New To Carving

[fletch]

Hello all,

I am relatively new to posting my work since I just started a week ago.

The first carving attempt is the Celtic cross. The second is the Sergeant Chevron.

Comments, improvements that you can see from my marks?

Thank you all for this great forum.

[fletch]

59 views and no input? Looks like I am going back to lurking

[Daniel Tyack]

Fletch, I'm pretty new to carving myself but since apparently none of the pros saw this post I'll give it a shot First off that is some bitchin work for only being at this for a week! Bravo!!! You seem to be off to a fine start so just keep at it. Your beveling looks great for a noob and much of your stamping has nice depth to it. You also seem to be able to keep your geometric stamping relatively strait so you must have some natural talent!

You seem to have picked two projects that had a decent bit of detail and it looks like you weren't capable of attaining the fine detail you probably wanted. I'm also quite certain that the circles and large arcs are probably driving you crazy since all the geometric stuff and strait lines and near perfectly executed. I don't have any great advise for those long arcs except to practice long arcs with courage. What I mean by that is don't cut a bit and check, just cut the whole thing in a continual motion.

Here's what I would recommend.

• Above all else, plan your project to have detail you can attain. Some designs may look great blown up but if you are trying to cut it into a key fob, you are screwed.
• Make sure you case your leather properly, it looks like it was a little dry when you were stamping the geometric stuff on the celtic cross background. (Just search LW.net for a good tute)
• Make good deep cuts. It looks like they were a little shallow on the Chevron design.
• Secure your leather to something solid so it doesn't stretch out. You can put blue painters tape on the back of the leather then glue that to a piece of a thick file folder. This will keep the work from stretching out when you stamp it.
• Try to be more consistant in your backgrounding

There are a zillion things we could go over but that should get you a good start.

I'm attaching a Celtic knot design I like for you to mess with. It's detailed enough so you won't get bored but it's still attainable. The entire .jpg is 8.5x11, I made it so if you just hit print it should come out a good size to practice on.

Keep up the good work!

Edited August 18, 2010 by Daniel Tyack

[Daniel Tyack]

187 Views and only one reply from someone who has minimal experience... This post must be cursed!

[fletch]

Heh, maybe.

I cut the Chevron out and stained and tan-kote'd it. Waiting for my camera batteries to charge so I can post it up.

Started another carving of my car :D This will be difficult.

Have another smaller piece of leather that I have planned to do more Celtic carving later.

[terrahyd]

hi Fletch;;

nice work;; bet the sergeant 's patch was a learning thing ???

well done, thanks for sharing them with us .....Doc...

[fletch]

Dyed Chevron with Colt D.A. 38 that will either be sold to my buddy or will have a holster made for it next month :D

[Miett]

I'm a total noob myself (about a week as well) , but it looks like you're off to a good start!

Daniel, you gave great advice. I snagged the patten you posted, if that's okay. Thanks!

[Duke]

question..... did you case your leather? not to point out your faults, but it looks like mine did the first time I tooled. meaning dry leather.I was fotunate enough to have a good teacher, and they taught me to wet my leather thoroughly, and wait for the top grain to return back to the original color, and then to feel the leather with the back of my hand. if it felt cool to the touch, it was ready.when I use my swivel knife, I cut 2/3 of the way though my leather, and swivel the whole pattern at 1 time.when you go back through and start beveling, bevel as deep as your cut.dont rush this job, take your time and learn to walk the beveler.if you are doing it right, you wont see any choppiness in your beveling.If you do, go back over it to remove it.

happy tooling!

[MBOGO]

For first attempts, you look to be on track. I have found that practicing using your cutting knife will pay dividends. Just as practicing drawing circle freehand with a pencil or pen will, when leather tools arn't handy. All that can really be said is practice, practice, practice.

[Thumper]

while some others have replied....I'm so new that I squeak.

At least you have tools and leather to work with. My daughter has already tooled up all the leather projects we bought and now I'm out of money and leather. The price we pay to be a dad.

I think you stuff looks good, but just that your stamping needs to be a bit deeper to make that images more clear....I guess that's what I'm saying.

