Deluxe Leathercraft Kit Delivered Today Need Help!

[LilRay]

Hey Folks , Got my kit in the mail today, and I've spent about about an hour practicing on some scrap I got from a leatherworking friend.

First question I've got is how do I hold the tools level? I have Cerebral Palsy and this is proving somewhat a challenge. I used a veiner for instance and my impressions weren't even. Heavy on the left or right side.

I tried a seeder and between mallet strikes I moved the tool and got two seeds slightly off.

I need practice tips. Where are some good tips to try and start from 0?

HELP!

God Bless, Ray

[Luke Hatley]

GREAT THAT YOU GOT THR TOOL SET. Something that will help you is the book

"Craftool Tech Tips". Tandy has it........

[bkingery]

Hey Folks , Got my kit in the mail today, and I've spent about about an hour practicing on some scrap I got from a leatherworking friend.

First question I've got is how do I hold the tools level? I have Cerebral Palsy and this is proving somewhat a challenge. I used a veiner for instance and my impressions weren't even. Heavy on the left or right side.

I tried a seeder and between mallet strikes I moved the tool and got two seeds slightly off.

I need practice tips. Where are some good tips to try and start from 0?

HELP!

God Bless, Ray

Howdy LilRay,

Glad you got the kit, don't give up this stuff is hard for most of us without any disabilities. A couple of questions, are you having a hard time with holding the tools because they are too small or could it be because of weakness in your fingers because of the palsey. You might just have to learn to hold the tools a differant way than with your fingertips. I've been working on some ergonomic handles with my physical therapist brother and the sculpy I told you about earlier might be the way to go, you could maybe "build" in the angle that you need. When I can find my camera I'll take some pictures to show you what I mean. Keep on truckin and you'll get the hang of it.

Peace

Bryan

[pete]

Hi and welcome!!!! Great people here and a lifetime of learning and advice!

Check out a number of books- hang out at a Tandy book section!

You will find to your delight that a number of tools are SUPPOSED to be held at an angle whereby you only use the corner of the tool!!!! YIPPEEE!!!!

Stay with it and stay in touch- there are no stupid questions... (left....I've asked them all!)

pete

[LilRay]

Thanks guys!

Bryan, I'm having a time trying to "keep" a tool in the same spot between mallet strikes, or keeping it straight.

But as I read, Apparently my leather wasn't wet enough. I barely wet the tooling side, and didn't wet the underside at all. And the scraps I was given to practice on are THICK! I'm guessing 1/4in. I whopped the snot outta this stuff and barely made impressions with everything but the seeder.

I'm up for round 2 manana, after some more reading here.

Thanks again all!

God Bless, Ray

[radar67]

What surface are you working on? You need a solid surface with no bounce to get a good strike. Hold a little pressure down on your seeders to help keep them from bouncing. On the smaller stamps a single good hard hit is best. On the veiners, hold pressure to one side for the first strike, then rock the tool to the other side for the second strike.

My first attempts were on a TV tray and that was a fail. A rubber hammer is a fail as well. A good poly or leather mallet is best.

[LilRay]

What surface are you working on? You need a solid surface with no bounce to get a good strike. Hold a little pressure down on your seeders to help keep them from bouncing. On the smaller stamps a single good hard hit is best. On the veiners, hold pressure to one side for the first strike, then rock the tool to the other side for the second strike.

My first attempts were on a TV tray and that was a fail. A rubber hammer is a fail as well. A good poly or leather mallet is best.

I've got a Pressure Treated 2X12 until I can get to a local granite supply for a cheap slab. Kit came with Poly Mallet. I think I just need lots of practice and detailed education on the basics.

I'm reading as much as I can, and I'll give another go on some more scrap tommorrow.

God Bless, Ray

[radar67]

What type of scraps are you using? My first scrap were farm remnants. They worked somewhat, but was hard to get a good lasting impression. When I got my first real piece of vegi tanned leather, the difference in tooling was night and day.

[HellfireJack]

Don't worry Ray, it's normal. It's probably not the CP that's the problem as I did the same things when I started out. Who knew beating crap with a mallet could be so difficult?

It's all practice practice practice. Don't worry if your tooling sucks. So does mine. I tend to shy away from pictorial work as those skills along with my knife work aren't up to par yet and I lean towards basketweaves and geometric patterns and I continue doing practice carvings to get close to decent with it.

But even then there are other ways to decorate leather without carvings into it. You can use spots, spikes, conchos, dyes and stains and sewing and never once pound a tool into the stuff and still make a beautiful item.

[Chief31794]

Ray,

One tip that might help, the stamping tools have to be held firm, I suffer from some Arthritis and one thing I do to give me a little better grip is I wrap the handles of the stamps with duck tape. It gives a cushion and a little more diameter that makes it easier to hold on to.

