Tandy Leather-Gami Bull

[MattTheHat]

I couldn't resist this cute little Tandy kit. Once you decorate it as you please (it comes with a carving pattern and a basket weave stamping pattern) you add the finish of your choice and fold it up. Here it is with the suggested carving completed and with some Neatsfoot oil. After this pic I dyed the background areas black. I'll add a resist finish as soon as I get a chance, and then fold it all up.

The leather couldn't have been any thicker than 2 ounce, but it handled tooling better than I anticipated. This was a fun way to get in several hours worth of practice.

-Matt

[MattTheHat]

Here it is after dyeing the backgrounded areas. I've never done this before and only had a really sorry paint brush. I'll definitely be investing in a much better quality and much finer brush before trying this again.

As I've stated before, I'm decorative cutting-challenged. The decorative cuts came out a bit better on this attempt than any of my previous ones, but they're still kind of straggly.

-Matt

Edited June 2, 2014 by MattTheHat

[Studio-N]

that should come out looking very nice. I got the kit/pattern but I may be a bit too lazy to tool it out.

Thanks for sharing.

[MattTheHat]

I won't be tooling another anytime soon, that's for sure! Maybe a basket weave or something, but the carving took much longer than I had anticipated.

I got the antique finish and a top coat on it this evening. I hope to be able to buff it a bit and fold it back up tomorrow.

-Matt

[MattTheHat]

Here's the end result. I should have cleaned up those edges.

-Matt

[shtoink]

That turned pretty cute. I like the idea of a 3D shape with your own design. Looks like it'd make for an interesting project for kid.

[cst]

That is pretty cool. Boy, it was night and day between the project between having the background plain and then dyed. This makes me think I need to get some paint brushes. And one of those little bulls.

[MattTheHat]

I agree completely. Being new to leatherwork in general, I'd never dyed the background like that.

Just make sure you get decent brushes. Mine wasn't very a very good one and in some places, I could sure tell it. The bristles weren't springy enough for my limited skill.

-Matt

[tanda4]

Nice! I'll have to pick one up. It wouldn't be difficult to make it into an elephant.

[Tesla Ranger]

I picked up one of these kits about a week or two ago but I haven't had the opportunity yet to sit down and give it a whack. It's nice to see they can come out shiny. =)

Tandy's does also sell some Taklon brushes for not too much. There's probably better brushes in existence but so far those have been the best brushes I've found.

[MattTheHat]

I'm sure the telling brushes are fine, they certainly look like quality brushes. I purchased a small 5-piece mid-range quality set from Hobby Lobby for about 10 bucks. MUCH better quality and they do indeed produce superior results.

-Matt

[hrefab]

Anyone have the pattern for this kit? I have the leather, but lost the little booklet.

[zorappa]

Does anyone have the folding instructions for this?