Whose work is this??

[OldLeatherGuy]

I found this image on Pinterest and the link led me to the Leatherworker forum. I expect that the stamping and carving belongs to someone here on the forum but I don't know very many crafts people here who I could maybe match up their work styles to this one. Any ideas on who did this very good looking work, I wanted to pick their brain with a few questions .....

 

[Rhale]

I agree very nice work, not mine though!  A lot of folks on here do similar work and feel sure someone would let you pick their brain with your questions if you don’t find the creator of this one!

[YinTx]

That is my work.  How can I help you?

YinTx

[YinTx]

The final product...

YinTx

[johnv474]

Not OP, but that looks amazing, YinTX.  I have noticed several of your projects online and aspire to have my projects look so good.  Cheers.

[ASAuLTCases]

that is brilliant, how do you get it so deep? or is it partly 3D effect? i am new to the Art so please excuse me if my questions should be part of the learning curve and learn from experience in order to really grasp the technique?    as i just mentioned order could you also give any advice on the best order to tool, wet-form mould, and colour etc the leather when you are making something that gives the opportunity to pick the order? thanks     

[YinTx]

1 hour ago, ASAuLTCases said:

that is brilliant, how do you get it so deep? or is it partly 3D effect? i am new to the Art so please excuse me if my questions should be part of the learning curve and learn from experience in order to really grasp the technique?    as i just mentioned order could you also give any advice on the best order to tool, wet-form mould, and colour etc the leather when you are making something that gives the opportunity to pick the order? thanks     

It is partly the effect you get from shading, also I made a set of lifters from some cheap screwdrivers that helped to create the look.  The information you have asked for is basic order of operations for leather tooling:  first case, then tool, then dry, dye, oil, resist, antique and finally seal.  I don't do a lot of wet mould forming, someone else may pipe in for that info.  As you get more experience, you may find cases where you might change some of the orders, like the dye and oil, and instead oil then dye, or you might need to skip a step, like resist, to get different effects from the antique.  Hope this helps a bit.

YinTx

[ASAuLTCases]

Yes thats great thanks YinTx, ive just been studying Paul Burnetts lessons and came across the lifting type tool, it might have been more going under, but i get the idea,

thanks i have lots of screw drivers so i will be re-designing some. 

[OldLeatherGuy]

Thanks Yin TX for your hints/tips on the effects created from the shading and lifting techniques you have worked out. One of my very basic problems is that, many years ago, when I was in my teens and 20's, I was quite interested in Leather Craft. But, a number of obstacles got in my way along the journey, which I was following at that age, the war in the 60's, my immediate needs and goals after my discharge from the military in the late 60's, marriage, kids, very drastic medical problems with one of my sons, etc., and I left my interests by the wayside in hopes that I could pick them up at a later date. Now I am halfway through my 77th year on this rock and I have almost a "phobia" to learn at much as I can in the time I have left which causes me to take in much more than my aging brain is capable of storing/processing now. I am a very fast learner, always have been, and it seems like I cannot get enough information crammed into my skull to feed this demand for more education in the things which really matter to me now. 

I wish to address some observations of your work, which looks to be a finished notebook cover or a portfolio cover, on how you arrived at such an apparent high lift to your undercuts on the oak leaf carving. From the way it looks and the apparent angle of light hitting the surface of that closeup, I am guessing that there is more to the amount of height to which you have lifted the leather that gives the edges of the leaves such a sculpted finish more than the shading techniques. I have tried to duplicate that look on a number of oak leaf practice panels of 7 oz. to 9 oz. veg. tanned hide and cannot seem to get that amount of lift in my attempts. The leather you used in your example looks to be maybe half that thickness and you got much more lift than I am getting using conventional tools. I am not sure if I am simply afraid of maybe damaging/tearing the leather surface or if it is the tools I am using. I have premade lifters I have acquired and  have done a bit of modeling around those areas with modeling tools I inherited from my older sister who was in the art and sculpture world back in the day. I am finding that a good polishing and a bit of creativeness with the modelers can sometimes give a much darker shading to the leather carving but your shading looks cavernous compared to my efforts!  [Yeah, I had THAT happen a few years ago also .....]

You mentioned making lifters out of cheap screwdrivers, ... of those I have a plentiful supply lying around my shop!  Could you mention ways to modify them with basic hand tools so that I would give that technique more thought and practice?  (All I seem to conjure up this morning is a bent common screwdriver blade with a rounded and sharpened edge??) I have been a "modifier" of other things to suit my needs through the years so I would probably not have much trouble once I got a few "don'ts" and a couple of "do's" under my belt.

