Leather By Johan

Award Commission

2011-11-13T21:45:00.001-06:00

The requirements were specific: They wanted their logo on the belt with the same writing that they use around their logo! I warned that writing that small (1/4") with tooling is not easy - especially seeing that I had a severe time limit.

I used a swivel knife for the logo outlines, but the writing was just done with a checkered beveler only.

The holsters hold 5 Hour Energy drinks! (In my youth as a programmer, we ran on coffee, good old fashioned cafeeinated coffee - the good old days!)

A Ram's Horn Bag

2011-10-29T20:45:00.001-05:00

I am reluctant to take on prototype projects, but the challenge of carving a lion was just too much! [A lion's face does not have many swivel knive cuts and is tooling wise not easy.] I embossed the lion face slightly, but did not leave a plug in there, so the embossing is quite subtle.

Further more, the bag is for a Ram's Horn, like in the Old Testament, but it is not one used in a Jewish community - as in a Hispanic Protestant Church.

So, as with all my projects, I did quite a few practise pieces to see how things would work.

This paid off, because I got the best background dye around the lion's head with the new Pro Waterbased Stain! So all the veg tan leather was dyed with this new stain.

A little gold acrylic added a bit more prominence to the lettering.

["The Lion of the Tribe of Judah"]

I decided to use the same opening as for the Huarachi pouch, as it lies flat, but the challenge came in that there was now lining and padding inside the pouch as well and the bag was also stitched inside out and turned in.

And there it is - all done!

I just put a cow horn in there to show how the horn would go into the bag opening.

Fading Dyes

2011-09-29T23:01:00.001-05:00

In my previous posting I made mention of the tool box colors that have faded so bad. Here it is - a side by side comparrison:

In March 2004, this was the new box lid, done in Fiebing's spirit based dyes:-

Today, September 29, 2011, I took this picture, but the fading already occured a number of years ago....:

All the yellows and blues are gone.

In June 2004 I did this handbag, also with the Fiebings spirit based dyes (The initials were done in Cova Color enamel acrylics):

In April 2007, after three years, the color had faded completely and the new Eco-Flo dyes had just been introduced. I tested them on this handbag by doing one half in the new water-based dyes. And so on May 15, 2007 I took these three photos of the 'half' restored bag:

I photographed that bag this afternoon to show how well the Eco-Flo dyes have kept its color over the last 4 years:

ToolBox Project

2011-09-28T22:19:00.001-05:00

Here is a second posting in the process of converting my static leather pages to blog postings:

This is my first attempt at a hand-made personal toolbox - inspired by Peter Main.

Inside
	I first constructed the box by gluing the four sides together and holding them in clamps. Then I glue on the bottom and lid of the box - ending with a closed hollow box. The hollow box is then sawed in half - top and bottom. On the inside of the bottom sides, I glue pieces of wood identical to those from which the sides were originally built - these serve to hold the lid in place. The lid is of course and absolute perfect fit, because it used to be one piece with the bottom of the box.
The next step was to plan the inside - the placement of the tools and the layers of cork that would give them a place to lie. I embedded strong magnets into the cork and glued it down with epoxy glue.
	I lined this box with pre glued felt from the local woodworking store (used for lining jewelry boxes), but never again - the adhesive is very strong and is very difficult to work with on the uneven surface - next time I will line it with garment pigskin.
Next was the enjoyable part of the project -putting the design on the leather - here the whole design has been carved and one half of me wanted to stop right here!
	I begin with the zulu shields and progress to the Trevor Jones Bars at the top and bottom. The Zulu shields are symbolic of the oldest use of leather in Africa and I just liked the design. The Trovor Jones Bars are dedicated to a master leathercrafter in Natal, South Africa, who made me a beautiful belt with a similar pattern on. The elephant was just another nice design I wanted to use in any Africa setting and the Strelitzia flowers just seemed to complete the picture.
I sometimes use a magnifying glass on a stand when I do fine dying work - I just find it so much less stress on my eyes in artificial light.
	At long last the dying is done and the leather is glued onto the box lid.
A final scan of the finished design.

September 2011 Update: Those Fiebings dyes faded completely and now this box is totally monochrome!

Because the leather was glued onto wood, I thought it would be a good idea to heavily coat it with neatlac - so if I were to re-color it, I would have to strip it very agressively. This time I will definitely use the regular Eco-Flo dyes.

Dubbin was King

2011-09-21T19:35:00.001-05:00

I decided to convert my few static web pages about leatherwork, into blog entries and so here is the first one:

DUBBIN

The Ultimate Leather Finish / Dressing Any Leathercrafter can Use!

I have successfully made my own Dubbin: I rendered sheep fat for the tallow (beautiful white stuff - also good for cooking and preparing cast iron cookware), and then I added Beeswax and Neatsfoot oil and a few other extras. The result is all I expected and I do not feel anxious any more about having to import my Dubbin from South Africa!

Etherington & Roberts says it is made of tallow and cod oil.
Thelma Newman, in her book "Leather as Art and Craft" describes DUBBIN as a mixture of Tallow and Codliver Oil.

Why I Like DUBBIN so Much!

DUBBIN feeds and protects the leather from the inside and replaces all the oils taken out of the leather during the tanning process.
DUBBIN brings out a deep glowing color in leather. In un-dyed leather it will cause the leather to turn a golden honey color when exposed to light.
DUBBIN is very good for your hands - especially in winter. I always apply it by hand - it allows me to regulate exactly how much I put on.
DUBBIN never acentuates stains on leather - it rather tends to clean up any water or light stains.
DUBBIN Can be used over any non-sealing finish, such as spirit dyes and water based dyes as well as water based inks.
DUBBIN allows leather to become supple without loosing its shape - it helps the leather to stay "alive" and always as beautiful as new.

Answers to DUBBIN critics

It is sometimes said that DUBBIN rots stitching on leather articles. When applying DUBBIN you must simply make sure that you do not leave chunks of Dubbin in folds or seams of the leather - this will collect dust, trapped by the thick DUBBIN and the dust will then rot the stitching. I always polish a project that I have just applied DUBBIN to, with a soft brush - there seems to be some beeswax in DUBBIN that will cause the leather to have a natural shine when treated like this.

