Fly Fishing For Trout

[chriscraft]

Some of my recent work. This one is on a harness yoke I've been working designed for fly fishing.

Has a stainless steel D-ring to attach the fishing net to your back while fishing.

This piece was made for a guy out east in Pennsylvania.

Edited July 1, 2014 by chriscraft

[Troy I]

That is really nice...GOOD JOB...He'll like and if he doesn't, I'll buy it...:-)

[Itch]

That is some Very nice work..

[DavidL]

whats the dye used to get that colour? fiebings or angelus?

[chriscraft]

whats the dye used to get that colour? fiebings or angelus?

I've only been using Fiebings products since I started last year. Pro oil dyes.

I'd like to try the Angelus dyes. The acrylic paints are nice and I like the matte finish that I've been using.

[DavidL]

Angelus in my opinion have the best acrylics for leather. For the oil dyes angelus they are made for consumer use for leather shoes and are pre diluted vs Fiebings that is concentrated.

What was the ratio you mixed the fiebings?

[chriscraft]

color- Maybe its just the angle of the picture capturing light off the Angelus Matte Acrylic Finisher.

Dye color: after being dried I used Fiebings 100% neatsfoot oil and after 15 minutes dyed the piece.

I mixed it as 80% Fiebings Pro Oil Saddle Tan with 20% (99%)alcohol

let dry for 24 hrs before buffing and adding finisher

This is the same fly fishing yoke harness to get a better look at the color of this piece. In the little time I've been doing leatherwork, have noticed that same dye pigment looks different on what you apply it on and how you apply it.

[J Hayes]

Very impressive work.

[Colt W Knight]

Really nice. I am ashamed of the carvings I posted after looking at some of the carvings on this site.

[Lowrider mike]

Looks great! Do you hand stitch your stuff?

[chriscraft]

I didn't hand stitch these, used a Cobra Class sewing machine. Which reminds me that I need to order sewing needles now.

[Lowrider mike]

Chris do you have an Instagram account?

[chriscraft]

Working on a new fly fishing leather rig. This one has a Classic Wet Fly pattern, "The Professor"

[chriscraft]

This rig will have a tooled leather strap with a trout pattern and my crazy Fly line layout. Once completed, It will be headed to its new owner in Oslo, Norway.

[Rossr]

That looks really nice. do you make your own pattern for the flys you are tooling?

Ross

[chriscraft]

I don't have any patterns of the fly. I have a basic hook outline that I transfer just to center the fly on the leather. Then I'm working from photos of fly patterns, so these are freehand tooled as I work the pattern. The same way you would tie a fly, starting with a hook. They are just too many fly patterns to make templates/patterns for all of them. This also keeps them unique and original. No two will ever be the same. Maybe I do it this way cause I'm mostly self taught. Its also the way I draw using a pen and just feels comfortable to me. My grandfather used Al Stohlman's pattens and would rarely veer away from the pattern. That would be very hard for me to do, just follow a pattern.

Edited January 26, 2015 by chriscraft

[Rossr]

Thanks for the explanation chris, I have a friend who tooled a the way you do and I have been meaning to try that One if these nights I will have to give it a go. I also have the fly fishing disease complete with bamboo

[chriscraft]

I have not added any bamboo rods to my collection yet. I'm using some slow action fiberglass fly rods right now.

I've switched to just making fishing related artwork. So from now on if I build any leatherwork, it will also be fish related like this shoulder strap I just completed. I don't get enough time to play with leather as its just a hobby. Hardest part has been just saying "NO" to people that want me to build them leather goods that are not fly fishing related. As a hobby I can choose what I want to make and only hope to get recognized if I stick to a certain style and market. I'm finally taking the advice that was given to me by a local artist over 15 years ago. He saw something in me that I'm just beginning to see. Chris

Edited January 28, 2015 by chriscraft

[Rossr]

Chris,

The bamboo was a interesting event. A good friend of makes/made graphite rods at the time I meet him. Basically buy the blank and put the handle and the guides and so on. I kidded him so when are you gonna make a bamboo rod. He told me theres is too much to it you need two many tools. Well long story short the two of us either made or got what we needed and made a 3wt bamboo rod for each of us. Then we decided we needed a 5wt as well. So we both have a 5wt and a 3wt bamboo rod. It took a ton of time a long learning curve but it is really neat to be on the stream casting a bamboo rod you made with a fly you tied on the end. I mention this as a fair warning if you fall for the romance of the bamboo and like to make things you can lose a lot of hours in the shop I attached a picture of the rod and a leather case I use that holds one fly box. or two small ones.

That looks great what you finished there I like the picture too with the fly box in the back. I am glad you listened to that artist. You are creating some great stuff.

Ross

[chriscraft]

A couple more freehand tooled fly patterns. I am starting to pick up a few orders for my fly fishing leatherwork. One will have an old 1800's fly pattern that I look forward to. Chris

[Queina]

Amazing work ! What are you using to obtain this "dark" almost black effect on your tooling marks and cuts ?

[chriscraft]

Queina, I am using Fiebing's leather products. They make an Antique Finish that comes in a paste. Fiebing's offers these in a handful of colors and size containers, I used the BLACK colored antique finish on this project to get these results.

[Queina]

Thank you very much. I thought the leather would be colored black/grey while using black antique finish, that's good to know ! Love the effect

[chriscraft]

I'm working on a classic Salmon fly pattern on one of my fly box cases. I upgraded my wooden mold to a solid T-6061 aluminum block that I made. I spent many hours building this aluminum block, cutting, hand filling and sanding to get it right. I hand tool after wet molding and this aluminum block is a good solid base for my tooling. Made this block a standard fly box size so I will get many years of use from it. Chris

[chriscraft]

1800's Classic Salmon Fly Pattern detail.