doctorbrady Report post Posted March 16, 2014 Hey everyone, I'm new to the site and pretty new to leatherworking. So far I have tried my hand mostly on sheaths and holsters with some success. I am currently in the process of making a "fancy" blood tracking collar for one of my tracking dogs and hope to make a few belts as well. I haven't done a lot of intricate carving or stamping yet, but have been playing around with basketweaves and the like. I found a pattern that I really like for the collar, but am not sure what type of stamp it is or where I might find one. I have a Tandy leather and the Springfield Leather Factory about an hour away. Also, I am having only marginal success beveling with a beveling tool. I think the one I have is too large and I can't seem to get a clean cut border like shown below. Are there other ways of making a nice straight bevel such as using a push beveler or a beveler attatchment on a swivel knife? I have attached a couple of photos below. I think both are the same stamp, but one has some additional stamping with a dimpler type of stamp. Thanks for the advice. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RiverCity Report post Posted March 16, 2014 Cut the line with a swivel knife and bevel it. The stamping is done with an oval seeder, and the first pic has a round seeder also. You might be able to get by with a push beveler, but if you buy a nice wide beveler, you would be surprised at how fast you can walk a long straight line. Chuck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doctorbrady Report post Posted March 16, 2014 I guess I am going to have to get a wider and narrower beveler and keep practicing. An oval seeder? Holy cow! I am not sure that I could keep the angle right that many times to accomplish that pattern Surely the make a geometric type stamp to help a guy out? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RiverCity Report post Posted March 17, 2014 Use a 45 deg triangle against the edge of the belt blank to mark your guide lines, the marks will look like diamonds. Youll need to practice on scrap to find out how far the lines need to be apart to work with your size seeder. Then stamp the oval seeder on the lines. You can leave a blank "center" or use the round seeder like the first picture. Its a tedious pattern to stamp, but if you look close, you can see some of the stamping is not perfect. The biggest thing is to lay it out good. You might be able to use the craft-aids they make for geometric stamps, youll have to butcher it and cut a belt wide strip at 45 degrees. Hope this helps Chuck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oltoot Report post Posted March 17, 2014 You can purchase geometric stamps from several makers that feature four ovals and a center seed. They can be used in a variety of ways. The way you have picked being perhaps the hardest to keep straight. Having the impressions touch each other gives more alignment aids as you go. This pattern can be produced with a single oval seeder and a round one but why? If you already have the single impression tools and don't plan to do this very often, Maybe. But if you're gonna have to buy tools go ahead and spend a little more on the composite. As to the beveling, practice, practice and think about your work surface. The more solid it is, the easier it will be to produce good beveling. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doctorbrady Report post Posted March 17, 2014 Thanks everyone! I am headed to SLC this afternoon to see what I can come up with and maybe get some tutoring . I will let you know how the final product comes out. This one doesn't have to be perfect, but I want to make my wife a belt with the same pattern if possible, and that one will need to be close to perfect if it is going to get worn. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dwight Report post Posted March 17, 2014 Another thing you can do is add a little alignment bar to the stamping tool. Take a collar with an allen head set screw, . . . solder a piece of a paper clip to one edge of it. Angle your collar onto the tool so that it is parallel to the edge of the belt while stamping in the configuration you want, . . . that way you only have to line up the direction, and the tip placement of the stamp. Works like a champ. May God bless, Dwight Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RiverCity Report post Posted March 17, 2014 (edited) As mentioned above, there are various geometric stamps that can accomplish similar looks. But the belts you showed were done as I stated. Heres a couple of examples I did real quick. I spent more time looking for the craftaid than I did stamping...... So youll have to imagine taking more time to line up better.... Lol The craftaid was a little large for the seeder I used, but again if you play around on scrap you could figure it out pretty quick. Chuck Edited March 17, 2014 by RiverCity Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doctorbrady Report post Posted March 25, 2014 (edited) Well, here's my result. I used an oval seeder and round seeder. I played around with an edging tool that was basically a double oval seeder, but ended up going back to the single oval seeder as it came out nice. I made a grid pattern with 1 cm spacing between centers and got a relatively even pattern. I also got some practice with a beveler, and am getting decent results. Edited March 25, 2014 by doctorbrady Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
