Wanted to share a new and different project I've been working on.

[hdflame]

I've been teaching myself a little leather working to incorporate into my upholstery.  I wanted to make the guys at the fire station something different for Christmas.   I wanted to give them  something personal this year, instead of the usual flashlight or tape measure. ;D

So I decided to make them all a leather key fob that looks like a fire helmet shield with their name and number on it.  I did several prototypes for myself and learned from each one.  This is what I came up with.  I already have some changes in mind for the next ones.


Some first attempts...just practicing.


Here's one almost finished.


Here's the one I finished for me.  I want to improve my coloring and outline the letters with contrasting colors next time.

[JuneC]

Wow Bobby, that looks terrific!  Nice work.  How long does it take you to make one?  I'd bet you could sell those online.

June

[SHHR]

Looks Great! Tooled leather is getting a lot more popular in custom upholstery too; Bike seats, saddlebags, and such.

[hdflame]

Looks Great! Tooled leather is getting a lot more popular in custom upholstery too; Bike seats, saddlebags, and such.

Thanks June.  I figure the guys in the dept. will want one when they see these.

The tooled leather motorcycle seats is what got me interested in learning leatherwork.  There's another great forum for leatherwork, kinda like this one is for upholstery.  Lot's of talent and a good place to get ideas.

[bobbin]

Those are fabulous, Bobby!

[Saddleman]

Bobby, very cool. 

Loren

[Allan]

Hey Bobby

That looks great

Have you got a link to the leather forum please

Allan

[fragged8]

looking good there bobby

i got some leather stamps a week or two ago
but the leather doesn't seem to hold the image ?

do you wet the leather before stamping ?

Rich

[hdflame]

Thanks to all for the positive comments.  These are very basic in comparison to what can be seen on the www.leatherworker.net forum.  Allan, this is the link that takes you to the homepage of the forum.  From there you can visit all of the sub-forums.

There is almost an infinite number of forums on the board to cover just about anybody's interest.  You can spend several hours viewing examples of things that interest you.  There is also a lot of "How-To's" posted by members.

I have subscribed to the leather working academy on smartflix.com.  I receive up to 3 videos each month and can keep them as long as I want.  When I send them back in, I receive 3 more videos.  So far I've viewed how to's on carving roses and oak leaves as well as 2 videos on making knife sheaths.  Pretty good videos so far.  I can also cancel at any time or opt out to not watch certain videos that don't interest me.

Loren, there is a lot of posting in the Motorcycle forum.  http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?s=7f795c83f9fccae4c49f180d13c42f5a&showforum=63

Rich, you do wet the leather before stamping.  You wet it with a sponge, then let it dry till the surface is almost back to the original color before stamping.  Tooling, Stamping & Carving Leather Subforums is an area that will interest you:
http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?s=7f795c83f9fccae4c49f180d13c42f5a&showforum=14

If you have a Tandy leather store near you, you can attend free classes that they put on at the stores.  I have one about 50 miles away.  They have a class just about every Saturday.  I haven't had a chance to attend one yet but plan on it after the new year.  You can also sign up for a commercial business account for a huge savings on tools and supplies.

Rich, if you do some searching and looking around, you can find a lot of free videos that will give you some hints on using your new tools.

Hope this helps those that asked.

If there's enough interest, I'll create a place for leatherworking questions and picture posting...just let me know.  I think it's another way to increase your customer base by incorporating speciality leatherwork into your business.

[Darren Henry]

[quote Rich, you do wet the leather before stamping.  You wet it with a sponge, then let it dry till the surface is almost back to the original color before stamping. ][/quote]

Sorry to disagree ; but that is insufficient. The long version of casing (wetting the leather) is to soak it for an hour or two in ...body fluid ...warm water  then let it dry in newsprint for half a day or so until it is the original colour,feels dry but is cool when touched to the cheek. If it is perfect your stamping will burnish (turn darker).

The short version is to run it under the tap at that same temp until the bubbles quit coming off the grain (back) side, and go from there.

If it dries out that it doesn't feel cool to the cheek as you work; it moisten it with a sponge and let it soak in until the colour is right again.

Carving is best done a tad on the damp side so that the individual tool marks (bevelers/shapers etc..) don't burnish.

;) once cased the other pieces  of a project(s) can be stored in a plastic bag to "keep them on hold" until their turn.

;) ;) ;) a very light pencil line will be invisible once the project is complete, but can help with alignment and spacing. Also a half pattern will always be isometric.

Great first attempt though Bobby. You could sell those down town; I'm just picking the fly dung out of the pepper after you told me how "perfect" you wanted to be.

[hdflame]

Darren, that is definitely the more in depth version of casing your leather.  Most videos I've seen just show wetting with the sponge.  I've read that different people have different preferences as to how wet they like the leather, but most seem to use the method of pressing against the cheek to feel the coolness, like you said.

One other thing you might add is that if you're putting your leather in a plastic bag for any extended length of time to hold, you might want to put it in the fridge to keep it from molding.

As for being perfect,  I don't think I'll ever make it to that stage. :D  I try to make each item the best that I can, so each time it does get better....but a long way from perfect! ;D

There are some that post pictures on the leatherworker.net site that I can't look and find anything wrong with...then they talk about some little something that if you didn't work with leather you'd never see it.  Now they're good!  It amazes me at how intricate some of them are with their designs.  I only hope to be that good some day.  Course some of them have 20 or more years experience.

I always tell my motorcycle students that practice doesn't make perfect, PERFECT PRACTICE makes perfect! ;D  Even then, sometimes I get a little lazy with what I'm doing, and know I could do it better if I just took more time.  I guess the main thing is, I enjoy making things and it's nice to have places like this where you can go get advice. ;)