R.B.

hobb & nill, never heard of daytona bros magazine, quick google, a bit surfing by pictures, interesting stuff. nice work though mate, i like that glass's case, esp the grooved and stitched cross round the back.

coleslawyum, have to agree with dk123 and thinfin, that’s some impressive work! i went back in time in this thread trying to find pictures of some of your other work but there not appearing, do you have an online gallery of all your pieces somewhere?

anyways, inspiring stuff as always, bye

Been re-reading off and on for the last few short train rides the two John Ruskin essays in penguins 'on art and life'. Been meaning for quite a while now to man up and start reading the stones of Venice, just never get round to it.

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hey corter, thanks for the welcome. I’ve come across your work before, I think on the freeman blog and I must say I do like how you’re going about things, building your empire, its inspiring for a guy like me trying to find a footing for his own little empire to start building foundations on. That hide looks a beast though, going to make some nice belts that stuff.

Anyway it’s a new day here, im going to get started on some work, bye.

Hey,

John, I’m sure the shoe protector stuff will wear off over time, but like you say its going to be interesting to see what happens. Its going to age and change no matter what, that’s the beauty and curse of tannin tanned leather. The wallet below looks good too, it holding up well in day to day life? The hats work well, you should defiantly have a bash at some, be interesting to see what design and style of hat you come up with!

Ihatebrianwilliams, yer I use a pricking iron for the 10spi stuff (the tool is classed as 10spi but actually the gap between each stitch is 2.7mm) though I have a pricking wheel carriage and wheels for other stuff at different spi’s. Tbh I think your going to find it hard to get hold of one in America simply because it isn’t a traditional tool in American leathercraft, you guys seem to use the overstitch wheels or the chisel like stitching tool things. On my internet travels though I have come across an American place called siegels of California that seems to import Dixon stuff, that could be a place to start the search. I have this book about leathertools from the 1700’s to the 1950’s and its unbelievable the amount of tools they had available back then compared to what we have now.

Oh and bob Douglas tools, ive heard them referenced to on other forums (the big leatherworker one) with high regard but frankly as I generally stick to traditional European methods I generally stick with European tools so that’s as much as I know about them sadly.

Hollows, looking real good. I know this is against the grain with the superfuture mass(considering the leather evolution thread) but I prefer veg tan leather when its nice and creamy like that rather to when its aged, tanned and stuff.

Anyways, have fun, bye

Hi,

Been trawling this thread these past few days and just wanted to say it’s been really inspiring and motivating to see your guys work but also how you’re going about things. Aesthetically I’m into slightly different things but still it’s really interesting to see how other people are approaching it + you guys seem around my age (20’s to 30’s) instead of the “slightly†older leatherworker found elsewhere on the net.

John, your stuff looks real good, certainly stuff to be pleased with, you planning on oiling the undyed pieces? Can’t really offer any specific tips/critiques other than to join the army of leatherworkers regularly practising to hopefully one day slay the almighty & masterful hermès. Corter, quite a few pages back there was talk about stitching horses etc. to hold the leather whilst you go to work on the stitching. I use something called a stitching clam that could possibly be right up your street if you can get hold of one that side of the atlantic.

Anyhow, pictures always add spice to a post, these are two “hats†I made for two of my awl’s a few days back, the 43mm and the scratch awl, handstitched in my go-to stitch length of 10 per inch. I’m trying to think of a variation I can make for my curved awls but my mind hasn’t blessed me with a solution just yet. (hopefully the image will show)

Anyways, looking forward to see how this thread progress’s, bye