Awesome. One of the most confusing pieces of info out there is the old adage to cut 1/3 to half way through the leather with your knife. All this ever did for me was make my work look bad, so I stopped doing it. Glad it helped you!

Jeff Allen I am glad this helped. That 1/3 info generally applies to thicker leather for a different, possible out dated carving style. It’s great on floral or western styles, but for more modern styles, portraits or lettering, it causes more problems than it solves. Give this a try and I expect you’ll like the results!

Thank you! You’re asking about how to carve? There are many videos on the website already! Learnleather.com is the place to go. If you have a specific request, let me know!

I am glad you found it helpful!

Glad you like it! Thanks for the comment!

Thank you Nancy. Let me know how the technique works for you!

Glad it helped, Ben! I struggled with this until someone pointed out how unsightly it was. Now I can’t unsee it!

Welcome to the addiction! I hope this helps you avoid many of the problems I had at the start.

Thank you for your comment! I had the same problems when I was a beginner and once I figured it out I thought I should share it with everyone.

Glad to be of help!

My pleasure, Michael!

Thank you for watching.

heyman, my pleasure. Glad you found it helpful.

Shirley Malar so much of what’s out there is geared toward thick leathers and saddles or floral tooling. I found this way more suitable to my style. Don’t be afraid to do your own thing!

@@learnleather4865 You are spot on with that comment. Most everybody around here uses heavy leather and does florals. I use mostly thin leather and do finely detailed animals.

Thank you for the compliment and I hope it helps you!

Excellent! I’m glad it’s helped you!

If you look at any kind of artwork, even things that are only line art, you won’t find heavy lines that distract from the subject matter. Same goes for leather. Most of the time, you shouldn’t see the lines. You should have to look for them. Not have them looking at you 😀

Thanks, Josh.

Hey, Bud. The leather weight thingy is a leather weight. :). It’s used to keep the piece from sliding around while tooling. This one is fancy, but you could easily make a pouch and fill it with BBs in any shape you want. I have some that are rectangles as well. If you want to tool one, use veg tan, otherwise, chrome tan or garment leather is fine.

I have a small rectangle lead bb one. It works great. It does tend to dry the leather if I leave it in the same spot too long

You’re quite welcome!

Troy, that isn’t something I can do here. I will be teaching a class on it at some point. Alternatively, I’d be happy to make you one if you like.

Thank you.

It’s never too late! If it helps you in any way, then it’s a win!

I’m a huge fan of both Bob and Barry, and I have a full tool rack of each. They are pro grade tools and you can’t go wrong with either of them. Only you can decide what’s best for you, and what your budget is. Barry is a bit less expensive so you’ll get more for your money, and still get amazing quality. Bob makes amazing tools that are worth both the money and the time waiting to get them, and his figure carving tools are my most used tools. Honestly, it’s difficult to choose between them. There is some overlap but they each have different focuses, so your style will matter most when choosing. As for swivel knives, that’s harder to choose since there are MANY great makers. I don’t care for blades that swivel. My preference is traditional knives and I have some by Bob, Barry, Leather Wranglers, Ed LaBarre, Tandy, Henley and more. There it’s mostly cosmetics and choosing a good blade. Again, your style will dictate the blade you like. I prefer the low angle blade by Peter Main.

Madcat100 the tool is a steep figure beveler by Bob Beard. B3 is the number.

Jim, no excuses necessary! Whatever works for you is great! The longer I do this, the less cuts I make, however depending on the leather and the desired effect, I think some are still necessary for my style of carving. I too do a lot of 3D stuff and all kinds of things go wrong when you start stretching leather! Thanks for the comment and keep on tooling!

I’d love to hear your feedback after you try it! Please share this video so maybe someone else can benefit as well. Also, the low angle blade makes this technique nearly effortless.