Huarache Pouch

2011-09-12T23:06:00.001-05:00

Two postings ago I showed the Huarache sandles I made. Well, on a recent barefoot hike I realized it would be nice to have my huaraches with me when the going gets tough.... But, I want to carry as little as possible. So I am going to try this pouch that will hang from a belt.

The construction took some carefull planning - I wanted the pouch to be quite flat and so sewing in the veg tan 'mouth' of the pouch was done in stages, first attaching it to the front, then closing the body of the bag and then stitching the back of the mouth to the back of the bag. Lastly the flap was sewn on and the two d-rings riveted in.

In the photo above, my huaraches are actualy in the pouchand it stays quite flat.

Here is my huaraches peeking out:

Video of Stohlmans

2011-08-19T20:11:00.001-05:00

An old video from Tandy! Now you can see what the Stohlmans looked like in real life.

I was lucky enough to have met Ann in real life at the Stohlman museum in Sheridan, WY a few years before she passed away.

Huaraches

2011-08-09T20:32:00.001-05:00

I made these very simple Huaraches today. They are also known as Tarahumara Running Sandals, used by many long distance runners.

My aim was to use leather easily available at a Tandy store, some contact adhesive, and a hole punch.

Here are the steps:

First draw a pattern for the soles - there are many videos on YouTube that show you how to do this.

On this pattern you will see the dot I marked between my big toe and the rest as well as the two marks on either side of the heel to show where my ankles are. I then used the scribe awl to outline the patterns onto the leather. I used a 4-5oz veg tan (tree bark tanned) leather - you can get a single shoulder or a belly for the job.

Make sure your two patterns - one for each foot - faces up so that left is left and right is right. Have the grain side of the leather facing up so that you will be walking on the smooth leather.

These upper soles are then cut out of the leather on those scribed lines. You do not need a fancy knife like this - a sharp utility knife will work well.

Where I marked the spot between my toes, I punched two holes so that I can cut two lines to form a slot between them. One hole was where I marked the spot and the second hole is more towards the front of the sole.

I got 60" latigo saddle strings from Tandy - 1/2" wide - they are nice and soft and very strong. One tip went through the cut slot in such a way that when I take the strap to the outside of my foot, the grain side will be on top. On the next photo I have applied contact adhesive to the tab of saddle string sticking out on the bottem of the sole as well as to the sole where the tab would fold flat.

The tabs are bent over to glue them onto the bottom of the soles. Now the soles are glued down onto another layer of leather - flesh side to flesh side.

This makes the soles a bit stronger and the grain side should wear a bit better. You could just use a thicker leather to start with, but that would mean that you cannot hide the tabs of the saddle string between the two layers of leather that form the sole.

The bottom layer of leather is now cut out to shape according to the top sole that had been glued to it. Careful not to cut through your saddle strings.

The last step is to make slots for the strings on the sides where your ankles are going to be. I made them about 3/16" from the sides, through both layers of leather. The strings need to slide through these slots freely so that you can adjust the fit of the huaraches.

There are many videos on YouTube again to show you how to tie these to your feet - basically the method I used was from the toes to the outside of the foot, through the slot, round the back of the foot to the other side, again through the slot, then to the string running from the toes, around your ankles and tied down.

In the back view you can see I need to trim these guys a bit - the soles are too big. Rather too big than too small.

I wore them this evening for a few hours - very comfortable and very secure!

Two Black Belts

2011-06-26T19:02:00.001-05:00

I really do not like to work in black - it can cover really good carving! But these belts were a request by a very special friend and there was no carving - just stamping on one and swivel knive cut decorations on the other.

Swivel Knife Cuts

2011-05-29T23:52:00.001-05:00

I have been practising my swivel knife work. I do not like decorative cuts on floral carving, but I really like cuts just to decorate the leather without any tooling involved. This piece was some leather lying around where I had illustrated to someone the difference embossing can make to a frame, here a frame made by swivel knife cuts. The immitation wood on the right was just bevelled and cut on flat leather, while the frame on the left also had a plug behind it to give a more 3-D look to the frame.

This left enough open leather for swivel knife cut exercises.

Next month the guild is going to have a fun share project of covering cans in leather, so I decided to get the first two leather 'jackets' ready for two small cans.

The one at the top of this picture will just be swivel knife cuts, inspired by Jim Linnell. My rope effect will form a border at the top of the can.

In the second design, I decided to explore the possibility of slightly beveling the basic decorative swivel knife cuts. It appears on this photo at the top.

Here is a bit more of a close-up.

...and even more detail to show you how I just let the beveling fade to nothing so that the design did not lose its light clean feeling.

Finally I decided to fill in a but just with knife cuts and I think it worked....

Tool Boxes

2011-05-29T23:14:00.001-05:00

Not since Peter Main's toybox have I seen nice tool boxes like these!

They are made of a nice thick leather with formed gussets, so they are nice and sturdy, ever before the insides are installed.

The neat simple dcoration add a lot to their appeal.

The narrower toolbox with all the hand sewing supplies, has leather dividers glued into place to keep everything neat.

To keep the end-punches neat, Jason layered pieces of cut leather in such a way that where they had slots in them, they would form holes where the tool handles would fit into.

I have been inspired - now I must just find the time!

New Design - A Timeline

2011-05-27T22:25:00.001-05:00

A friend liked the cell phone case I tooled for my smartphone and wanted to see it, but I did not like the design too much - so I decided to come up with my own design. It took a few doodles before it took shape in my mind and on paper and on the right hand you can see the final design on paper with the tracing film and leather with swivel knife cuts on the left.

As soon as I took the first photo, I decided to use the timestamp on the digital camera to record how long this little project took me to complete. So to reach the stage above and below, probably about 45 minutes.

39 minutes later and I had the basic beveling done, as seen below. (Total 84 minutes)

34 more minutes got the extra few decorative stamps and the backgrounding done. (Total 118 minutes)

Another 30 minutes (without drying time) was used to apply Eco Flo Highliter and spray with Supersheen. (Total 148 minutes = 2 hours 28 minutes)

email me if you want a copy of the pattern : leatherworker at gmail.com

Yellowing Combination

2011-04-05T23:02:00.001-05:00

Someone showed me this curious case:

To color the roses, he first put down a layer of white acrylic paint and then did the lilac color in waterbased dye over the white. he then sealed it with two coats of SuperSheen and then hit the whole belt with Tan Antique Gel. The lilac color instantly turned to yellow - luckily a rich golden yellow and the belt looked fine afterwards.