Keep at it, takes practice, practice and then some more practice.

You should also read the articles under "How do I do that" on casing leather, properly cased leather will accept the impressions much better and result in cleaner impressions as well.

Good Luck,

Ken

Edited February 25, 2011 by Chief31794

[LilRay]

What type of scraps are you using? My first scrap were farm remnants. They worked somewhat, but was hard to get a good lasting impression. When I got my first real piece of vegi tanned leather, the difference in tooling was night and day.

The scraps I have are super thick, from someone who primarily stamps belts. I tried carving the "checkbook" pattern into a piece and boy does it look terrible. I'm not tracing with the stylus very well yet either. I'm keeping on truckin' though.

Don't worry Ray, it's normal. It's probably not the CP that's the problem as I did the same things when I started out. Who knew beating crap with a mallet could be so difficult?

It's all practice practice practice. Don't worry if your tooling sucks. So does mine. I tend to shy away from pictorial work as those skills along with my knife work aren't up to par yet and I lean towards basketweaves and geometric patterns and I continue doing practice carvings to get close to decent with it.

But even then there are other ways to decorate leather without carvings into it. You can use spots, spikes, conchos, dyes and stains and sewing and never once pound a tool into the stuff and still make a beautiful item.

I tried making a border with the veiner, and nothing is straight.. One side higher than the other, The whole tool higher or lower than the others. Not to mention half the impression deeper than the other. :-)

Ray,

One tip that might help, the stamping tools have to be held firm, I suffer from some Arthritis and one thing I do to give me a little better grip is I wrap the handles of the stamps with duck tape. It gives a cushion and a little more diameter that makes it easier to hold on to.

Keep at it, takes practice, practice and then some more practice.

You should also read the articles under "How do I do that" on casing leather, properly cased leather will accept the impressions much better and result in cleaner impressions as well.

Good Luck,

Ken

I wonder if some sort of clamp from Home Depot might hold a tool better than I can?

I downloaded Bob's tips on casing leather, but it may as well be in Chinese. I still dont understand "just right" as of yet. I'm sure I'm over wetting the leather and I'm probably not letting it dry enough before tooling. I haven't a clue, but I'm swinging at the ball.

Thanks all!

God Bless, Ray

[Billy P]

Hey Ray, on a lot of my small quick stuff I quick case the leather with a sponge. What I do is wet it pretty good with the sponge and then let it dry some, until it almost comes back to it's natural color, then I put it up to my cheek and it will feel a little damp and cool, but not wet. This works for me when I am in a hurry. When I'm not I wet the leather pretty good all the way through, and put in a plastic bag in the fridge. Make sure not to put anything on the bag, as it might leave an unwanted mark on the cased leather. My son has CP also. He has no use of his left arm and hand, but Iused to let him help me when he was little. He lives in a (resident/assisted living) facility now. He got so big that his mom and I couldn't really take care of him, but we see him a lot and when we bring him home with us, he still will sit im little leather room and watch and I let him beat the stuff out of a scrap piece. Anyway like you've already been told, it doesn't come overnight, or easy. Practice until you can't practice and then practice some more. The trick is to love leather working enough, that you ain't gonna ecver quit, no matter what. Last night I went to a site about saddlemakers, bit and spur makers, and braiders. One old guy said he had so little artistic talent he couldn't draw his name, but he sure can do some pretty engraving and such. I am the same way, I can't draw straight line with a ruler, but I can sometimes turn out some leatherwork that is almost decent. I ain't ever gonna be as good as Bobby Park, Keith Seidel, Clay Banyai, and a lot of others on this forum, but I'll bet a bunch that as good as they and the rest of the people on here don't enjoy leatherwork anymore than I do. Been doing it on and off since abnout 74 or 75, and seen some hard times, but have never even considered selling my tools. My leather mentor, Larry Huston, died on Christmas Eve, two years ago. He told me as long as we have belt strip, a cement block, a couple of stamp, and a hammer of some sort, we can always get a meal. Always made sense to me. Bye for now and sorry about rambling on, good luck and hang in there. Billy P

[LilRay]