@@learnleather4865 I just tested this method out, and again I stand by my statement. I wish I'd have found this video 4 years ago. It is a way cleaner bevel line, and the lifter has a much nicer finish to it to. The only thing I notice is getting the same depth isn't quite as easy, but the burnishing and contrast caused by it makes it hard to tell until you get up close and look. Then you also notice, like you stated, the core. It is much more prevalent on the deeper cut. I need to practice this lighter cutting since I'm so used to the ⅓-½ depth (almost always ½ for me) I also noticed, my hand is a lot more comfortable and doesn't cramp as easily with the lighter cut. Glad to have come across this, because it's been one annoying journey seeing the core show up unexpectedly

That’s a great description of your experience. I found that to get the depth I want with shallow cuts I needed to switch to steeper bevelers and then go back over them with shallow ones to smooth it out.

@@learnleather4865 nice. I'll give that a go. I've been using the steep bevel for the last few projects I've done. I would typically use a standard angle if I was just doing something like a standard belt, but my last couple orders have been really intricate. Especially the one I'm currently working on. I need to learn to say no, so I don't have to work so hard on it hahaha

Direct from Peter Main. Message him on FB and he will get you squared away.

I can make you one if you like. Message me for details.

Jerry, for small or very detailed things, sometimes I do exactly that. Cuts are not always necessary, and sometimes not at all.

Sorry I missed this. Rawhide is very quiet, but for plastic, Leather Wranglers and Ed LaBarre are both very quiet.

Greetings! I’m not a leather composition expert. I’ve read a lot about it and there are technical names for each layer according to all the major tanneries and many books. For our purposes, the core is any of the sub-layers between the grain and flesh sides of the leather. All of my most trusted and knowledgeable mentors call it the core, therefore I do too, even though it may not be a technical term. Regardless of what we want to call it, it looks bad when it shows through on fine leather carving, and this video is just my method of reducing the “core” from showing. Hope this helps!

Cliff, I vary the depth of my cuts constantly, depending on what effect I want, but I try to never undercut. If you mean so I can lift with a petal lifter, I do cut a bit deeper.

kewtkitty this is a B3 beveler made by Bob Beard. One of my most useful tools.

Matt, this is made by Peter Main.

I don’t disagree with you on any particular point, except to say that certain styles of carving require shallower cuts to make the finished piece look proper. For example, figure carving, especially faces. Deep cuts are not your friend in this instance. Regardless, this isn’t aimed at the masters as they already know, but the rest of us who may struggle on occasion with this issue. As I say time and again, whatever works you you. This is just another tool in the box :) Thanks for your perspective!

No idea on what the angles are, I am just happy that someone makes one already ready!

Would you please be willing to take a pic?

@@ellis.j.weasel157 Regrettably no. My friend Peter Main makes them and I am not willing to undermine his source of income. I hope you understand.

@@learnleather4865 mate! Of course. I should have thought. How do I find him?

@@ellis.j.weasel157 Find him on FB and message privately!

You can get them from Peter directly. Contact him via FB

It never occurred to me to to do that because there is only one Peter Main Low Angle blade. It is unique in the leather work world so I didn’t think anyone would have trouble finding it.

Kathy, there is no online site for those blades. You’ll have to contact Peter directly on Facebook where he will be happy to help you.

Thank you so much! Learned a lot from your video!

Glad to hear that Kathy!

reham abuleila please look at the website eshop www.learnleather.com for several classes on this topic

Geo148 I do not know the actual angles used in the design of this blade, only that the cutting edge and the approach angle of the blade are very shallow. You can get them from Peter Main.

I also struggle with the core showing. I'll try this technique and let you know. Thanks for the tip!

@@learnleather4865 This is still confusing terminology. Are you using a thin blade with narrow V or the converse? Barry King blades vary in cutting width 1/4, 3/8th or 1/2 inch and are listed as Thin or Thick. Which one would suit your technique? www.barrykingtools.com/swivelknives.htm

allanpennington I’m not using any of those blades. The blade I am using is literally called the “low angle blade.” It was designed and is sold by Peter Main exclusively. It is significantly different from the blades you mentioned in every dimension. Contact him directly to purchase one. If you have any trouble contacting him, send me an email to: mike@learnleather.com

polymathecian you can do it!