I Bought The Basic Tandy Tooling Kit. This Is My First Attempt

[Redochre]

I would really appreciate some newbie tips. I'll be tooling on 2mm cheap tooling side from tandy

Edited November 4, 2014 by Redochre

[Bob Blea]

Not bad Redochre, but I do see a couple of things. First, your cuts don't appear to be very deep so you are not getting much depth to your carving. Your beveling is leaving lots of tool marks. That may be because the leather is too wet when you are carving it, or it might be the beveller itself. The tools in the beginners kits are notoriously bad (or so you hear, no experience myself) so it might just be the qualify of that beveller in the picture making it hard for you to make a smooth bevel. You used the veiner in the leaves properly and so to with the shader in the flower petals, so you've got quite a bit going for you here. Good job on the edges of the leaves with the saw tooth effect, just need practice and some matting to hide the tool marks from the backgrounder. Overall a good start, just keep practicing!

[mlapaglia]

2mm = 5/6 oz leather so thats a good thickness to start with. looks like the leather is way too wet. wet it and then let it come back to almost its original color. Thats when its the right level of water. It should feel cool to your cheek but not damp. Strop your swivel knife and dont be afraid to make a deeper cut.

Its a good start. With a little practice you will surprise your self and impress others.

[Redochre]

Thank you for the feed back guys.

I was wrong about the thickness, its 3/4 oz not 5/6oz. I shall take everything you said on board, I am a little nervous about cutting deeper though.

The tools aren't the best quality, the swivel blade needed a lot of work until it felt nice going through the leather. Mostly though the oil marks are down to operater error.

Here's another piece I did before I read the replies

[Redochre]

Also thank you for the encouragement I'm loving this carving stuff so far, I'm not a fan of the Sheridan style though, I can certainly respect the craftsmanship but its not my taste.

[tboyce]

Stropping your swivel knife will help with that feeling that the knife is dragging through the leather. I agree with the other comments about the moisture content of your leather. Proper casing is an art form and you can read all you want but you'll just have to keep at it until you find what's right for you. Also, I've found that running my beveller over the strop board helps to polish it and get rid of some of those marks but nothing beats a good matting tool.

All in all, I'd give you an A+ considering this is a first effort. It won't take long before you've mastered this

[mlapaglia]

Thank you for the feed back guys.

I was wrong about the thickness, its 3/4 oz not 5/6oz. I shall take everything you said on board, I am a little nervous about cutting deeper though.

The tools aren't the best quality, the swivel blade needed a lot of work until it felt nice going through the leather. Mostly though the oil marks are down to operater error.

Here's another piece I did before I read the replies

That is much better. the leather was close to optimum dampness. You can tell by the burnishing on the shading and the perception of depth. Once you master the skills pick your style and have a blast doing it.

You will do well

[Colt W Knight]

I still can't do floral very well, but one tip. When you do those leaves with jagged edges, don't swivel knife around the edges, Just use the stamp to make the serrations.

Good solid base like a piece of granite or marble makes a big difference as well.

Edited November 9, 2014 by Colt W Knight

[Redochre]

Thank you for the tips colt, at the moment I just can't afford to get a piece of granite.

Tboyce I took your advice.... I should of checked first... The tools that come with the kit are plated, it came off almost instantly & revealed a bronze colour....

[Redochre]

I had a piece of 5mm scrap to play with.... Wow, heavier leather is much nicer to use!

[Bob Blea]

I think you're showing a lot of improvement. The depth of your carving is better and there are less tooling marks in your beveling. Your swivel knife cuts look pretty smooth too.

[Redochre]

May ask what are the essentials tools I should replace first? I would definitely like to get a smooth beverler.

Also I have been asked to carve a name, will I need a angled or hollow ground blade?

Thank you for taking the time to reply Bob

[Colt W Knight]

Thank you for the tips colt, at the moment I just can't afford to get a piece of granite.

Tboyce I took your advice.... I should of checked first... The tools that come with the kit are plated, it came off almost instantly & revealed a bronze colour....

That bronze color is actually part of the plating process. Objects are plated with copper, then nickel, and then chrome. Of course, when you get into super cheap stuff like these beginner tandy stamps, their plating probably cuts corners.

If you have a local contertop manufacturer, you can ask them for a sink cutout. They generally give them away, or only charge 10-15$ for a nice piece. They wont have fancy corners, but who needs that?

I carve names all the time. I use a 3/8" straight blade for bigger blockier letters, and a 1/4" angled blade for smaller or script letters. I used my 3/8" straight blades to do all my letters before buying the second knife. With practice it works just as well, I am quicker with the angled blade on curves though. I use the straight blade first on everything I can because its a lot easier to sharpen than the angled blade.

Regardless of blade type, that sucker needs to be sharp. It needs to cut through the leather effortlessly. If not, you will fight the tool and get ugly lines, IMO.

Edited November 10, 2014 by Colt W Knight

[JAZZMAN]

That bronze color is actually part of the plating process. Objects are plated with copper, then nickel, and then chrome. Of course, when you get into super cheap stuff like these beginner tandy stamps, their plating probably cuts corners.

If you have a local contertop manufacturer, you can ask them for a sink cutout. They generally give them away, or only charge 10-15$ for a nice piece. They wont have fancy corners, but who needs that?

I carve names all the time. I use a 3/8" straight blade for bigger blockier letters, and a 1/4" angled blade for smaller or script letters. I used my 3/8" straight blades to do all my letters before buying the second knife. With practice it works just as well, I am quicker with the angled blade on curves though. I use the straight blade first on everything I can because its a lot easier to sharpen than the angled blade.

Regardless of blade type, that sucker needs to be sharp. It needs to cut through the leather effortlessly. If not, you will fight the tool and get ugly lines, IMO.

