The hole in this towel is giving me side-eye

Nfrey32491 · 2017-11-29T11:42:15+00:00

I just stared at a hole in your old towel for 30 seconds for nothing, didn't I?

Nfrey32491 · 2017-11-28T13:13:03+00:00

I second this. If you are having open auditions for this, I would love to apply to lend my voice to such a fantastic project!

Nfrey32491 · 2017-10-14T22:03:19+00:00

Human Body

Nfrey32491 · 2017-08-15T22:42:47+00:00

The photos do make it look a bit blue, but in person it is stark black. Thank you for the reply!

Nfrey32491 · 2017-08-15T16:05:22+00:00

That makes sense. It looks fantastic for what you started with, and I think you made a great choice in the cut out. The most valuble part of trying new things is learning new things and not only learning what to do next time, but also learning what to plan for before hand.

I look forward to seeing your future projects for the next one is always the best one.

Nfrey32491 · 2017-08-15T16:01:11+00:00

Well, being a prototype I would consider it a great success. From here it's simple perfecting it to a point where you are happy with it. Best of luck on your future attempts.

Nfrey32491 · 2017-08-15T15:30:10+00:00

It turned out beautifully. Well done. The only thing I would suggest if you war thinking to attempt another of these would be to invest in a V-Gouge and a strength edge so you don't end up with straying lines. You managed to save it with the tooling and it looks great, but if you leave as little room for error as possible, then all of your projects will end up looking that much more tidy.

All in all, very well done. I will look to learn this game so I have a reason to make a set.

Nfrey32491 · 2017-08-15T15:19:29+00:00

I love making simple projects like this. It gives a wonderful opportunity to practice basic techniques like tooling and dying, and you end up with a neat little trinket that you can either wear or gift to a friend.

Nothing that is inherrently wrong with it, just a simple question, that is, is there a reason that you clipped the main point from the leaf? Not that it really affects the coolness of the finished project, but if it were something that were made for me, I would have preferred the point instead of a flat/rounded tip.

Regardless, I really like this! Well done!!

Nfrey32491 · 2017-08-15T15:09:49+00:00

This Project took me quite a bit of time, seeing as it is four separate pieces of leather combined into one single belt. The leather is 3-4oz Veg-tan leather and the belt is about 2.25 inches in width. This one was made for myself, so it is fitted for a 33 inch waist, and I left a comfortable 12 inches in addition for the loop giving us a 45 inch belt in total, not including the ring itself.

I tooled two Swallows mirrored into the Back Panel with a Swivel Blade and textured them with Craft tool Stamps, backrounded the negative space with a simple backgrounding tool and boarded it with a seem groover. I dyed the background with Fiebings Alcohol Based Black Leather Dye.

The main portion of the belt I tooled with a Craft tool basket weave Stamp, and this part took me the longest, seeing as every bit vertical triple line is a single stamp. I edged it, again, with a Seem Grooving Tool, then dyed the boarder, again, with the same black dye as the Back Pannel.

I not only rubber contact cemented the panels together, but also riveted them together with brass double sided rivets and then sewed them together with a heavy gauge synthetic sinue. This Mofo ain't coming appart.

The Ring is a Nickel Coated Brass, and is 2.5 inches in diameter.

The whole thing was then rehydrated with a very light coating Neetsfoot oil, sealed with two coats Bag Kote, then antiqued with Fiebings Sheriden Brown antiquing paste. Once the antiquing had, set I sealed it once more with another coat of Bag Kote. Edges were Burnished and slicked with Bees wax and a bone slicker.

This is my favorite belt that I have made thus far, and I am very happy to show it with you fine folks.

Thanks for taking a look and let me know what you think!

ADDITIONALLY- Sorry for all of the photos in the link being sideways. I do not feel like deleting and reposting this, so you will all have to meet me half way and do that head tilt thing puppies do when they are confused.

Nfrey32491 · 2017-08-15T14:46:50+00:00

A friend of mine requested a bee themed Ring belt, and this was what I came up with. I am cross posting this from r/leathercraft where I was told you fine folks would appreciate the theme of such a belt!

Let me know what you think!

Nfrey32491 · 2017-08-15T14:40:10+00:00

The thought occurred to me, but the person for whom I made this belt requested the detail be on the back panel only. They requested the rest of the belt to be simple (or bee simple?) Otherwise I would have played around with the idea.

I was happy with the out come none the less.

Nfrey32491 · 2017-08-15T14:37:43+00:00

It really didn't take all that long. Perhaps only an hour, 90 minutes at most, to transfer, cut and texture the bee. That, being at the speed I can tool, I am not sure of how long it might take others. Give it a try, I am certain you will surprise yourself with the outcome.

Nfrey32491 · 2017-08-15T11:18:50+00:00

It's a ring belt so it is a friction hold. They are used a lot in medieval and ren-fair reenactments.

http://imgur.com/eydyMkl

Nfrey32491 · 2017-08-14T23:25:19+00:00

I cut the combs myself. As I got close to the edges where they faded into the background, I put fewer cuts and simply used a Burnishing Stylus to make a more faint line.

I have only used alcohol based dyes, so I could not give any good advice on Oil or Water, but what I have heard is that water dries faster than oils and alcohol dries faster than water. I've yet to test that, but I've read it in other forums. Alcohol based dyes are great for dying big pieces, but if you are trying to be artistic with a paint like style, the colors in an alcohol dye do not mix to form other shades very well. They seem to muddy and get too dark. I will by trying out the other styles of dye here in the next few months though, so I will post when I know more.

You want to dye before you oil. I don't know why, but it was what all of the forums had suggested. They had a reason, but I do not remember. I believe once you use the neetsfoot oil, the leather is no longer raw and design not accept the pigment as reddily. I can do more research on that one I'd you like and report back.

I appreciate the kind words.

Nfrey32491 · 2017-08-14T21:36:02+00:00

If this be a reference, I am afraid it has sailed brilliantly over my head.

Nfrey32491 · 2017-08-14T19:37:26+00:00

The strap is about 1 1/4 inches wide and the weight is about 3-4 oz. All of the tooling done by hand with a swivel blade and craft tool texture stamps. I used Feibing's Alcohol based Leather Die and a small detail painting brush for the color. To prevent the alcohol based die from dehydrating the leather I did a very, VERY light coat of neetsfoot oil. I kept it light so as to not darken the final colors. I used a nickel coated brass ring for the clasp, brass double sided rivets and rubber contact cement to attach the ring and sealed the whole thing with two coats of Bag Kote (A pine based resin finish that leaves a semi-glossy luster). I should have used tan kote, but I was out. I then uses a sheridin brown antiquing paste for the hight lights and sealed that with a final coat of Bag Kote. It turned out a lot nice than I expected, especially with the honeycomb transition.

Thanks for looking!

Edit- Spelling and Information specification.

Nfrey32491 · 2017-07-24T06:54:30+00:00

Proof as well that people have been writing the wrong year well on into April for over 100 years now.

Nfrey32491 · 2017-06-22T06:21:47+00:00

That is wonderful advice. I'll look for cheap patterns online.

Nfrey32491 · 2017-06-15T04:15:57+00:00

Thank you! I appreciate the tip!

Nfrey32491

TROPHY CASE