My first try at leather carving/ tooling

[WoodsmanJim]

Good evening folks, long time no post so I thought it's about time. I've been a bit ill of late so unable to spend much time on my hobbies, however this evening I finally got round to something I've been wanting to have a go at for a long time. I've been half way through making a new sheath for my FeildcrafterUK knife for a fair while and it's been waiting on me putting a design on it before it can go any further. But I've never used a swivel knife or tooled leather at all before so first I wanted a practice run.



The design is one I came up about 15 years ago and is kind of my logo of sorts, if you'd call it that. It has a lot meaning in for me and I have it tattooed on my right upper arm, my first ever tattoo when I was 18!
I've not done a perfect job, I made some cutting errors on the lines. I also think I didn't cut deep enough as when tooling it I couldn't quite get a neat step in the leather either side of the cut, it seemed to sort of pucker the cut a bit which leaves the cut as an obvious line. Any tips or advice from the very talented leather workers on here would be greatly appreciated. I also now have an even deeper level of respect for you guys who turn out the amazing leather work that you do!

I'm planning on making some knives for a couple of my buds for Christmas pressies and want to also make some personalised sheaths to go with them so I'm sure to get some more practice in soon. And of course I have my own sheath to finish too!

Cheers all,

James

 

[Dreadhead]

nice work, that's superb for a first try you should be proud of that

A few tips:

I recommend a filigree blade for the swivel knife, which has a 45 degree angle rather than the flat blade that come with them. It helps with the cutting as you don't have to angle the swivel knife. The downside is the blade is slightly more acute so the cut is a little thinner, but as a rule i go over every cut twice, and always cut away from corners etc.

I never cut to the very end of acute corners, such as the 4 ends of your tribal/knot design there, as after tooling the end sometimes sticks up like a little tail if that makes sense or wont compress properly.

Other than that it looks like you are doing well, and just keep experimenting with your timing/wetting the leather as it takes forever to get your technique right for the leather you are using with moisture content. It also helps to try out some different bevelers to see what you get on with the most. keep up the good work

 

[Clouston98]

Nicely done James!

Sorry to hear you've been ill too.

 

[Tengu]

Thats great. I have a swivel knife and stanps, but have never had the confidence to tool leather.

 

[WoodsmanJim]

Thanks for the encouragement folks, and for the advice DreadHead. A compliment from you in particular is quite encouraging, your work is fantastic. I've ordered a filigree blade for my knife on your recommendation, so we'll see how I get on with that. Now it's dried out a bit more I can definitely see that I just didn't cut deep enough, I was worried about cutting to deep and going through, I was clearly too cautious!

Tengu I just watched a ton of vids on YouTube to get a feel for how different folks do it, but eventually you just got to give it a go knowing that the first few bits will probably be a bit iffy. But that's how we learn. So just go for it! Be sure to post your efforts too, I'd love to see them.

James

 

[WoodsmanJim]

Whilst waiting for my new filigree blade to arrive I decided to have another crack. This sheath is for myself so it won't matter if it's a learning peice. Also, I'm impatient and wanted to do it again!

I went over the cuts twice as advised and it definitely helped, still not as perfect as I'd like but where it's not as good I can see I didn't cut as deep. Need to be a little braver still with the swivel knife! But the more I do the more I'll learn.

So here's number two, actually on the sheath this time.

And for comparison with the first one:

I think it's definitely a bit better so I'm happy.
I can see this becoming an addiction, already thinking about pouches, belts..... all sorts of things! Haha!

James

 

[Dreadhead]

You're already improving mate, those points look much cleaner, and your lines too. you've officially caught the leatherworking bug

 

[WoodsmanJim]

Thank you, I tried your tip of not cutting all the way to the points. Makes for a much nicer finish, thanks for the advice!

James