But it was not his intended result. I was able to test the same on his test rose that you see lying next to the belt. (The pic on the right was what he used to color the roses from.)

I put Tan Gel antique on the upper tip of the rose and as you can see, that turned yellow. Then I put Dark Brown Antique gel over the middle section and it had now effect on the lilac color at all.

Any suggestions?

Done really Fast

2011-03-06T19:42:00.001-06:00

If you really want to do nice work, make something for someone else and speed through it at top speed!

That is how this check book cover got a quick, but very effective, double whip stitch edge - no time for double loop lacing.

Digital photography once again conceals the true beauty of the dye job. I used a dauber ful of red dye to apply Saddle Tan Gel Antique and then sprayed it with supersheen.

Tandy in SA!

2011-03-02T23:30:00.000-06:00

I just saw the news that Tandy now has a website just for South Africa. Hopefully this will make its products and leather more accessable to South Africans.

Here is a link to the page: TANDY SA

I see the orders will probably be processed from Woodheads in Cape Town. That is where I bought my first 3 ounce belly, the basic tools and made a 2" wide belt for my bell-bottom pants on the mother's dining room table (no marble stone at that stage and no sence about the right weight of leather to use! That was in January 1978. I should probably publish a picture or two of that first belt! I did actually use it too....

Rob Barr

2011-03-01T23:25:00.000-06:00

Two weeks after I arrived in the USA, I attended the IFOLG show in Ft Worth. My sons were only 4 and 6 years old and asked where I was going. I told them and also metioned that I would meet real Cowboys and Indians. One of the asked me if I would be able to play with them! I had to explain more - these were going to be real people just like us.

At the show I met Rob Barr for the first time and told him the story - he had a very good laugh about it and immediately raked someone closer to take this photo of me holding his pony tail to prove to my sons that I had indeed met a real Indian.

Years later in Topeka at a similar show, my sons were lucky enough to meet Rob and we had a nice long visit.

Rob has since passed into the next life, but remains a source of inspiration in my leatherwork.

Imperial Lace

2011-02-10T23:21:00.001-06:00

Imperial Lace comes in four colors - these three and then white. I carried a piece of edge braid for four months in my pocket with my keys and the white lace remained pretty clean. What little dirt there was, wiped off with a wet cloth!

One of the first items I made with the Imperial lace was a dog leash - the contrast with the white is amazing!

Here is a Mexican round braid using three different colors:

One of the very best uses of Imperial lace is around the edges of projects with a double loop braid. the lace lies nice and wide and covers the edges very well.

Some detail:

(The cross on this check book cover was embossed with a very thin leather plug at the back.)

Here is a bit of fun close up of the tooling: (The stamps used were two hand made tools - made by Jason R)

Oxidation

2011-02-05T23:12:00.000-06:00

When I was a small boy, Condy's Crystals was widely used as a disinfectant.

Then I discovered that I could 'paint' with it on leather! Almost like watercolors, except only in one color - a very nice neutral brown. The Potassium Permanganate is a very strong oxidizing agent that turns the leather brown immediately (it will do the same to your skin too). The stronger your sollution of Potassium Permanganate, the darker it will color the leather.

Just like Vinagroon, this is a chemical stain and is quite permanent. (There is some suggestion that a mild acid like lemon juice will fade out the browning effect, so I am a bit suspicious that this cover of mine had more contrast when I made it. Some of the darker shades of brown might have "faded" due to the acidic nature of the leather itself.)

Well, in about 1994 I bound a set of health magazines and picked this design for the cover. It was done on a split.

You should read up a lot about it, before you use it! It can be dangerous in contact with the wrong substances. See More.

Stingray Cell Phone Case

2011-01-23T13:24:00.001-06:00

This little Cell Phone Case to hang on your belt, was made by Eric R. He used the same effect he uses with the seams on his gun cases to frame the inlay of the stingray.

Imperial Lace Rocks!

2011-01-20T23:18:00.001-06:00

I finished this handle for a modeling tool Jason R made for me a few years ago.

I know this blog is about leather and this lace is not leather, but wow! this lace blows your mind away - it works like a dream, it lays itself down snug, it comes in a pure white (and three other colors), it is super strong and it is any day as good as kangaroo lace to braid with.

The knot is a six bight knot with a gaucho interweave.

HiFi cover

2011-01-05T21:11:00.001-06:00

Early in the 1980's a blind friend asked me to make a cover for her Hifi to protect it from dust. And here is what I came up with.

The next photo shows details of the design I used. It has a few interesting facts behind it.

It was the very early days of PC's and the bank where I worked had two Apples to do their graphic work with. I spent my lunch times playing there and making slides for the IT Director's presentations. This design was one of the few cliparts that were available (not on the web - this was held on a 100 Kbyte floppy).

I immediately liked the design - Amanda had told me that for her, her whole world were inside her, because she could not see the world around her that we experience as a shell around us. And see, the design is a globe inside the outlines of a head!

Horse Brasses

2011-01-03T22:22:00.000-06:00

Long ago in a land far away, a very British sounding lady asked me to make a strap for her horse brasses (pre Google / internet days). I had no idea what these should look like and she did not really know either. So I completely dreamed these up. But she liked them...!

More detail:

Original Human Figure Project

2011-01-02T20:05:00.001-06:00

In October 2005, in this blog, I showed the restoration of the big human figure carving I had done. (You can see it HERE) Now I have uncovered the photos showing how I did the project in the first place. Unfortunately it was before free digital photography, so I only have these few photos.

First is the start of the tooling:

The project was tooled on vegtan Blue Wildebeest leather.

And this was with the figure dyed completely:

...and then mounted and framed with a thin strip of leather - at the time I did not want any framing to take away from the carving itself.

