Hello From Peru

[casaerwin]

I can't believe I've been on this forum for about two years now and haven't introduced myself.

I began carving leather when I was a teenager just out of high school in Grand Prairie, Texas. I dabbled in it, not very seriously, for probably 15 years. I enjoyed it, but it was just a pastime and I had other things going on. Once I started my computer programming career and eventually my own consultancy, I just had no time for leather work so all my tools got stuck away in a closet somewhere and eventually lost.

My wife is Peruvian and after I retired we moved to Peru and I began to think I'd like to take up my old hobby again. It was not an easy undertaking. There are leather artisans here in Peru and saddlemakers for the famous Peruvian Paso horses, but it is completely another world and the tools are very primitive. And there's only a handful of tools that they use.

Eventually, I gave up looking for tools here in Peru and began to import what I needed from the US. With shipping and customs it turned out to be a very expensive project. But I eventually collected enough tools and equipment to put together a somewhat respectable workshop... but there are still times when I need something and just have to resign myself to the fact that I can't get it without waiting a long time for it. Like right now, I'm searching for a round knife or a head knife.

I've been working at it for right around two years now, and I have made three times as many things as I made in the 15 years I worked at it before. And I'd venture to say that I'm better at it now than I ever was back then. And I believe that the main reason that is true is because of the internet and all the help I have gotten through it. I've also been able to look at the work of some very talented artists by means of the internet, and that has been as big a help, not to mention inspiration, as the hints I get from them. I'm 76 years old now, but I expect to be pounding leather until they plant me.

Here are just a few of the things I've done lately:

[BillB]

Casaerwin,

Welcome to the forum, 2 years after you joined. Glad you finally decided to introduce yourself. You have some nice looking pieces. As for the round knife or head knife, have you considered buying a high grade cement trowel and shaping it into the knife with a grinding wheel? All of the tools we have today originated in that fashion. I have some stamps that my uncle made in WWII at the base recreation facility and some are made out of bolts with the head being shaped into the stamp. I use a knife a friend made me out of auto spring steel. It is S shaped and meets my needs.

Again, welcome to the forum and keep pounding leather. 8-)

BillB