I will leave that for now and close by saying that I admire your work and hope to learn much on this forum about such things as wet forming and order also. I just finished an "avenger" style holster for a 1911 that started out with basket weave tooling and, by the time I had all of the wet forming done to help retain the weapon in the holster, much of the tooling had been damaged or obliterated in one way or another ...... Still learning as I go ......

[YinTx]

@OldLeatherGuy, a lot in your post.  Let me start by saying thank you for your service, and your dedication to your family.  I think there are a lot of individuals on this site that can relate to your story in one way or another.

I have relegated myself to the realization that I will be unable to absorb all there is to know about leather in a single lifetime.  I find myself delving down rabbit holes often and coming back out fired up, then realizing I have way too many things going on to have even contemplated what I thought I was going to do!

That being said, I am certainly not the first one to do leaves in this manner.  The cover is a bible cover that I donated for a fund raiser.  

The effect is created somewhat by using a smooth pear shader to contour the leather in the dips and valleys of the leaf, then literally slicing the leather with the lifter as far in as you are comfortable going.  If the leather is wet enough, you will be able to stretch it quite a bit and actually lift it with the lifter.  Yes, sometimes you will tear the leather.  The limit is just something you learn with practice.  Even if you tear it, you can make it look intentional, like a real torn leaf.  The quality of leather will have a lot to do with how extreme you can get.  If I recall, that was 5-6 Oz Hermann Oak.

If you want to see an expert's work, take a look at Ed LaBarre's work.  Infinitely better than mine.

That set of lifters is the first and only set I have made, they have served me well, but I would probably do them differently in the future. I just used a file to form the end to the shape I desired, and sharpened them on a stone, and stropped/polished them well.  They should be as sharp as a razor or better when you are done.  As such, when you are practicing using them, you will discover you slice right through the bottom or the top of the leather as you are learning.  Getting angles just right is important to get the effects you want.  In the future, if I made another set I think I'd just cut off the end of the screwdriver at an angle, then start filing to get the final profile.  It would be faster and have a more useable profile in the end.  Also, there is no bend in this set, but if you so desired I suppose you could implement one.

When you get the oak leaf just right, the effect in person is a bit astonishing.  I've been asked how I glued the leaf to the leather!

Here are some more images.

YinTx

 

 

[Northmount]

For the question about the order of processes, here is a post about wet molding and tooling - wet molding first, or tooling first?  See this example.  You should take a look at the rest of the thread this example comes from.  It really depends on how much wet forming you are doing as to its effect on the tooling.

Tom

 

[OldLeatherGuy]

Thanks guys, as I mentioned in my last post, I have a penchant for wanting to get ahead of myself when trying something new. My first try at basket weave was 10 times better than my last try along with incorporating wet molding along with the stamping. I found that the heavier leather thicknesses, 6 oz. and up, all became easier to get a nice deep impression than stamping on lighter oz. leather. Casing is paramount to getting the full effect of the stamping detail and I consistently case my projects with a good spritz or a full dunk in warm water and then placing them in a ziplock bag for an hour or more. But I underestimated the amount of room the 1911 Commander I was working with on this project required to get a tight fit while still being able to wet form the lines of the gun on both sides of the holster. this particular holster was also an "Avenger" style holster and I probably should have handled the stitching later on in the process instead of sewing it on just after the tooling and before the final assembly and stitching of the one piece fold over holster shell. The resulting amount of wet forming I had to do flattened some of the detail of the stamping, much to my dismay. But a holster built a tad smaller than the frame and slide of the pistol won't be worth much if you cannot keep the weapon seated in its place at all times when it is holstered. So, I opted for finishing the holster and keeping it for my own use and to remind me of the dorky way I messed up an hour of good basket weave stamping when I had the chance to do it correctly. 

I plan to do a search on Paul Burnett to get more ideas on making my own lifting tools from all these old beat up screw drivers I have been toting around for the past number of years. I knew that it was worth all of that embarrassment when my "tool" friends would point and laugh at my one beat up old tool box hidden in the corner with all of the stripped sockets and rounded off screw drivers and other junk tools I have "collected" in my travels just waiting for a use to come along for them. 

Thanks again for the advice and all of the answers in this thread, I hope it helped others as much as it helped me rethink what I need to do with my own work.  