This piece traveled 8,000 miles and underwent a lot of 'abuse', which was why I had to restore it in 2005. So this again, is what it looked like after the restoration:

RifleBag

2011-01-02T19:08:00.000-06:00

I made this rifle bag for a Voortrekker (South African Scouts equivalent) group that presented it to a school principal or something.

I had only been doing leatherwork for about three years, so the design does not fit the project very well. I burnt the wording on the design with a pyrography pen so that I could fit it all in. As I recall it was lined with sheep wool (shearling).

Here is a bit more detail of the actual carving:

Menu Covers

2010-11-22T22:25:00.000-06:00

I made these in about 1981 for the National Parks Service in Tsitsikama - The flowers are all indigenous to the area.

I later heard that these were stolen a few months after I left the National Park (I had worked there for six months to wait for my final semester at University.)

A few projects from long ago

2010-10-30T12:14:00.000-05:00

I unearthed some old photo albums and found these pictures of some of the projects I did about thirty years ago!

This is a hand guard for ten pin bowling. I think the cutting design was from an old Leathercrafter magazine, but it was my own first rather successfulness attempt at a tooling design.

I was in the Voortrekkers, the South African equivalent of the Scouts, and in 1981 I made these quivers that carried messages all over South Africa to a celebratory conference for the organization's 50th year.

Skull on a Book

2010-08-02T21:27:00.000-05:00

I am binding some magazines for the local guild and decided to have fun with the carving of the covers. the topmost magazine in this volume had a picture of a skull covered in leather so I turned it into a picture that I could carve.

After all the carving was done, I covered the design with two layers of Super Sheen and the back ground with two layers of Block-out.

After it had dried, you cannot see where the Super Sheen and Block-out had been applied.

Then I covered the whole picture with Eco-Flo High-Liter and quickly wiped the excess off with a damp cloth. Now the difference between the parts resisted with Super Sheen and with Block-out became very prominent. It turned out exactly as I wanted, so I was well pleased.

I followed the instructions in Tony Lair's book about getting a Sheridan style finish to a carving after being inspired by Mike Pederson. I will see if I can get a photo of the check book Mike had done in the same way.

A Doodle

2009-10-10T07:24:00.001-05:00

I had to teach someone a masterclass in tooling and this was the piece I demonstrated techniques with. I don't know what to do with it now....

New Hatband done

2009-09-01T01:05:00.001-05:00

Here is the completed hatband - now to find a buyer!

A new Hatband!

2009-08-16T19:12:00.000-05:00

The Potjie hatband sold - with the hat. Now I have to make a new hatband for the slightly smaller hat I made - for sale!

This is the hatband in progress ... aimed at the biker community.

A Band for a Hat

2009-05-19T21:32:00.000-05:00

One of the most fun projects ever - the hat is just easy and fun. The hat band was made after I took a class from Dave Genadek on designing your own floral pattern. The Potjie in the center is there because I will wear this hat band with the hat on the Fourth of July when we get together for a Potjie Day (Dutch oven cookout)

A Top Hat

2009-05-10T22:13:00.000-05:00

This is my third hat and a very fun project - as was the first two hats!

But this is only the start - I intend making various themed hatbands: 4th July / St Paddy's / Christmas / etc.

How else am I going to be able to wear it?!?

Or like someone pointed out: "Wearing it will be the occasion ..."

Some of my braiding

2008-12-22T22:45:00.002-06:00

This shows some of the kangaroo leather dog leashes and collars I braid.

Bible Covers

2008-12-20T23:54:00.001-06:00

These two are for sale and were made for the big Life Study Bibles ...

Two very trusty old designs that I like very much.

The start of a very fun project ...

2008-11-13T23:59:00.000-06:00

Ah, no rules, I decided. I want to make a bag to carry stuff in - to
work or to a picnic or to stay overnight or just to carry stuff.

The stamping is all just empty headed doodling ... just fun.

A Set of Black Saddle Bags

2008-10-08T22:35:00.000-05:00

This was a paid-for project. Black is not my favourite color for
leather. It hides good carving, it is difficult to prevent the dye
from bleeding and it makes it difficult to see detail of the work,
like when you are stitching.

Ron's Leggin's

2008-08-12T22:28:00.000-05:00

These are leggings a friend made. They have very many names: leggings, botas, bolinas, half-breeds, to name few.

Ready to sell!

2008-08-07T18:44:00.000-05:00

This photo gives you an idea of the size of this piece. This was very satisfying to do.

Square stamps

2008-07-31T23:24:00.000-05:00

A friend gave me two steel bars - plain square steel bars - to stamp with. On their own, they just gave me squares - but combine them with Johan's Discovery Lined Triangle! Wow! A whole new world of possibilities appear!

Color applied

2008-07-13T22:57:00.000-05:00

What a relief when I had the figure all done! It went well and I will still go and have a look at it again to see if any touch up will be necessary. I was so tempted to not do the background, but I stuck to it and so far I am very pleased with the result!

Coloring an Anatomy

2008-06-21T23:00:00.000-05:00

Coloring starts. It is quite a slow process. I use Eco-Flo dyes for their color fastness. They are waterbased, which means the leather gets wet and darker as you dye the leather, so you can really only see the final effect after it has all dried. Then you can touch up and you have to let it dry again....

The test piece made me realize the body would look far too yellow if I used the original colors I chose. So I redid the test piece with a darker brown and a burgundy (mahogany) as a background. I think this will work much better.

Embossing Done!

2008-06-14T23:00:00.000-05:00

The fun part is done and now the painstaking coloring (dying) stage has to begin ...

Embossing almost done

2008-06-04T23:08:00.000-05:00

This part of the project is more fun than work. The tooling of the top piece of leather almost "happens by itself".

Step Two of Plugging

2008-05-01T22:23:00.000-05:00

The next step in the embossing process: the second layer on the plugs. I found that some of these second tier pieces will actually completely overlay some of the ridges I already carved in the first layer.

This is tedious work - for every second layer piece, I first put tracing paper over the original plug and trace the outline of the piece I will cut to go on top. It is glued down and then the scalpel and French edger is used again to achieve the sculpting effect.