[Spider]

Pretty good for being new to carving. Keep it up.

[fletch]

Thank you all. Have been a bit busy with family and home.

I will be tooling pretty soon.

Thank you for the suggestions, seems that I will just pick more and more up as I go.

I need to work on the casing of my leather. I am right now only using water and a moist sponge while I am tooling.

I think I have finally sharpened my swivel enough to cut crisp lines, well the angles are almost mirror polished, proud of that :D

Thank you all again. See you soon

[joquarter]

I already learned that the leather must be wet enough and to keep patience to wait that the top grain is dry enough,

before start to cut.

What kind of blade you all use in your swiffel knife?

Had the same problem at my first piece of carving.

Still damping with a sponge , but if the leather get's to dry , damping it again.

[Ferg]

I already learned that the leather must be wet enough and to keep patience to wait that the top grain is dry enough,

before start to cut.

What kind of blade you all use in your swiffel knife?

Had the same problem at my first piece of carving.

Still damping with a sponge , but if the leather get's to dry , damping it again.

I have always cased my leather before doing anything else. I wet it thoroughly both sides, most of the time I simply place it in a pan of warm water until the bubbles stop.

I then role it loosely with an old T shirt on both sides and leave over night. When I am ready to cut with the swivel knife I uncover it, flatten it out, let it dry until it is just about it's original color.

If you can allow the leather to dry in an air conditioned area I think it is best. Your swivel knife should "glide" through the leather with little effort making the cuts look really smooth.

If the knife drags or feels choppy to you, your knife is dull or not polished enough on the strop, or your leather was not properly conditioned.

A NOTE: Some folks never case their leather if they are just carving and stamping. If this is you, try my way just once and see how you like it

ferg

[Duke]

I use an 1/4 inch ceramic filigree blade as that is what I am most comfortable with. the thing with the ceramics is you have to be super careful with them, not to drop them or tap them on anything hard as they will chip. if they chip, theyre done. kiss that 30.00 bucks goodbye.play with a few different blades, and find what you like the most, and what works well with your style.and remember to cut 2/3rds of the way and then bevel as deep as you cut. you will be happy with the results. oh yea, an you can never have too many strops.I use a few different kinds. one is just a leather strap that has been rubbed vigorously with a stick of jewelers rouge. the other is a business card with rouge rubbed onto the back of it.this method helps keep the bevel on your blade at the optimum(sp) angle. when you use just a leather strapwith rouge, you can over time concave your blade. I also strop my blade just about every 12-15 strokes.overkill? maybe.

[biker55]

just saw this. looks good to me, but unfortunately I can't really critique your work since I'm new to carving. meaning I just got my swivel knife yesterday! trying to gleam some info while trying to get a feel for the instrument. hope my attempts look halfway as good as your's.

[OdinUK]

Just seen this post. The width of the the circles on the 2nd design may be a little ambitious for your first projects. Id try to make circles slightly wider if possible so that errors in transfering the outlines and cutting are less obvious. The same applies to cutting them with the swivel knife.

I would use something round to trace around or use a compass to scribe the circles. As has been already mentioned, try to make few, long sweeping cuts with constant pressure to achieve more uniform depth as you go around. A well stropped knife is essential on properly cased leather.

Keep practicing and feel free to message me if you would like me to clarify anything. Good luck.

[camano ridge]

Good chance the op has improved since this was posted in 2010

[Jimbob]

Ur cuts are not deep enough, when you start beveling you are all over the place...u need to walk/slide your tool alongside the cut and dont let it jump up when u hit it....do you use a solid platform like granite slap or such....also your designs are too detailed for now trying to learn....the leather seems like it was not wet enough and not ceased right...wet it, wait, wait some more and then let it get back to original color....test tool....if you get a burnished looking tool mark you almost ready to start....start by practicing swifel knife cuts....rounds, straights and such.....controling the swivel knife is 60% tooling !!!

Ohh and you did well as a beginner....just need much more practice....guess how I know that....hahahaha....

keep it up and post some more

Jimboob