Another Belt For Ya'll

[smokin24]

And a picture of my truck to explain my name a bit.

I love to play with my Cummins just as much as I do leather.

Once again any sort of critique on my work is appreciated.

I must thank the guys at Springfield leather for the Herman Oak. It tooled extremely well and I was quite pleased with quality.

Thanks, Jarrett Van Curen

Edited September 4, 2011 by smokin24

[TwinOaks]

Jarrett, you did a much nicer job on the petals and leaves this time. There's still a little room for improvement on the stems/leaves, particularly at the end of the hair-on section. Compare the 3-D aspects of that section with the more deeply tooled petals, and it's a pretty significant difference.

On the matted areas, it looks like you've still got a few chatter marks, and I think you can eliminate them by holding the tool just above the leather and using the tension in your fingers as a spring. The blow from the mallet/maul will still drive the tool to the leather to make the impression. By holding just above the leather, you can sweep back and forth a bit while tapping. For matting the areas between the details, you'll want to cover ground quickly, and overlapping impressions help to level everything out, and precision placement isn't as critical as it is when beveling.

The final thing I'll add is to look into getting or making a petal lifter.....aka Pro Petal. There is a recent thread about them if you'd like to search for it, but it's basically a solid cylinder cut at an angle that's used to push under (and thereby 'lift') portions of the petal without beveling any deeper. It's a small detail that I think would really make the flowers stand out more.

P.S. You can make a petal lifter out of a screwdriver shaft or round stock. Cut at an angle, polish 'til it shines.

[smokin24]

Jarrett, you did a much nicer job on the petals and leaves this time. There's still a little room for improvement on the stems/leaves, particularly at the end of the hair-on section. Compare the 3-D aspects of that section with the more deeply tooled petals, and it's a pretty significant difference.

On the matted areas, it looks like you've still got a few chatter marks, and I think you can eliminate them by holding the tool just above the leather and using the tension in your fingers as a spring. The blow from the mallet/maul will still drive the tool to the leather to make the impression. By holding just above the leather, you can sweep back and forth a bit while tapping. For matting the areas between the details, you'll want to cover ground quickly, and overlapping impressions help to level everything out, and precision placement isn't as critical as it is when beveling.

The final thing I'll add is to look into getting or making a petal lifter.....aka Pro Petal. There is a recent thread about them if you'd like to search for it, but it's basically a solid cylinder cut at an angle that's used to push under (and thereby 'lift') portions of the petal without beveling any deeper. It's a small detail that I think would really make the flowers stand out more.

P.S. You can make a petal lifter out of a screwdriver shaft or round stock. Cut at an angle, polish 'til it shines.

I can completely agree with you on the backrounding. I do use my finger as a spring, but I do believe I just need more practice. As far as the petal lifter goes I did use one. Now as far as the proper use for the tool goes I have no clue. I do know it is intended to cut into the leather under your petals, but what I am scared of I guess is the depth of puncture. How or what way should I use this tool

[TwinOaks]

Okay, I thought that was just deep beveling....may just be the picture. The way to use the lifter is to place the angled part flat on the leather with the tip against the edge of the petal, then push into the side of the petal.

If this is what you did, then I can think of only two things that keep it from being apparent in the photo...1. The angle or light in the photo. Sometimes pictures just don't show things well. 2. Since the leather is lifted a bit with the petal tool as part of the tooling / carving......did you let the leather dry before starting on the coloring? If the leather was still cased and you rubbed over the petals while applying some finish, it's pretty easy to push the lifted section right back down to almost where it was.

[smokin24]

Okay, I thought that was just deep beveling....may just be the picture. The way to use the lifter is to place the angled part flat on the leather with the tip against the edge of the petal, then push into the side of the petal.

If this is what you did, then I can think of only two things that keep it from being apparent in the photo...1. The angle or light in the photo. Sometimes pictures just don't show things well. 2. Since the leather is lifted a bit with the petal tool as part of the tooling / carving......did you let the leather dry before starting on the coloring? If the leather was still cased and you rubbed over the petals while applying some finish, it's pretty easy to push the lifted section right back down to almost where it was.

I did let it dry completely before any dying was done, but it seemed like when I did the dying the areas I had lifted seemed to fall back down some