For the top layer of leather - the visible piece - I picked a 7 ounce leather, thicker than what Al Stohlman suggests, but I did this on purpose as I do not want all the fine details of the plugs to show. I want to achieve a balance between a feeling of smooth skin and a certain ruggedness, so my plugs are not extremely detailed.

A New Anatomy Study

2008-05-01T20:37:00.000-05:00

This is the next big project I am tackling. It is based on a drawing by Hogarth and from the quarter you can get an idea of the scale.

The first step was to get the design down on the leather and cut it with a swivel knife. I then decided to do a full test piece first. In the photo at the top you can see the test piece still damp after I beveled it with the plug in place at the back.

In the next photo you can see the test piece after I applied some dye - it looked fairly good at this stage, but after I darkened the background with a darker brown, the skin tone appeared far too yellow. So in the final project I will use a redder shade of brown for the skin.

I started the plugs for the embossing next. I am doing them in three pieces just to make them easier to handle, because the project is so big and I want to turn the plugs very often as I do the carving.

These photos show the first layer of plugs with most of the contours carved in so that I can get an idea of the size of subsequent pieces that will form a second and even third layer of plugs.

Doing the plugs is the biggest part of the job that takes the most of the accurate work - if you do them well, the covering layer almost tools itself ...!

Looking for Patterns

2008-03-14T08:09:00.000-05:00

I am looking for more details, patterns and names for the type of leggings shown in this picture

Please email me with any information you might have. [leatherworker at gmail dot com]

Bible Cover for Jacques

2008-02-26T18:15:00.000-06:00

My son's birthday and the night before I am still working on his gift! Here the cover has been tooled and the front stitched to the spine - the spine and back was cut from one piece. The stitching was done with the new waxed braided cord that Tandy now sells in a rainbow of wonderful colors!

The sun rises on his birthday and the cover is done - I was in bed just after midnight!

I put his initials on the spine. The lettering on the front spells "HiStory" - it is a history book, but it is also His Story! This was inspired by a friend, Curt, who showed me his Bible with the same on....

On the back I did the woodgrain effect the same as on the cross.

Anatomy Study

2007-11-27T21:11:00.000-06:00

I got a really nice thick piece of leather and it carved like butter! So I looked for a very good subject and found this photo to work from. Unfortunately the detail was not too good and I had great difficulty with the hands. Next time I will take more care to choose my subjects.

The male human body with its angles surfaces and structure is an ideal subject for leather carving.

Hebrew Lettering

2007-10-13T22:52:00.000-05:00

I made this little sample piece of letters of the new Hebrew alphabet that is now available.

From the top down it reads:
"SHALOM"
"YISRAEL"
"LORD"
"ELOHIYM"
"EMET"
"GOD" "JUDAH"

Armbands

2007-09-26T22:49:00.000-05:00

These were a lot of fun! Armbands. I just started stamping them out experimenting with various geometric patterns and then applying the new Eco-Flow Antique Gel and Hi-Liter in as many creative ways as I could dream up and I do not even feel as though I have scratched the surface.

A Band for a Hat

2007-09-23T19:26:00.000-05:00

Well, you cannot just leave a hat like that - it needs a band! I suppose it's a strap to keep your head from getting swollen.... In any case, I had fun adding this to my hat.

I used the same geometric pattern that I used around the brim of the hat. The color difference between the hat and band - made of the same hide - is in the finish: I used Dr Jackson's on the hat and the soon-to-be-discontinued X1 dressing on the band.

A Leather Hat

2007-09-13T22:35:00.000-05:00

At last I managed to make a hat for myself! I have passed by so many in the store - leather hats - and each time I say "Oh, I can do that!", but of course, I never do! So when a friend sent me a set of patterns, I found a very nice Brazilian tanned, pre-dyed leather (5oz) and went to work on this hat.

True Leather Artistry

2007-08-27T22:33:00.001-05:00

When you are involved in leatherwork, you have the rare priveledge of seeing the works of true artists. These are works that you can see has been taken beyond merely a craft. The photos in this entry shows two such works I saw in so many days. The first two is a Bible that someone is going to try to use as inspiration to make his own and he has come to me for some advice.
The first very striking feature of this cover is the writing. I had it under a magnifier and carefully studied it. And I think my friend Larry is right when he says it has been done by swivel knife and then the cuts were opened with a stylus or modeling tool.
The second very nice feature of the cover, is the subtle use of resist and antique finish to give the tree trunks a lighter color and the pool that the lettering were done in.

I know I should have photographed it more, but it is awkward in the first place to scrutinise the Bible of someone else when it is obviously a very private and well loved book. So here I will just describe a bit: the zip was installed in the gusset without the ends of the zip being attached or tucked into the spine of the cover. I hope to make a cover like this soon so as to not forget this method of a zippered gusset, so I will show some photos then.

This is a still unframed picture done by a very good artist, Uchechi. The silouette work in this picture was done by simple inverted carving and backgrounding of the design. It was then dyed with chocolate brown (very dark) and a bit of airbrushing on the face and hands gave them a bit more of a three dimensional feel. The artis was going to so a few more and I hope to have pics of them soon!

Fine Writing

2007-08-18T18:55:00.000-05:00

Writing on leather has always been a pain - very few option exist: You can stamp out letters, or tool them in, or have them laser engraved, but I think by far the best is writing with a wood burning pen!

I did this can cover many years ago. I was surprised to see my own very small work.

I had left my burning pen in South Africa and so I bought a new one. The tips were too big! So I filed them down. I still did not get a nice fine writing. Then I realized my original woodburning pen had a temperature control - on the net that meant a $300 layout! Disaster.

Luckily I came upon a website with instructions to build a under-$20-temp-controlled gourd burning pen. Ten minutes after I got home with the light dimmer switch, I was writing small! (I still have to build the dimmer switch into a more permanent little box....)

To see a video of me burning with the pen, have a look at my instructional blog, LeatherLearn.

A Stool from the past

2007-08-05T22:53:00.000-05:00

I used a thirty year old kit for this chair (the legs were newly made by a friend) - I did replace the original latigo lace pieces with new brown latiga laces that were in beter condition.

The designs are my own - one is a simple basketweave with my favourite border around. The second corner is an imitation frog skin effect that can be seen on the www.leatherlearn.com instructional blog, and the third is just a random drawing I did.

