Advice re finger carving

[PastorBob]

Yep.  Ditto on letters being hard.  the bigger they are, it seems to be easier.  Keep it up.  You are doing good.  Remember, we are our own worst critic...we see everything.  There are times I have pointed out errors I made to others...glaring to me only to be told, "I would have never noticed that if you hadn't told me.  Need to keep my mouth shut sometimes. LOL

[johnnydb]

Don't sweat showing or explaining the errors...my feelings won't be hurt. The feelings I once had died decades ago...I keep them in a feelings coffin on the mantle over the fireplace. 

 

But truthfully I have had four distinctly different careers that had no relationship to each other...learning new stuff and getting it done takes time and practice to be anywhere near competent...and someone else is always going to be better at it than me...just a fact of life. I don't get my feelings hurt whatsoever when it's constructive criticism. 

And I noticed that if I was actually artistic instead of just following a stenciled pattern I made...it might be really addictive to do. 

That being said...my wife thinks it's awesome...and hopefully her sister will think the same. (It's her college graduation/Christmas present) 

I just got finished skiving the pockets and if all is dry tomorrow I will give all the pieces a dip in a oil/dye blend. (After I run the vacuum to get all the leather fluff from skiving....ugghhhh....I hate skiving) 

Oh yeah.... gotta give the edge corners a serious trim too. 

Then comes the lining of all the parts...

[johnnydb]

Now my question is why did the piece of leather I cased and tooled come out a shade darker than the others?  These were all cut from the same shoulder piece...in fact touching on the shoulder...

[Klara]

Probably there's some mysterious chemical reason.  I would wet the other pieces as well (I'm assuming you haven't) and let them dry under the same conditions as the first piece. On the photo it looks as if one of the "other" pieces were the same colour as the tooled piece - is that a trick of the light?

Btw, are you 100% sure that the tooled piece is perfectly dry yet?

 

[johnnydb]

5 hours ago, Klara said:

Probably there's some mysterious chemical reason.  I would wet the other pieces as well (I'm assuming you haven't) and let them dry under the same conditions as the first piece. On the photo it looks as if one of the "other" pieces were the same colour as the tooled piece - is that a trick of the light?

Btw, are you 100% sure that the tooled piece is perfectly dry yet?

 

They're all the same...they are close in color...not really enough to make much of a difference...but it's enough that it made me pause for a second. The tooled piece dried on a wire rack for two days after tooling day and I skived it before I dyed it. It was most definitely dry. This morning after the dyeing last night they look closer...but the tooled piece still looks a half to a quarter shade darker.  If the neatsfoot oil finishes drying today at some point I can begin to put the Trac gum on the inside pockets backside and pocket edges.  The cover will get lined with cloth and stitched in with the pockets. (I hate that raw unfinished side in finished goods) 

The next one I make is for my wife (I think she is a tad jealous of her sister's journal) ...since I'll see it on a much more regular basis I need to be even more careful and practiced.  I hate seeing my flaws. 

 

Edited October 15, 2021 by johnnydb
Clarity and fat fingers

[PastorBob]

It could be imperfections in the tanning process where some of the chemicals they used remained on the leather.  I have never tried it, but have heard use of deglazer can help remove the surface impurities.  Another thought is to wet all the leather pieces and allow them to dry.  I recently made a pocket humidor and its been drying for 3 days in front of a fan and is still not completely dry.

[johnnydb]

10 minutes ago, PastorBob said:

It could be imperfections in the tanning process where some of the chemicals they used remained on the leather.  I have never tried it, but have heard use of deglazer can help remove the surface impurities.  Another thought is to wet all the leather pieces and allow them to dry.  I recently made a pocket humidor and its been drying for 3 days in front of a fan and is still not completely dry.

Wet forming leather...I'm always impatient when waiting for it to dry and checking in on it to see if it has.  What kind of jig/mold are you using?  

[PastorBob]

24 minutes ago, johnnydb said:

Wet forming leather...I'm always impatient when waiting for it to dry and checking in on it to see if it has.  What kind of jig/mold are you using?  

I have a hard plastic tube made for storing cigars I use to form the shape when the leather is wet.  As soon as the shape is formed, i remove the tube and set the wet leather pieces in front of the fan. This piece really needs to dry.  It is dyed, then laser engraved.  If not completely dry, it is too dark to really see the engraving on it.

[johnnydb]

57 minutes ago, PastorBob said:

I have a hard plastic tube made for storing cigars I use to form the shape when the leather is wet.  As soon as the shape is formed, i remove the tube and set the wet leather pieces in front of the fan. This piece really needs to dry.  It is dyed, then laser engraved.  If not completely dry, it is too dark to really see the engraving on it.

One last question...how are you removing the leather smell from the leather?  Usually cigars stored in a leather pocket sized holder retain the leather smell (because of the chemicals used in tanning the leather) 

I've seen a bunch lined with wood or something else to reduce the scent of the leather....

And the retail for leather cigar cases is sweet too. (I am not interested in selling my crafts...just curious) 

[PastorBob]

1 hour ago, johnnydb said:

One last question...how are you removing the leather smell from the leather?  Usually cigars stored in a leather pocket sized holder retain the leather smell (because of the chemicals used in tanning the leather) 

I've seen a bunch lined with wood or something else to reduce the scent of the leather....

