1St Projects And Attempted Tooling

[cowboychmst]

I decided it would be a good idea to make my daughter a belt for christmas. This is the final product, any advice on how to bring out the tooling better would be greatly appreciated.

after the belt I caught the bug and purchased some leather. my next projects were sheaths for some knives and an axe, and a holster. I will post pictures of the other projects soon.

Please give any advice on how to make my work look more finished.

Edited March 14, 2015 by cowboychmst

[cowboychmst]

Maybe this will work. I'm new to leatherworker.net so I hope sharing my album will get you access to the rest of the pictures.

once again feel free to critique my work. Thanks

[Tugadude]

You are off to a great start. With time, all the small details get better. What are you using to mark and make your holes for stitching? One thing I noticed is how irregular the back of the pancake sheath stitching was. If you are using an awl that can happen. A stitching chisel helps keep the backside even, and the thickness you are working with will allow for the chisel to penetrate all of the way through I bet. I suggest a 4 or 6 prong chisel for the straight runs and a 2 prong for curves. Your belt looks great. I'll bet your daughter was delighted.

[cowboychmst]

One thing I noticed is how irregular the back of the pancake sheath stitching was. If you are using an awl that can happen. A stitching chisel helps keep the backside even, and the thickness you are working with will allow for the chisel to penetrate all of the way through I bet.

I used an awl for the pancake sheath. I have a 4 pronged stitching chisel that I use sometimes. If there are multiple layers of leather I struggle with keeping the back line straight though. I imagine practice will improve that.

[Tugadude]

Couple things that help, practice keeping your wrist at a fixed angle and then hold your elbow out wide like you are lining up a pool shot. Copy that motion and you will see improvement on the backside. If the leather isn't too thick, glue the edges to keep them square and punch all the way through with the chisel.