New to carving - which stamps to use?

[Mocivnik]

I got highly upset and just about to do some carvings as such (let's forget that I have 0 experience of carving, but i'm really interested about it), so therefore I decided to give it a go.
 

If I want to do something as below (except the letters), which stamps would be good to start with (beside swivel knife, ofc. :D )?

 

Thanks for all replies in advance!

 

[Treed]

Check out leather life on 23+ facebook page. The instructor Joe Meling takes you through the process from design, to sizing and tooling a belt. He also has a unit on doing a beaded belt that is very informative. Joe is also an instructor for Weaver leather and has a couple of videos on youtube for them. He shows you what tools to use but also how to use them. Leather life is done with a video once a week free to anyone. For more in depth instruction he has the leather life classroom that costs 10.00 a month for two videos a week.

Edited July 7, 2019 by Treed

[bikermutt07]

Check out the tooling videos from Don Gonzales on YouTube. 

I don't tool, so that's as much help as I can be. Don makes some great videos.

[Sheilajeanne]

You can do an awful lot with the six basic tools Tandy includes in its beginner kit. Most of what you see on that belt can be done with these tools, or very similar ones.

The basic tools, which you can view here, are:

https://www.tandyleather.com/en/eflyer/craftool-stamps-fullpage

A backgrounder, for filling in backgrounds A104

A beveler, for beveling along the lines of your swivel knife cuts: B 701 or similar. Undercut bevelers are used for lifting the edges of petals and leaves, and are also very useful for Sheridan type carving, though they aren't one of the basic tools that come with the kit: B 60.

A crescent shader- C 431 (has many uses - borders, decoration of stems, etc.)

A pear shader - most commonly used is a cross hatched one such as P217, though there are also smooth and lined bevelers.

A veiner, such as V 407

and a seeder S 706, used for flower centers, etc.

Another tool that has been used on most of those belts is a mule foot, for example, U 851.

If you are in to basket weave stamping, which is frequently used for decorating belts, wallets, ect. a basket weave stamp is a must.

https://www.weaverleathersupply.com/learn/how-to-videos/tools/stamping-leather-with-a-basketweave-stamping-tool

 

 

[Sheilajeanne]

2 hours ago, Sheilajeanne said:

A pear shader - most commonly used is a cross hatched one such as P217, though there are also smooth and lined bevelers.

Too late to edit - the last word in that sentence, should, of course, be shaders, not bevelers! DUH!

[JLSleather]

I like the old Craftool stamps, probably just because that's what I learned with.  I don't care for the ones Tandy currently sells - not very sharp, crisp impressions.  But the old ones can still be found on ebay, amazon, estate sales, etc.

Some prefer some of the newer "brands", though I think much of that is the HYPE of todays easy marketing techniques.  But, some of the currently available geometric and basket stamps are sharper than the Craftools.  Come with a bigger price tag, too... but if you're going to do basket / geo stamping, then certainly do the best you can do.  NOTE:  I do NOT think that more expensive = better, but in some cases that is true.

For those particular belts, a guy might get an EMBOSSING PLATE!   But if you wanted to hand carve those, a guy could go with

• a couple of bevelers - one wide, one narrower - with the same texture on the face.  Many available, and I like the "checkered" face tools.  And then
• a couple of "shaders" (some call "thumb print" tools) again with the same texture, and
• A couple sizes of "seeder" tools, and maybe a
• "mulesfoot"... and you should be in business.  Wanna "jazz" it a bit, maybe pick up
• a couple of different "camoflage" tools, and/or
• a "veiner"...

[Mocivnik]

@JLSleather and @Sheilajeanne

Heres the list ive put in cart:

A104(background filler) , B701 and B60(beveler) , C431 and P217 (camoflage shader), V407(veiner) , S706(seeder) , U851(mules foot) . 

 

That should do it? 

Edited July 11, 2019 by Mocivnik

[JLSleather]

Those are good basic tools.  I would recommend getting a B936 and B803 also.  The wider beveler is going to let you move down those broad lines more quickly and smoothly, and the smaller one is going to let you turn the corners easier.   If I remember rightly (?) the B60 is an undercut beveler, which I wouldn't care to use personally.  IF you ask me, I'd get the 936, the 701, and the 803.

[ABHandmade]

It seems to me that a smooth pear shader P233/P972 (or, alternatively, a figure beveler F895) will not interfere in the starting set.

[Mocivnik]

@JLSleather but 936 and 701 looks same to me?

[Sheilajeanne]

936 is just a little smaller than 701. You do need bevelers of different sizes, but since the difference between 936 and 701 is quite small, I'd go for the larger beveler instead, if money is an issue. 

Yes, B60 is an undercut beveler, for lifting different areas of your designs. If you are going to do Sheridan style carving, where you are tooling leaves and flowers, you will eventually need one, though the simple designs you show above likely wouldn't need it.

The arrows point to areas of this leaf where you'd use this sort of beveler:

Edit: I probably should say this was our project for the third or fourth week of the beginner leather working course at Tandy. My tooling skills have improved since then!    Bill, thank you for your patience with me...I will never forget you! God rest your dear soul... 

 

 

Edited July 11, 2019 by Sheilajeanne

[JLSleather]

 

2 hours ago, Mocivnik said:

@JLSleather but 936 and 701 looks same to me?

The 936 is HALF the size of the 701.  I wouldn't be without the small bevelers -- you can hit it twice where you need to to fill the size of the 701,  but you can't  hit the 701 in the space of the 936.  And the 803 is easily twice as wide as the 701, so on those long, less curvy sections you can move faster.

Here's the tools involved here.... 936, 701, 803.

And ABHandmade is correct... a smooth tool or two doesn't hurt a thing

BTW:  I used to have a set of undercut bevelers - long time ago - and also those "lifter" tools with wooden handles.  Gave them all away to somebody else who THOUGHT they were needed

 

 

[Mocivnik]

Ordered both.
Thanks God I really HAD to finish my order - otherwise the tool list would never find end :D