Hey Ray, on a lot of my small quick stuff I quick case the leather with a sponge. What I do is wet it pretty good with the sponge and then let it dry some, until it almost comes back to it's natural color, then I put it up to my cheek and it will feel a little damp and cool, but not wet. This works for me when I am in a hurry. When I'm not I wet the leather pretty good all the way through, and put in a plastic bag in the fridge. Make sure not to put anything on the bag, as it might leave an unwanted mark on the cased leather. My son has CP also. He has no use of his left arm and hand, but Iused to let him help me when he was little. He lives in a (resident/assisted living) facility now. He got so big that his mom and I couldn't really take care of him, but we see him a lot and when we bring him home with us, he still will sit im little leather room and watch and I let him beat the stuff out of a scrap piece. Anyway like you've already been told, it doesn't come overnight, or easy. Practice until you can't practice and then practice some more. The trick is to love leather working enough, that you ain't gonna ecver quit, no matter what. Last night I went to a site about saddlemakers, bit and spur makers, and braiders. One old guy said he had so little artistic talent he couldn't draw his name, but he sure can do some pretty engraving and such. I am the same way, I can't draw straight line with a ruler, but I can sometimes turn out some leatherwork that is almost decent. I ain't ever gonna be as good as Bobby Park, Keith Seidel, Clay Banyai, and a lot of others on this forum, but I'll bet a bunch that as good as they and the rest of the people on here don't enjoy leatherwork anymore than I do. Been doing it on and off since abnout 74 or 75, and seen some hard times, but have never even considered selling my tools. My leather mentor, Larry Huston, died on Christmas Eve, two years ago. He told me as long as we have belt strip, a cement block, a couple of stamp, and a hammer of some sort, we can always get a meal. Always made sense to me. Bye for now and sorry about rambling on, good luck and hang in there. Billy P

Billy, As is said in farming country, Having CP is a tough row to hoe. I feel for your son, as I have minimal impacts. Slight physical impairment, I walk with forearm crutches, etc. But being new here, most will learn, I'm a stubborn cuss, and I hardly give up on anything.

I'm sure I'll become a pest to those in the know, but I love to learn, I love a challenge and I never say I can't. That last one, get's me into real scary situations sometimes, but I've got one watching over me that I'll do my best to shine bright for.

I just got this kit and I've put probably twelve hours in over two days. I've got a lot of goofed up scraps lying around, but I've had a blast.

Take care brother,

God Bless, Ray

[Tree Reaper]

Hey Ray;

Something to consider might be a press for holding the tools while you crank the handle and make the impression in the leather.

A drill press or arbor press with a three jaw chuck would hold the tool.

Just a thought.

Kevin.

[LilRay]

Hey Ray;

Something to consider might be a press for holding the tools while you crank the handle and make the impression in the leather.

A drill press or arbor press with a three jaw chuck would hold the tool.

Just a thought.

Kevin.

Kevin,

I've got a bench top drill press. I just might give that a shot today and see what comes of it. Thanks for the tip!

God Bless, Ray

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

LilRay,

if you have a Tandy store close by you may want to see what classes that they have scheduled. Having someone there with you can really speed up the learning process.

With my tooling I have tried to get the impression set in one blow to avoid double impressions. Only practice will tell you how hard to hit it the first time. If you do have to re-strike the stamp realign it very carefully. What I do is slowly rotate, and move the stamp till I feel it drop into the previous impression. When it drops in it will feel like it has locked in, and doesn't move easily.

For adding grip to the tools, or building the diameter up some I would suggest some rubber tubing that fits snuggly over the handle.

As to being crooked, a good faint straight line as a guide will really help you out. A good source of lighting is needed to help you see the line, and do not rush yourself. Take your time placing the tool before striking it. I used to teach Boy Scouts, and that was one of their biggest mistakes, rushing the work.

If you are gripping the handle with your whole hand instead of just your fingers it will be a bit harder to judge vertical on the tool. With larger stamps you can rock them back and forth, or side to side depending on the shape to feel when it is flat. What I mean by that is lightly place the stamp, say a veiner, on the leather. As you slowly rock it side to side you will feel a point in the movement when it stops, it is then that it is flat against the leather. Hold steady and strike. Larger stamps may also need to go front to back after side to side in order to get the entire stamp perpendicular with the leather. You need to adjust your grip so that you can see the stamp against the leather as this will help in alignment, as well as perpendicularity.

Good luck , and ask all the questions that you want.

[LilRay]

Thanks Everybody!

Doctor, Closest Tandy is 100 miles one way, and I don't drive myself. I've got someone within a short way that's offered to help, but It's a matter of them having the time, and my eagerness to learn has me excited.

I got a decent looking border using the veiner today. Nothing special, just something to see improvement.

I've got it in my mind to succeed at this now, so there's no turning back.

Boy are you folks in trouble. :-) I'll be pestering all of you for advice.

Thanks again,

God Bless, Ray

[LilRay]

Folks, Please Visit here http://leatherworker...showtopic=30222 and let me know how I might improve.

God Bless, Ray

[bkingery]

Folks, Please Visit here and let me know how I might improve.

God Bless, Ray

the link is broke ray, try on the critique

bryan