Whacha Been Up To......

[Horsewright]

Finished the largest pair of chinks (short chaps) that I've ever made. These were ordered for a friend by his wife as a Christmas present. Ethan is 6' 9". I tried em on but they were dragging on the ground for me, I'm only 6'3". Tyler my friend wore em for the pics and he's 6'4". They were still long for him but we got the pics took:

The legs are water buffalo with a double sewn on fringe of water buffalo and an orange second fringe underneath. Had to do the sewn on fringe as the water buffalo sides simply weren't big enough for this project. They are sewn in orange too. There is an orange underlayment under the leg plates and the yokes and a welt pocket on the left leg.

It was interesting because Tyler had an orange tie rope on his saddle at the time of the pics:

I'd made Tylers belt too:

Anyhoo took most of three sides of water buffalo to get these done and a pretty big chunk of an orange designer garment side too:

Whats going on here? We went to town and bought every size one horseshoe we could find:

 

[Chris 54326]

Really like your stamp work, Dave. You get such a nice burnish on it. Wish I could get that with mine. Though I think you said it was probably my leather. (Tandy's) Beautiful Chaps. Somebody's gonna be mighty happy come Christmas morning.

 

[Chris 54326]

Well, here's what I've been up to the last couple of days. My first stab at trying to create a low relief carving in leather. It's my first stab at the process, so give me a break for portraying a "handicapped" Elk. (he's missing his left front leg) I was so caught up in trying to get it finished I completely left out his leg.

 

[Robber58]

Chris,
You got a lot of things right and I know how difficult it is to carve figures. Good on you for taking it on and being willing to show others your work. We probably need to talk about eyes and noses a bit.
Randy

 

[Chris 54326]

Indeed. Nose is not only too large but "square on" with the viewer instead of angled like the head. Had absolutely no idea how to stamp the eye convincingly enough. Several other things I'll do much differently with the next one. Thanks for the comments.

 

[Horsewright]

Really like your stamp work, Dave. You get such a nice burnish on it. Wish I could get that with mine. Though I think you said it was probably my leather. (Tandy's) Beautiful Chaps. Somebody's gonna be mighty happy come Christmas morning.

Both Tyler's belt and the yokes and belt on the chinks are the Wicket and Craig 8/10 oz russet skirting. Thnaks.

 

[Robber58]

Chris,
I highly recommend you get a copy of Al Stohlmans book Figure Carving Finesse. It is my bible for figure carving and will provide you exceptional information on all aspects of figures, both human and animal. There are also a lot of patterns included that are really nice. The elk on my scabbard came from there. I think Tandy still carries it. He also has another called Pictorial Carving Finesse that can help a great deal with everything else.
Randy

 

[Chris 54326]

Both Tyler's belt and the yokes and belt on the chinks are the Wicket and Craig 8/10 oz russet skirting. Thnaks.

I'm still "stuck" with Tandy's offerings until I get good enough to spend the big bucks for nice leather. Sure does look great.

I'll check that out next time I'm at Tandy's, Randy. Thanks. Need all the help I can get.

 

[Chris 54326]

Randy,

I dropped by Tandy's today to pick up a hair blade tool. While there I asked if they had any of Al Stohlmans books. The guy pointed to the racks below the cash register and said "Over 90% of those in the rack are his books." DANG he's got a lot of books. How has he ever had time to work on leather????? I really liked the one on Pictorial Carving. I'm afraid I'd have to win the lottery to buy all of the books he's written.

 

[Robber58]

Yep,
He has a lot of writings out there. Some are better than others but they all can teach you something. He was a gifted artist and highly skilled craftsman. I had the pleasure of meeting him many years ago at a leather crafters show. He was also a very nice and helpful guy.
Randy

 

[Chris 54326]

Well, he was (I'm assuming he is no longer alive) prolific, to say the least.

 

[Horsewright]

Well, he was (I'm assuming he is no longer alive) prolific, to say the least.

Yeah he passed away some time ago. I met his wife Ann at a show some years after he passed.


Here's a deal. Make quite a few belts out of water buffalo as most folks here know. Very popular and a great, tough and durable leather. Here my friend Tyler has one on:

He's kinda using it as designed. My son thinks out side of the box often. Had a cow elk down on Thanksgiving morning, used his water buffalo belt to drag her back to camp:

 

[Chris 54326]

Yup, that's thinkin' outside the box, for sure.

 

[Horsewright]

Yup, that's thinkin' outside the box, for sure.

He's used it for hobbles on his horse before too. Don't know what I did with that picture.

 

[Chris 54326]

Cool.

 

[Robber58]

I have been a bit busier than usual and thought I would share some recent work.
First is a flap holster for a local fellow's Ruger 22 auto.


Then a small utility knife and simple sheath for a guy that likes cocobolo. Also a stand alone gut hook and sheath for the same guy.



A couple of hunters for two brother's Christmas. I was told they are twins.


Finally the second dagger for a marine that lost the first during a tough time in Afghanistan. My gift to him.


Randy

 

[J. Keeton]

Randy

Man, that's some clean work! Do you have some pics of the opening of these guys from the side? Maybe un-snapped? I've been working on making some sheaths of this style and have been trying to conceptualize different designs I see.

Cheers sir!

 

[Robber58]

I actually have two versions of that sheath. Here is a picture of one in work for a Busse with version 2. It has a lock rotating around a pivot (a modified Chicago screw).

The first version I made (and still make for some knives) has the lock built into the welt . There is a steel pin embedded in the lock area to maintain stiffness. That it will provide some security without the strap and you can just push the knife in and it will lock. The disadvantage is that it is very time consuming to build and not adjustable. You either get it right or make it again.

Yours to use if you wish.
Randy

 

[J. Keeton]

I actually have two versions of that sheath. Here is a picture of one in work for a Busse with version 2. It has a lock rotating around a pivot (a modified Chicago screw).

The first version I made (and still make for some knives) has the lock built into the welt . There is a steel pin embedded in the lock area to maintain stiffness. That it will provide some security without the strap and you can just push the knife in and it will lock. The disadvantage is that it is very time consuming to build and not adjustable. You either get it right or make it again.

Yours to use if you wish.
Randy

Holy Cow! I had no idea that mechanism was there. Very cool sir. First time I've seen something like that for sure!

 

[Horsewright]

Very, very nice work Randy! Like that holster. Tooled three last night myself. Thats really clean. Good on you replacing that dagger for the Marine. Did something similar myself a few years back. Got a call from a guy, a Special Forces team guy. He said he had one of my Buckaroos. Said he loved that knife, it'd gone around the world with him twice. He says wouldn't ya know it I'm home for a bit and getting gas in Salt Lake City and someone steals it off the dash of my truck while I'm inside paying. So how much for a new one? No charge my friend, thank you for doing what you do!

Very interesting lock there are you making that out of micarta?