Splinter’s Sheridan Style Beginning

[splinters]

44 minutes ago, Bob Blea said:

I believe Barry King is Don King's grandson.  And yes, I'm pretty sure the Porter's he worked at was the Porter Saddle Shop in the Phoenix area.  If you got to visit there in it's heyday you may have seen some top talent indeed.

Bob, thanks for the reply. Yes, it was a special time, though I didn’t know any of those folks I did realize I was seeing some grand artists at work. I have never forgotten it. One of the reasons I was there was our dad was having a custom saddle made for my younger sister as a surprise present. I recently e-mailed her to see if she had any photos of it. It was a beautiful thing to see. The saddle’s first mount was my sister’s quarter horse named “What-A-Broad”. A deserving spot for such wonderful work.

Well, Bob Park’s “Creating… Western Floral Designs” arrived in the morning mail from Barry King’s Co. this morning. So, as I was having my lunch I started reading and by page 10 I knew it was a keeper and another great addition for my education. What enjoyable, fun stuff.

Now, I must go back to the “Sheridan Carving Style” less I get ahead of myself. Plan on following the swivel knife practice suggestions first out of the box and follow any of the other ideas until my feet are at least on the ground with some tooling. Looking forward and hoping I will actually make progress. Fingers crossed!

 

[Bob Blea]

You're going to do great!  With those books as reference and some practice you will be surprised how quickly you progress.  I was planning some tooling practice last night but our power went out!  So much for getting any work done.

[splinters]

Thanks for the encouragement Bob.

I did manage a short session of freehand practice this afternoon and the next session will be to get after the practice patterns starting on page 16 of Sheridan Style Carving. Something I found interesting was the mention to try pushing as well as pulling the swivel knife. Tried a little of that and now want to try more of the push stroke...... interesting.

Here's a couple of photos one of which is my stropping setup and the other how my freehand looks with the first attempt with the Barry King swivel knife. What a difference compared to my old Tandy that I managed to hang onto all these years. I'm going to like getting use to the Barry King.  AT this time casing the leather to the right point is going to take a bit for me I think.

 

Edited June 18, 2016 by splinters

[splinters]

My sister surprised me by sending the following photo this weekend. Hearing that I was starting to get active in learning to carve and tool again she thought I would like to see a photo of an photo album cover I did for her some 50 + years ago.  I had forgotten all about it. Had to be around the time I was living in Payson, Arizona. The pattern was one of Al Stohlman’s if I remember correctly.  Anyway, I thought some of you may be interested in seeing it too.

 

Edited June 19, 2016 by splinters

[JLSleather]

Sweet!  50 years of faded, but still lookin' good.  Honestly, Al might have had a tip or two to share with you on the figure carving, but the floral is nice and the overall looks great.  Nice swivel knife work. Your sister obviously proud of it, too.

 

[splinters]

Jeff, thanks for taking a look and your critique. I had finally reached the point of being comfortable using the tools but realizing I had a long way to go. Oh, how enjoyable to try and the doing. Hope to get back to at least that point again.

 

Edited June 20, 2016 by splinters

[splinters]

Decided it was time I ordered a small piece, sq. ft., of Hermann Oak #2 tooling leather from SLC and give it a try with my practice. Have never used any leather except from Tandy's so I need to start learning the difference in what maybe rated as good tooling leather. Also, wondering now if I should have purchased a #1 grade from them and how does #1 or #2 relate to grade A/B ...... ???

[JLSleather]

There will be a line here to bash me for it in a minute... but I gotta say in good conscience that I would get leather somewhere OTHER than SLC (though, they seem to do okay with dye and buckles).

This is an issue I've 'answered' repeatedly over the years, I can feel another web site article coming on.  I mean, recognizing good leather -not bashing any one supplier

• Fat wrinkles happen.  But they shouldn't span the hide.
• Color should be consistent across the piece.
• Bellies are 'spongey'.  But that should be no more than about 20% of a side.
• The back side should be level and free of pits, 'fuzz', and stains.

SLC does NOT carry H.O. "A" grade.  In fact, they've repeatedly stated that their HO comes from the tannery already marked "B", but ... well...    I've seen HO "B", and ... ?  

Keep in mind the purpose of some suppliers.  As in retail.  As in marking up something someone else provided.  H.O. does have a minimum order, but the "A" grade is about $8 / foot ... not $12 / foot for "B" (or what is getting called "B").

And Wickett/Craig is down for annual maintenance this month, but their tooling leather is about $10/ft, and carves very nicely.

 

 

 

[splinters]

Thanks Jeff. That's a big help and my plan is to buy in some quantity soon and after reading their info on their website Wickett/Craig sounds like a good place for me to start. Since my cash wagon has its limits, will be popping for some more tools from BK shortly, I'm wondering what weight of tooling leather I should order to get me off the ground and that would be related to the projects I'll be interested in doing I assume.?

Thanks again, its much appreciated.

[JLSleather]

Oh, hey.... just poppin' back in to point out that when I say W/C is $10/ft, I mean BACKS (sides minus the belly).  I don't use belly leather, so I don't order it.

HO will sell you backs also, but that runs about $9.25 (ish) per foot.  Advantage.. no belly crap   Still not $12+

Hopefully folks can get an idea what they want to use (and do) without spending hundreds of $$ to find out that isn't what they wanted.  Your holster is 7/8 oz, and the wallet is 3/4 oz.

You'll find a range of answers about weights to use, not everybody likes it just the same.  As a rule, I like

• 7/8 for pistol holsters, bumping up to maybe 10 oz for the BIG ones, and as low as 6/7 for small pocket holsters or mag pouches.
• 3/4 for wallets / checkbooks / other pocket items
• 5/6 or 6/7 for small to med carved handbags (usually lined with 2/3 oz chrome tanned for a total of about 7/8)
• about 12/13 oz for belts, which is 7/8 or 8/9 lined with 3/4
• And that binder you did, depending on the size I would likely go with 6/7 or 7/8 for that as well.