Hi colt, i love that coloured piece, please can you help out a complete beginner and tell me are those colours dyed in stages using a resist type of idea or are they painted with a paintbrush and then sealed. Please remember you are talking to a complete beginner who knows very little about the types of products available just yet, thanks. Peace.

[Redochre]

Thank you colt.

I'll post a PIC when Its done & that's a cracking bit carving.

[Bob Blea]

Redochre, I would make purchasing better bevellers my first priority. It doesn't matter if you are doing floral carving, names or even pictorial carving, your bevellers are going to have the most impact on your ease of tooling. You will find that a good set of bevellers makes your work sooo much more effortless. I would probably recommend Barry King as his quality is excellent and the price is very affordable. Second I would probably recommend upgrading the swivel knife. The Tandy blades are not very good steel so they are hard to keep sharp. You can get a Barry King swivel knife (which is a very good knife) for a very reasonable price and it will hold an edge well.

Tools after that depend on what kind of carving you ultimately decide you want to do.

Hope this helps,

Bob

[Colt W Knight]

Hi colt, i love that coloured piece, please can you help out a complete beginner and tell me are those colours dyed in stages using a resist type of idea or are they painted with a paintbrush and then sealed. Please remember you are talking to a complete beginner who knows very little about the types of products available just yet, thanks. Peace.

Yes.

I know, I know. Those pieces are all a combo of dye, antique, and acrylic. Browns, black, tans are always dye, then I add a resist coat and paint the colors. Then I add another resist coat, and go over the whole thing with antique to accentuate the tooling marks.

Thank you colt.

I'll post a PIC when Its done & that's a cracking bit carving.

You are welcome, and thank you for the compliment.

[Colt W Knight]

Redochre, I would make purchasing better bevellers my first priority. It doesn't matter if you are doing floral carving, names or even pictorial carving, your bevellers are going to have the most impact on your ease of tooling. You will find that a good set of bevellers makes your work sooo much more effortless. I would probably recommend Barry King as his quality is excellent and the price is very affordable. Second I would probably recommend upgrading the swivel knife. The Tandy blades are not very good steel so they are hard to keep sharp. You can get a Barry King swivel knife (which is a very good knife) for a very reasonable price and it will hold an edge well.

Tools after that depend on what kind of carving you ultimately decide you want to do.

Hope this helps,

Bob

All my tools are Tandy, and the bevelers are the worst. I always have to take a modeling spoon to my bevels to even them out. I have some Tandy bevelers I bought during their super cheap stamp sale that I can't even use. I intend on replacing all my regularly used tools with higher quality as I can afford them.

I will say, I have the Tandy Pro Series swivel knives, and they are quite nice. The stamps, not so much.

[Redochre]

Its such a shame the Tandy stamps are so poor. Especially since I only live about an hour from the uk store.

As much as I would love to buy some Barry king tools I would have to pay 20% tax plus import duty when they arrived.

Does anyone know a decent uk supplier?

[frenchy07]

You can "wander" by a counter top place and "assist" them with cleaning up and find a nice piece of granite to tool on usually for free. Headstone makers often have broken or mistakes laying around.

[Bob Blea]

Its such a shame the Tandy stamps are so poor. Especially since I only live about an hour from the uk store.

As much as I would love to buy some Barry king tools I would have to pay 20% tax plus import duty when they arrived.

Does anyone know a decent uk supplier?

Redochre,

This isn't a UK supplier (they are in Germany) but they have Craft Japan tools and recently started carrying the Leather Wrangler's SK-3 swivel knife line. I also saw they carry the Barry King swivel knife. Maybe they can help you out?

www.ledermacher.de

[NVLeatherWorx]

@Redochre

Send me a PM with a listing of the current tools that you have (by the numbers engraved on them) and I will get you some solid replacement ideas, if you would like of course. Also, if you are using the poly head mallet that came with the kit, replace it with a rawhide mallet as soon as you can. It does make a difference in how the tooling feels when you are working it.

[BadDogLeather]

@redochre

I second most of what was said. For me (and my case may be different as I have a paralyzed left arm) I found a maul was a much better striking tool. Don't be afraid to go to the Tandy store and ask to try some of the mauls out. I use one around 18-20 ounces. I'm under the impression that Tandy no longer offers this size but a 16 ounce maul would serve you well. Try it out and then decide on picking a maul or mallet up.

Don't skimp on quality. Buy the best tools you can afford, you will thank yourself later. And for floral carving I find that I much prefer steep bevelers where I use relatively shallow sloped bevelers for most of my figure carving. Practice tapering your knife cuts and doing the same with your bevelers.

You're off to an awesome start! I wish my first attempt looked like that 😏 although I have a hard time going by the manufacturers opinion (I tend to do it my own way until I figure out the instructions were right)

[doubleh]

As usual I'm late to the party but I'm going to throw my two cents in anyway. Save up and get a couple of ceramic blades. 3/8" straight and 1/4" beveled handle everything I do. You won't believe the difference between them and steel. Also don't be afraid to strop the ceramics. DON'T drop one on something hard. If you ever manage to dull one they can be resharpened.

I would also suggest some 8/9 ounce leather to practice on.

I've been using the Tandy granite slab for many years and the thing still looks new. I don't know about now but mine is quite a bit thicker than the countertop material and I don't know if that would make a difference in the durability at all. I kind of doubt it and the Tandy is expensive.

[terrypen]

...at the moment I just can't afford to get a piece of granite.....

Redochre, I just stopped by a local granite countertop store here in the USA and asked if they had a small piece and I told them why. They gave me a piece that is 12" X 12" or 30cm by 30cm depending on how you want to look at it.. :-)

If you have anyplace across the pond that does granite or marble counters, they might be able to hook you up.

Terry