The dyes are all the Eco-Flow waterbased dyes and then I put a coat of Drake's X1 dressing over that.

Anatomy of a leg

2007-07-30T14:44:00.000-05:00

This is after a drawing by hogarth to introduce anatomy to artists. His drawings land themselves very well to leather carving. This piece has yet to be framed....

Restoring with New Dye

2007-05-16T22:05:00.000-05:00

I wanted to test the new Eco-Flo dye on an old existing project and the results were spectacular. This old handbag had been lying around my store for two years and as you can see on the one side, the color - done with the old spirit based dyes - completely faded!

The handbag had been treated with Aussie Conditioner and Dubbin, but not in the last six months. So I simply applied the new waterbased dyes directly on top. The dye penetrated well and you can see how the newly restored half looks. I have not yet applied a new conditioner over the new dye.

A Christmas Album

2006-12-25T21:19:00.000-06:00

I managed to finish this in time to give to very good friends as a Christmas gift. A very nice project to work on and it came out 98% as I planned it should!

A Store Door Sign

2006-11-18T23:58:00.000-06:00

I recently completed this door sign for a store front door.

A loose panel slides out at the back and can be turned around to show either "open" or "closed". That whole construction was made of leather and a hardboard panel was glued in between the two pieces of leather to keep things flat.

In the photo below take note of the thin black line, made with an extra thin sharpie, that gives a lot of definition to the carving that is being left uncolored (No antiques to go sit in the impressions and outline that carved figures.

The next one shows the back of the sign. You can see where the open/close panel sits in its pocket at the back - it is lifted out and flipped around at open and close time.

Some of the detail from the back shows an African Cape Buffalo, and not a waterbuffalo as most Americans think.

Here is some detail from the back - just having fun with gemetric background designs.

From the distant past

2006-10-02T23:38:00.000-05:00

Just dug up these old newspaper articles. And I realized if I do not digitize and electronify them now, they are going to be lost soon - they were real yellow already. But, cyber era to the rescue and here I have them "renewed" again.

This photo with the few words appeared in a local newspaper in Roodepoort South Africa in September 1985.

Some of the interesting scenes at the Roodepoort Publicity Association Hobby and Country fair recently. Enthusiasts from all over the West Rand came to see the exquisite dolls and other hobby demonstrations. Here are a few of them: Johan Potgieter, caught deep in concentration, while decorating a piece of leather.

Restoration Progress even Further

2005-10-27T20:20:00.000-05:00

The coloring of the figure is done and the picture looks close to what it was when I finished it twenty years ago. Looking at the original photo shows that it must have been close to the same hue of brown that I used then as well.

On the next photo the background has also been given a light coat of tan to cover the white scars left by the thinners when I removed the Neatlac layers that covered the original.

The next step is rubbing on Dubbin to seal and waterproof the leather and help preserve it. You can see the rich lustre it gives to the leather and the spirit based dyes.

Restoration Progress

2005-10-25T22:20:00.000-05:00

Slowly but surely the former image is emerging from the faded leather.

Restoration

2005-10-19T21:53:00.000-05:00

This was the original work a few years after I finished it in 1982 - it is about fifty inches high and forty inches wide. Done on veg-tan African Buffalo leather - the hide was a gift from a friend and I had it tanned at a tannery near Johannesburg.

The artwork is a copy of a drawing by Hogarth, one of the original Tarzan artists - it is from his book "Dynamic Light and Shade."

This wall hanging has traveled extensively with me and when the glue-gun glue finally came off the back and let go of the leather frame, I decided it was also time to get the whole thing restored.

So I attacked it with thinners and a hefty scrubbing brush to get the four layers of Neat-Lac off - the dye had faded badly as you can see on the next photo.

With the leather clean again, I am now busy dyeing the figure first as close as I can to the original. On this second photo you can see the small piece that has been done so far. I am very pleased with the results.

From my Archive, a Cleaner

2005-09-14T23:24:00.000-05:00

Found this in 'Henley's Twentieth Century Formulas, Recipes and Processes (1926):

CLEANING SKINS AND LEATHER:
To Clean Colored Leather. — Pour carbon bisulphide on non-vulcanized gutta-percha, and allow it to stand about 24 hours. After shaking actively add more gutta-percha gradually until the solution becomes of gelatinous consistency.

This mixture is applied in suitable quantity to oil-stained, colored leather and allowed to dry two or three hours. The subsequent operation consists merely in removing the coat of gutta-percha from the surface of the leather—that is, rubbing it with the fingers, and rolling it off the surface.

The color is not injured in the least by the sulphuret of carbon; only those leathers on which a dressing containing starch has been used look a little lighter in color, but the better class of leathers are not so dressed. The dry gutta-percha can be redissolved in sulphuret of carbon and used over again.

You can read more about gutta-percha at http://collections.ic.gc.ca/cable/gutta.htm

A Glue from my Archive

2005-09-14T23:03:00.000-05:00

Found this in 'Henley's Twentieth Century Formulas, Recipes and Processes (1926):

Glue for Leather or Cardboard.—To attach leather to cardboard dissolve good glue (softened by swelling in water) with a little turpentine and enough water in an ordinary glue pot, and then having made a thick paste with starch in the proportin of 2 parts by weight, of starch powder for every 1 part, by weight, of dry glue, mix the compounds and allow the mixture to become cold before application to the cardboard.

A Very Unique Coin Purse

2005-09-09T23:02:00.001-05:00

The Front of the coin purse.

This very special hard leather coin purse was shown to me by someone who had bought it in Germany. It is a Paulette Rollo Coin Purse

Its construction was a point of interest. It was made of two shaped halves of leather that was glued together, but there is no visible glue to be seen. The outside is so perfect, that we gathered it was molded inside a mold, maybe while it was filled with a hard wax, which could have been melted out of the inside.

However it was made, it is perfect - when it is closed, it is a very smooth hard nicely shaped heart.

The back of the purse - the quarter is there to show size. the feint line you see on this side is the seam where the purse opens. The sewn on strap acts as the hinge.

Here you see the 'lid' open - it is a perfect fit, obviously cut after the purse was shaped.