[Pirate305]

On 6/14/2020 at 11:49 AM, YinTx said:

@OldLeatherGuy, a lot in your post.  Let me start by saying thank you for your service, and your dedication to your family.  I think there are a lot of individuals on this site that can relate to your story in one way or another.

I have relegated myself to the realization that I will be unable to absorb all there is to know about leather in a single lifetime.  I find myself delving down rabbit holes often and coming back out fired up, then realizing I have way too many things going on to have even contemplated what I thought I was going to do!

That being said, I am certainly not the first one to do leaves in this manner.  The cover is a bible cover that I donated for a fund raiser.  

The effect is created somewhat by using a smooth pear shader to contour the leather in the dips and valleys of the leaf, then literally slicing the leather with the lifter as far in as you are comfortable going.  If the leather is wet enough, you will be able to stretch it quite a bit and actually lift it with the lifter.  Yes, sometimes you will tear the leather.  The limit is just something you learn with practice.  Even if you tear it, you can make it look intentional, like a real torn leaf.  The quality of leather will have a lot to do with how extreme you can get.  If I recall, that was 5-6 Oz Hermann Oak.

If you want to see an expert's work, take a look at Ed LaBarre's work.  Infinitely better than mine.

That set of lifters is the first and only set I have made, they have served me well, but I would probably do them differently in the future. I just used a file to form the end to the shape I desired, and sharpened them on a stone, and stropped/polished them well.  They should be as sharp as a razor or better when you are done.  As such, when you are practicing using them, you will discover you slice right through the bottom or the top of the leather as you are learning.  Getting angles just right is important to get the effects you want.  In the future, if I made another set I think I'd just cut off the end of the screwdriver at an angle, then start filing to get the final profile.  It would be faster and have a more useable profile in the end.  Also, there is no bend in this set, but if you so desired I suppose you could implement one.

When you get the oak leaf just right, the effect in person is a bit astonishing.  I've been asked how I glued the leaf to the leather!

Here are some more images.

YinTx

 

 

Hi there Yin, first I have to say, Beautiful work. I am not even going to ask about the leaf because it's ten years of experience beyond me. But I need to know what I am doing wrong with basketweave.

I am putting in a picture that frankly I am embarrassed to put in public. First, it's on 2/3 oz leather, I know it's very thin but it's a handle wrap for a hiking stick and I just can't leave it plain. How do I keep the lines so straight? You literally don't have a crooked line in this entire cover! HOW?

Thanks

Mark

[YinTx]

1 hour ago, Pirate305 said:

How do I keep the lines so straight?

First off, thanks for the compliment.  And to answer your question, practice.  Lots of practice.  Here's one pile of errors.

And yes, your leather is a bit thin.  Might be worth practicing on thicker leather, and to get better definition, use some matting board on the backside of your 2 to 3 oz cased leather.

There are several tutorials around LW.net that will help you more than this short commentary, but basically score a very very light line in your cased leather along the edge of a rule so you have something to follow.  Your stamp should index to itself to get the alignment between each mark.  Make sure you have a space and time that you can really focus on the task at hand with no interruptions, cuz one mark off and the rest will go haywire.

YinTx

[Pirate305]

On 7/5/2020 at 3:40 PM, YinTx said:

First off, thanks for the compliment.  And to answer your question, practice.  Lots of practice.  Here's one pile of errors.

And yes, your leather is a bit thin.  Might be worth practicing on thicker leather, and to get better definition, use some matting board on the backside of your 2 to 3 oz cased leather.

There are several tutorials around LW.net that will help you more than this short commentary, but basically score a very very light line in your cased leather along the edge of a rule so you have something to follow.  Your stamp should index to itself to get the alignment between each mark.  Make sure you have a space and time that you can really focus on the task at hand with no interruptions, cuz one mark off and the rest will go haywire.

YinTx

Oh hell, send me your mistake pieces I'll pay for them.  LOL. No, really I will.  And by the way what stamps do you use for your basketweave? 

 

[YinTx]

On 7/14/2020 at 6:34 PM, Pirate305 said:

Oh hell, send me your mistake pieces I'll pay for them.  LOL. No, really I will.  And by the way what stamps do you use for your basketweave? 

 

Not sure how I missed this post from so long ago!  Scraps are scraps tho.  Some I went ahead and finished out.  As far as stamps, I started with Tandy stamps, was lucky enough to get a Robert Beard basket stamp, and just recently acquired some Barry King stamps and some Sergey stamps.  Tandy ones are by far the most difficult to keep aligned.  All the others are really great quality and a joy to use.

YinTx