And the retail for leather cigar cases is sweet too. (I am not interested in selling my crafts...just curious) 

In my uses, I either leave them in the cellophane wrapper, or they are not in their long enough to be affected by the leather "aroma" - lol.  I mainly use them when heading to an event and don't want to risk crushing them in transit.  When traveling for several days, I will take my herfidor (small, pelican style case), then transfer them to small leather humidor for an outing.

[chuck123wapati]

On 10/15/2021 at 8:43 AM, PastorBob said:

In my uses, I either leave them in the cellophane wrapper, or they are not in their long enough to be affected by the leather "aroma" - lol.  I mainly use them when heading to an event and don't want to risk crushing them in transit.  When traveling for several days, I will take my herfidor (small, pelican style case), then transfer them to small leather humidor for an outing.

check these out they are for wood turning, similar to pen making but i think you could cover them with leather also they are pretty cool i would try one but i gave up the gars a while back.

https://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/55/6539/artisan-Cigar-Case-with-Cutter-Punch-Tip-Kit?term=cigar+case&term=cigar case

[PastorBob]

18 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

check these out they are for wood turning, similar to pen making but i think you could cover them with leather also they are pretty cool i would try one but i gave up the gars a while back.

https://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/55/6539/artisan-Cigar-Case-with-Cutter-Punch-Tip-Kit?term=cigar+case&term=cigar case

pretty cool.  Wish I had the room and equipment to do wood.  Always fascinates me to watch wood turning.  some cigars I buy have a thin cedar wrap around them.  I could probably find some of that if necessary. Have had no complaints thus far.

[johnnydb]

On 10/15/2021 at 6:41 AM, PastorBob said:

It could be imperfections in the tanning process where some of the chemicals they used remained on the leather.  I have never tried it, but have heard use of deglazer can help remove the surface impurities.  Another thought is to wet all the leather pieces and allow them to dry.  I recently made a pocket humidor and its been drying for 3 days in front of a fan and is still not completely dry.

I discovered the reason why....it wasn't exactly a good reason either. 

I had cased the leather and that indeed was the reason...but not the only reason. The leather had shrunk so much that it concentrated the dye. And also because it shrunk so much it is now unusable for the intended purpose. 

 

So I've done another.... and it looks better than before...

So I'd post a picture up of the better version but the photo resizer isn't working anymore....I hit the button and it does nothing. 

[johnnydb]

Found another one...

[PastorBob]

Very nice.  Practice is paying off.

[chuck123wapati]

16 hours ago, johnnydb said:

Found another one...

that will look great when finished. my only suggestion is to try a smooth beveller between the letter and floral. practice makes perfect.

 

[YinTx]

Well that was fun!  Thanks for the challenge.  I'm sure I could do it more justice if I tried again.  Just grab some pieces of scrap out of the bin, and cut away.  Those designs you put up are almost tailor made for finger carvings!  So to answer your question, yes you could do them with just a swivel knife.  I'm really digging the last horse.

YinTx

On 7/22/2021 at 7:34 PM, twilson57 said:

I’m new at leather craft, and I’m about to venture into carving and tooling. I’m particularly interested in decorative styles using just the swivel knife. I’ve seen it called finger carving in some posts. 

I’ve attached some graphics I’ve come across, and I’m wondering if I could carve similar designs using a swivel knife (with lots of practice of course). 

As I said, I’m new at this, so any tips or advice are welcome. 

Thanks 

 

[johnnydb]

So it's a done deal. Used neatsfoot oil colored with feibings dye (not pro dye) to dye the project with. 

Probably could have tried to antique it more with a resist and etc...just chose to try that another day...besides the oil/dye gave it a great unique aged character look and the feel is so soft for veg tan leather. Not stiff and inflexible. I showed it to another leathercrafter and he thought that I'd used chrome tanned leather to make it. 

[YinTx]

That is a really good look.  Antiquing isn't always necessary and will sometimes bring out the flaws in the leather and tooling, or come out blotchy or streaky and just make you unhappy with the results.  No antique may have been the right choice on this project!  The finger carvings I did above have no antique also.  No beveling either.

YinTx

[tsunkasapa]

Very nice! Your carving has improved greatly.

[johnnydb]

18 minutes ago, YinTx said:

That is a really good look.  Antiquing isn't always necessary and will sometimes bring out the flaws in the leather and tooling, or come out blotchy or streaky and just make you unhappy with the results.  No antique may have been the right choice on this project!  The finger carvings I did above have no antique also.  No beveling either.

YinTx

Yours above look great...I did this highlighted "B" 3 times to get it to look like it does. Just a Cussing and a fussing the whole time...(I'm having fun when I do that)

9 minutes ago, tsunkasapa said:

Very nice! Your carving has improved greatly.

Thank you kindly...

I know that it's a matter of practice, practice, and more practice. 

Currently my wife is jealous of her sister...she wants one but Red...and with an initial for her. 

[johnnydb]

I'm keeping after it...

Any suggestions?

[tsunkasapa]

I would suggest a matting tool, like an F899 or F900. This will 'feather' your beveling out so the letter doesn't look like it's sitting 'in a hole'. I think you'll find it makes a big difference. Otherwise, your carving is going nicely.

[JayEhl]

On 10/19/2021 at 7:22 PM, YinTx said:

Well that was fun!  Thanks for the challenge.  I'm sure I could do it more justice if I tried again.  Just grab some pieces of scrap out of the bin, and cut away.  Those designs you put up are almost tailor made for finger carvings!  So to answer your question, yes you could do them with just a swivel knife.  I'm really digging the last horse.

YinTx

 

Some fancy carving there, for sure!

Edited December 2, 2021 by JayEhl