Here you can see the remarkable part of this unique piece - the seam where the top and bottom halves were joined - there is no sign of glue at all - the only thing you can see is clear on this photo: the seam was trimmed after it was glued.

See the very smooth inside of the purse - almost waxy. It made me think that it was probably formed around hard wax, which would then have been melted out. There is NO sign of any glue to be seen on the inside of the seam.

True Artistry

2005-08-06T23:51:00.000-05:00

These amazing two knife sheaths were created by J Drewes, a knife maker from Minnesota and I had the priviledge to have both in my hand. The photos do no justice to this amazingly artistic work - it is not often that it is so pleasantly visible that a lot of thought and care had gone into the creation of a leather article.

The fins and Frog feet are thinned and sculpted to look very real and yet the leather looks very strong and durable indeed - here is indeed a leather artist who enjoys what he is doing....

A Face in Clay

2005-07-19T22:58:00.000-05:00

Some explaining tex to follow...

Life casting

2005-07-14T23:00:00.000-05:00

Leather Ralated? Yes, this is the first part that comes before the mask making you can also see on this blog - just about a month or two ago.

I attended the first of three classes by Alex Ortega in the making of your own mold on which to make a leather Commedia Del'Arte mask. The mold is of your own face! Freaky! But extremely interesting and a huge lot of fun!

The first part is to make a cardboard surround for your face so that the dentist's plastic do not drip on everything.

The subject lies ready to face the ordeal...!

The cold stuff hits your face and all goes dark - even through your closed eyelids. Two straws up the nose are your only breathing holes to the outside world and you have to lie with a totally still face for a few minutes while the plastics sets. You can hear all around you, but you cannot respond.

Alex was very good with a pre-arranged signal that would have the goo off your face in seconds if you felt uncomfortable!

While you lie there, motionless, a layer of plaster is applied over the dentist's plastic to support it - although it picks up the minutest detail of your skin, the plastic is not very tear resistant and is almost like very stif jello. From the time the first plastic hits your face to the time you can sit upright again, is probably only about 20 minutes. (The pink stuff smells very pleasantly of cinnamon and is not tooooo uncomfortable on your face.)

The first of the casts comes off and it is a negative copy of your face. This will be used to make a plaster copy of your face. Even the pores on your nose are shown on this material and on the plaster cast made of this.

This is the second casting - plaster into the flimsy pink negative - this will be the first copy of your face.

And this is what the copy of your face looks like!

Soon, more photos of myself suffering this indignancy and what my own mold looks like!

Lazy Dots

2005-07-01T22:21:00.000-05:00

My son has to have belt for the Renaisance Fair - so I had to make one, not too fancy, so I decided on small gold dots.

This as achieved by simply doing the dots with a big round seeder, and then gilding them with Plaid Gold Leaf - quick and dirty....!

Here is some detail:

Braiding at the Lake

2005-06-23T06:49:00.000-05:00

With the brief summers we get in Minnesota, it is almost a sin to sit inside, tied to the braiding hook on your workbench, so I decided to come up with a mobile braiding station - this also allows me to work anywhere in the house and at demo's.

First, of course, my disclaimer: I am not a perfectionist and I am not a woodworker. My only aim in building this contraption was functionality, I was not about to invest a lot of effort in a prototype that might not even work.

The upright is hinged on the floorboard so that the whole thing can collapse when the two diagonals are disengaged at the top.

The two diagonals are fixed to the floorboards with 'studs' that screw into the wood and then have a protruding bolt. The diagonals can move freely on these bolts so that they can fold down and lie flat on the floorboard - to enable this, their bottom ends are rounded so as not to get stuck against the floorboard.

At the top the diagonals are fixed to the upright with the same studs, but this time with wingnuts so that they can easily be detached. At both the bottom and top, they are purposefully not in line so that the studs do not screw into each other in the middle of the upright.

I might still make some modifications to the top of the upright - the 'working end'. The two hooks work fine to hook the braiding on, but to take up the already braided excess, I need a better plan... so look out for an update in a month or two...!

Happy braiding!

Renaissance Fair Hat

2005-06-17T21:48:00.000-05:00

With Ouma and the old Singer to help, the hat making project got under way! (They did all the work between them!)

The hat is constructed of a thin cow suede with a cotton lining and some interface - the pattern was a Simplicity one, I think....

The Singer, equipped with a modern leather needle, had no difficulty with three layers of suede plus two of lining, but I had a tough time fitting the hat under the foot of the machine to do the sewing.

So here is the beginning of a very young German Leather Merchant, for the Minnesota Ren Fest - Oh yes, a plume still needs to be acquired...!

Knife Sheath - A Simple One

2005-06-10T23:29:00.000-05:00

Now, I have to ask you not to look at the knife itself - it is a third rate actor I got very cheap just to stand in for the real thing - I wanted a cheap one to use for a range of sheaths I want to make and I did not want to worry about an expensive knife as part of the exercise. This one cost me less than a dollar.

This sheath is one of the simplest you can make, with the least amount of tools.

The leather is cut with enough excess to make sure there will be plenty to go round the knife.

The knife is wrapped in cling wrap to make sure it does not rust or put a black metal stain on the leather.

The leather is not stretched over the knife so that there is no tension on the sheath - there is therefor no reason to clamp down the sides of the sheath when it is drying out. After rubbing it into shape with my fingers, I simply let it sit overnight to dry.

When dry, the excess leather is trimmed off, the stitch line is marked and the sheath is stitched. A very dense sponge behind the leather helps to poke the holes with an awl - it supports the leather so that your fingers do not have to be behind the leather and dodge the very sharp awl.

The diamond shaped holes of the stitching awl causes the stitches to lie next to each other and appear very neat.

I was not satisfied with the staining on the edge so I redid it after I had finished the stitching.

Two very simple straps are installed on the back behind the knife handle - this will hold the handle against the leather or the leather against the knife. In this very simple sheath there is no provision for carying the sheath on your belt.

All that remains is a treatment with Dubbin and this sheath is done!

For an Old Car

2005-06-04T22:23:00.000-05:00

Every now and then something different comes along - this time I was asked to make straps that would hold down the canopy of an old 1910 car - tension straps to make sure that canopy would be tight.

