tooled antlers

G

grumpy_grinder

Joined
Oct 2, 2015
Messages
481
This was the third attempt to tool antlers ... for some reason no matter how hard i try i feel like I can never get them right. They're not consistent and the i feel that my beveler is too big.


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The tool marks indicate you were using a pear checked shader and not a beveler at all or if you did bevel first the same pear shaped tool was what you used instead of a background tool or a mat tool. Right tool for the job will yield much better results.

Edit to add: There are several Al Stohlman books available from Tandy which will shorten your learning curve considerably

"Tech Tips" "How to Carve Leather" "How to Make Holsters" and several more. All have invaluable information and instructions along with great illustrations.. Using the books many years ago was how I taught myself to a great degree.

http://www.tandyleather.com/en/category/books-patterns

There are several pages and a total of 138 books, make sure you see them all.

Paul
 
Last edited:
just ordered thanks Paul , I have 2 of his books already. I was not aware he had a book on tooling and carving.

Cheers

Grumpy
 
I am far from an expert but I have gone through what you are experiencing a number of years ago. As Paul says, Al Stohlman's books are absolutely some of the best help out there. The one that helped me the most with antlers was his Figure Carving Finesse book.

I learned that the three most important things were accurate pattern transfer, precise cutting and careful beveling. The attached photo is of a case I did years ago. It was probably my 5th or 6th try at that figure and even then it is far from perfect. The horns really need to be rounded more with modeling tools and the beveling can be improved a lot. To do this I made a very pointed stylus tool to transfer the pattern to the leather. The typical commercial stylus has too big a point for the fine lines needed. I used a very sharp angle blade and took a lot of time to ensure I cut on the lines at the proper depth. The beveling was done with special figure carving bevelers that have much less angle than the regular ones. However, any will work if you are careful how you hold it. I also believe smooth ones tend to look better on figures like this because you can make the figure really pop out of the background (my wife tried to help with the background by painting my work room without covering anything; hence the white dots and shading around the horns). I also made a lot of use of small modeling spoons to work the fine detail. Sometimes mallets are too much, no matter how careful.

Be patient and practice. I have a lot of scrap leather with practice carvings and each taught me something.
RandyAntlers 1.jpg
 
Is it just me, or you didn't score your shape with swivel knife? That helps with keeping the shapes sharper.
 
Robber58 said:
I am far from an expert but I have gone through what you are experiencing a number of years ago. As Paul says, Al Stohlman's books are absolutely some of the best help out there. The one that helped me the most with antlers was his Figure Carving Finesse book.

I learned that the three most important things were accurate pattern transfer, precise cutting and careful beveling. The attached photo is of a case I did years ago. It was probably my 5th or 6th try at that figure and even then it is far from perfect. The horns really need to be rounded more with modeling tools and the beveling can be improved a lot. To do this I made a very pointed stylus tool to transfer the pattern to the leather. The typical commercial stylus has too big a point for the fine lines needed. I used a very sharp angle blade and took a lot of time to ensure I cut on the lines at the proper depth. The beveling was done with special figure carving bevelers that have much less angle than the regular ones. However, any will work if you are careful how you hold it. I also believe smooth ones tend to look better on figures like this because you can make the figure really pop out of the background (my wife tried to help with the background by painting my work room without covering anything; hence the white dots and shading around the horns). I also made a lot of use of small modeling spoons to work the fine detail. Sometimes mallets are too much, no matter how careful.

Be patient and practice. I have a lot of scrap leather with practice carvings and each taught me something.
RandyView attachment 595850
Click to expand...
:thumbup: Beautiful work.
 
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