see improvement. I seen some of the first breast collars i made a few years ago wondered how in the world i ever sold any of them.

When i started doing leather work i was thrown in the deep end of the pool. Never had done any kind of leather work except for a Tandy billfold kit that wasn't finished years before. All i told was don't mark on the leather with a ink pen, this is how to edge, this is a round knife it's sharp and this how to use a strap cutter and i started repairing saddles. Couple of years later i was lucky enough to have a saddle maker take me on and show me the way he built saddles.Sense then i have adapted other ways of doing some things just because they work better for me. And i'm not above borrowing a ideal from somebody else. But i tell who i borrowed from and why.

Please understand, I am not nit-picking. Skippy needs to work on carving, stamping, etc. If everyone told skippy the work was great, what do you think that would accomplish?

I have helped many young and old begin their leather crafting, telling someone they are doing fine when they aren't "Just Don't Get It"

ferg

[dirtclod]

Well the way i read your first post was he might as well hang it up because he had done a terrible job. Maybe i was wrong but that's the way i read it.

If a person wants to start off on bigger project than coasters then that's their business. Their paying for the materials. Making mistakes is part of learning.

A person needs some praise to. And i do get it. If all you ever get is negative feedback you have ruined any confidence they ever had. Back when i was doing carpenter work a guy i worked just about ruined me. It was let me take a look at that before you put it up, or you did that wrong can't you learn anything. I was so beat down by the time i finally quit and went top work for another contractor i had no confidence in my self of being able to do anything. But he brought back by telling me he had hired a carpenter not a laborer. Sure i screwed some things up but he never flew off the handle. In the end i think i turned out to be a pretty good carpenter, made a living at for several years anyway and was never fired.

Edited July 24, 2010 by dirtclod

[Ferg]

Well the way i read your first post was he might as well hang it up because he had done a terrible job. Maybe i was wrong but that's the way i read it.

If a person wants to start off on bigger project than coasters then that's their business. Their paying for the materials. Making mistakes is part of learning.

A person needs some praise to. And i do get it. If all you ever get is negative feedback you have ruined any confidence they ever had. Back when i was doing carpenter work a guy i worked just about ruined me. It was let me take a look at that before you put it up, or you did that wrong can't you learn anything. I was so beat down by the time i finally quit and went top work for another contractor i had no confidence in my self of being able to do anything. But he brought back by telling me he had hired a carpenter not a laborer. Sure i screwed some things up but he never flew off the handle. In the end i think i turned out to be a pretty good carpenter, made a living at for several years anyway and was never fired.

Don't get your shackles up. LOL

Read my posting again. Constructive criticism!

I told him to keep trying, I guess you didn't read that part.

I can relate to your "carpentering". I was a building contractor for 50 years. My teaching made a lot of carpenters and builders into fine men without slobbers.

ferg

[Sam Colt]

Hey Skippy,

If you're using tracing paper, why can't you just make 2 copies of your pattern and use 1 as a left and 1 as a right just by flipping it over?

I haven't done a double rig myself yet cuz I'm more into the historical correctness of things. Carrying that much iron around your belly gets

heavy very quickly.

As far as people critiquing your work, you are your own worst critic, but from my own experience, I believe I've learned more in my life

from those who drove me hard because they saw potential and I still carry a wealth of knowledge from those old hard asses.

You'll learn !!!!