New guy from NM

[JBW1]

 Hello all! 

my name is Jason. I just finished this knife sheath and scales on this Camillus knife. It was my initial attempt at both, and look forward to more leather work. After it was all said and done, I can honestly say that the sheath was my favorite part of the project. I have a small set of basic stamps that I have had for a few years. I’ve recently gotten interested in the hobby again and bought a few other tools to finish this sheath. I am a novice at everything, this was my first attempt at the saddle stitch. I found mistakes that I will learn from and do differently in the future. I look forward to going through the topics in this forum! 

 

Edited February 21, 2020 by JBW1

[JBW1]

First time trying my hand at some freehand carving. Unrefined, but my daughter was happy with the surprise . I’m finding that I have a hard time using the beveler.

Edited February 23, 2020 by JBW1

[DJole]

It takes some practice to learn to "walk" the beveller, instead of "stamping" with it. 
Make sure your leather is cased correctly, and then use a light touch with the mallet, blending the strokes by overlapping them. 
Easy to write how it's done...but the muscles and the eyes have to learn it, over time!

And if the recipient likes it, even if you cringe at the flaws, then it's a win. ;-)

[toxo]

On 2/21/2020 at 3:22 AM, JBW1 said:

 Hello all! 

my name is Jason. I just finished this knife sheath and scales on this Camillus knife. It was my initial attempt at both, and look forward to more leather work. After it was all said and done, I can honestly say that the sheath was my favorite part of the project. I have a small set of basic stamps that I have had for a few years. I’ve recently gotten interested in the hobby again and bought a few other tools to finish this sheath. I am a novice at everything, this was my first attempt at the saddle stitch. I found mistakes that I will learn from and do differently in the future. I look forward to going through the topics in this forum! 

 

Some different techniques put to good use there. I'm hoping there's a welt in there to protect the stitches. Good job.

 

[JBW1]

Yes definitely a welt. I died it a lighter brown to stand out a bit. The holes I started out with were toooo big, I bought one of those interchangeable hole stamp things from my local Tandy, thinking it would be what I needed. I quickly learned that even the smallest bit made huge holes, especially stamping through more than one layer. I didn’t like the sinew color on this particular project. Ended up marking my grove with my kids school compass, marked the holes with a modified fork and drilled the holes out. I’m compiling a list of tools that I need as I go along. So Groover and correct hole punches are the next purchases. 

Thank you for the comment!

Edited February 23, 2020 by JBW1

[JBW1]

11 hours ago, DJole said:

It takes some practice to learn to "walk" the beveller, instead of "stamping" with it. 
Make sure your leather is cased correctly, and then use a light touch with the mallet, blending the strokes by overlapping them. 
Easy to write how it's done...but the muscles and the eyes have to learn it, over time!

And if the recipient likes it, even if you cringe at the flaws, then it's a win. ;-)

Ahhh, so it’s not really a normal stamping process. Thanks for the advice! Also, how often should I re-wet this thinner leather? Once it’s cased the first time, is it good to go throughout the session? What if I need to stop for a few hrs? Or even the next day?

Edited February 23, 2020 by JBW1

[DJole]

2 hours ago, JBW1 said:

Ahhh, so it’s not really a normal stamping process. Thanks for the advice! Also, how often should I re-wet this thinner leather? Once it’s cased the first time, is it good to go throughout the session? What if I need to stop for a few hrs? Or even the next day?

Those are questions which come up a lot!
There are few definitive answers, since there are a lot of variables (the leather itself, as well as its thickness, temperature, humidity, etc.) Some basic guidelines:

1) If you have the leather correctly cased, then a project of the size you have there shouldn't need re-wetting, unless you are a very slow, meticulous tooler! If you have a larger project, you basically have to pay attention to the leather -- when you first began tooling, and then many minutes later, is it still working the same? If not, then re-wetting may be called for. Many people re-wet with a sponge, or a spritzer, part way through a project. 

2) If you need to stop for a while (hours, or next day), there are a variety of things many people do to keep the moisture content. I'll briefly mention a few of the ways I remember some people keep the leather wet: place into a sealed ziploc bag; or covered with plastic wrap. I have no expertise on this topic, so for best results you should locate the threads where people actually describe what they do. Find them by searching the forum for specific key terms like "re-wetting" or "casing leather."

[terrymac]

Welcome , we New Mexicans are far and few on the forum. Where are you in state?  We are in the big city of Albuquerque. Ziploc bags are good for maintaining moisture or I use a piece of plate glass to lay on the leather.  If you have any questions, I will be happy to try and help.

Terry

[toxo]

3 hours ago, JBW1 said:

 Ended up marking my grove with my kids school compass, marked the holes with a modified fork and drilled the holes out. I’m compiling a list of tools that I need as I go along. So Groover and correct hole punches are the next purchases. 

I love hearing about what people can do with the minimum of equipment. It's much easier to turn out good stuff with £1000s of equipment and machinery.

[JBW1]

21 hours ago, DJole said:

Those are questions which come up a lot!
There are few definitive answers, since there are a lot of variables (the leather itself, as well as its thickness, temperature, humidity, etc.) Some basic guidelines:

1) If you have the leather correctly cased, then a project of the size you have there shouldn't need re-wetting, unless you are a very slow, meticulous tooler! If you have a larger project, you basically have to pay attention to the leather -- when you first began tooling, and then many minutes later, is it still working the same? If not, then re-wetting may be called for. Many people re-wet with a sponge, or a spritzer, part way through a project. 

2) If you need to stop for a while (hours, or next day), there are a variety of things many people do to keep the moisture content. I'll briefly mention a few of the ways I remember some people keep the leather wet: place into a sealed ziploc bag; or covered with plastic wrap. I have no expertise on this topic, so for best results you should locate the threads where people actually describe what they do. Find them by searching the forum for specific key terms like "re-wetting" or "casing leather."

Thank you for the info! I’m not as much as meticulous, but I get going, thinking I have everything planned out, then find I don’t know what I’m doing, and spend the next hour watching you tube tutorials, haha

[JBW1]

On 2/23/2020 at 3:17 PM, terrymac said:

Welcome , we New Mexicans are far and few on the forum. Where are you in state?  We are in the big city of Albuquerque. Ziploc bags are good for maintaining moisture or I use a piece of plate glass to lay on the leather.  If you have any questions, I will be happy to try and help.

Terry

Thank you very much, Terry! I actually work in Abq, but live in Tijeras. Nice to meet you neighbor! 
Thank you for the offer on help, I will definitely be in touch! 

 

 

[JBW1]

On 2/23/2020 at 3:54 PM, toxo said:

I love hearing about what people can do with the minimum of equipment. It's much easier to turn out good stuff with £1000s of equipment and machinery.

The good thing with using makeshift tools, is that when I get proper pieces, I will definitely appreciate them . 

[JBW1]

Made this little knife for my 11 year old daughter out of a file. Came out ok. Tried some freehand with the cursive E. I need more practice dying, stamping, and planning out the design. The veiner pattern didn’t end up lining up at the back, so I improvised a makeshift flower haha. And now that I took the picture, I noticed one of the pedals needs a touch up with dye. I was more patient with casing and did notice a better definition. Thanks for the advice everyone. I Still should have waited longer tho. Thanks for looking!!

Edited March 3, 2020 by JBW1