The request was easy enough, but the catch was that the snaps and buckles had to be sewn onto the straps (straps folded over and hand-sewn).

To meassure them, cut them, round the edges, thin them on the foldovers, stitch them by hand and dye the edges, took nine hours of straight non-stop work.

To make the other few pieces shown below, took another two hours....

Not too bad, except that I had less than 17 hours from the time I received the hardware until the time they had to be delivered - and I wanted to fit a night's sleep and some eating in there as well....

Mask Making Class #2

2005-05-25T07:51:00.000-05:00

Last night we concluded the class, but the home work continues....

But let me start where I left off....

Here you can see just how much the leather has to stretch to fit around the mold.

With a lot of tapping and burnishing, allth detail comes to the fore - the mold is rough and full of character and the leather thin enough to shown almost all of it.

After the first mask had dried completely, I took it off and made a second one with a thicker leather. (To get technical: the mask on the left was made with 2-3oz leather and the one on the right with 5-6oz leather.)

With the leather in shape, we trimmed away the excess around the edges and the gathering under the nose, so that a small seam can be made.

It is the wet leather (under the noses) that make it appear so dark.

Next time, coloring the mask ......

Mask Making Class #1

2005-05-19T08:33:00.000-05:00

After continuously teaching others about leather and how to do various aspects of leathercraft, it is refreshing to be on the other side for a change. I started a class in Commedia del'Arte Mask Making given by Alex Ortega. And the one important ingredient to leatherwork classes was there: fun!

This is the start: wet leather is formed over a mold. (This is a life cast of a person's face, that have been embellished to give more character.)

By continuously rubbing and tapping with the small point of the hammer, the leather stretches over the mold.

It takes a lot of work to convince the leather to take the shape you want it to take! But once you start the process, you do not want it to end!

This is where we ended with the class - another three hours of work and the results in the next posting!

Leather Pouting

2005-05-09T17:12:00.000-05:00

Last year at the Minnesota State Fair I was watching Roger Abrahamsen doing some traditional old time wood turning - the lathe is driven by a flexible wooden pole above his head (not visible in this photo due to the high speed movement of the pole).

When he turned round, I saw a very special knife and sheath hanging from his belt - a Norwegian knife in an extraordinary sheath. The knife and sheath was made bu Knut Dahl who have been to the USA a few times - I have even met people who has taken knife making classes with him here.

The leatherwork for the sheath is done with a process called pouting - the leather is tanned so that the deeper layer is still rawhide, to provide a steel hard casing for the knife, and the top layer is normal veg tan leather, so that it can be "pushed around" to form the designs.

More of Knut Dahl's work can be seen at this LINK

Inspiration from Down Under

2005-05-08T18:20:00.000-05:00

This is a toolbox I made for my favorite tools. The inspiration comes from one of the top Leather Artists in the world, Peter Main. You can see more of this toolbox on my leather portal at
http://www.johan-potgieter.com/leat-toolb1.shtml

Even though I am still extremely young, I have reached the age where the focal length of my eyes are longer than my arm length and so a good magnifying glass on a stand make life a lot easier.....

You can see more of Peter Main's incredible work on his web site by clicking on the title of this posting.

The Vitruvian man

2005-05-07T23:13:00.000-05:00

This little pyrography on leather has a tale to tell. It started off as you see it here - spent many months in a store window where it first got darker and then the sun beached it to a very light color.

Click on the title of this posting to see more about bleaching of veg tan leather.

Lacing Fids

2005-05-06T19:45:00.000-05:00

I have had these two lacing fids made for me by a fellow leathercrafter and they are two of my most valuable tools.

Their value is not in their cost, but in the absolute ease with which they lift up laces in braiding and fit into the tightest places to make braiding a joy!

He is still making them and if you are interested at $20 each, I can put you in touch with him. Send me an e-mail!

If you have comments about lacing fids, or a picture of your favorite, send it to me!

First Entry

2005-05-06T10:24:00.000-05:00

This will hopefully become the home of my leather ramblings.

I hope you will be inspired by visiting here!

Black and White Dogleashes

2005-05-06T10:23:00.000-05:00

The braiding I am keeping myself busy with mostly! This is all kangaroo lace and very nice to braid with.

Leather By Johan

Award Commission

A Ram's Horn Bag

Fading Dyes

ToolBox Project

Here is a second posting in the process of converting my static leather pages to blog postings:

This is my first attempt at a hand-made personal toolbox - inspired by Peter Main.

Inside

Dubbin was King

DUBBIN

The Ultimate Leather Finish / Dressing Any Leathercrafter can Use!

Why I Like DUBBIN so Much!

Answers to DUBBIN critics

Huarache Pouch

Video of Stohlmans

Huaraches

Two Black Belts

Swivel Knife Cuts

Tool Boxes

New Design - A Timeline

Yellowing Combination

Done really Fast

Tandy in SA!

Rob Barr

Imperial Lace

Oxidation

Stingray Cell Phone Case

Imperial Lace Rocks!

HiFi cover

Horse Brasses

Original Human Figure Project

RifleBag

Menu Covers

A few projects from long ago

Skull on a Book

A Doodle

New Hatband done

A new Hatband!

A Band for a Hat

A Top Hat

Some of my braiding

Bible Covers

The start of a very fun project ...

A Set of Black Saddle Bags

Ron's Leggin's

Ready to sell!

Square stamps

Color applied

Coloring an Anatomy

Embossing Done!

Embossing almost done

Step Two of Plugging

A New Anatomy Study

Looking for Patterns

Bible Cover for Jacques

Anatomy Study

Hebrew Lettering

Armbands

A Band for a Hat

A Leather Hat

True Leather Artistry

Fine Writing

A Stool from the past

Anatomy of a leg

Restoring with New Dye

A Christmas Album

A Store Door Sign

From the distant past

Restoration Progress even Further

Restoration Progress

Restoration

From my Archive, a Cleaner

A Glue from my Archive

A Very Unique Coin Purse

True Artistry

A Face in Clay

Life casting

Lazy Dots

Braiding at the Lake

Renaissance Fair Hat