Ditto.

I don't speak for Don or anybody else, but I am certain that he and most leather carvers/crafters/toolers/stampers, etc., would say that there isn't really a wrong way to do these things. In fact, some of them might tell you there's really no right way, either. As a matter of fact, Don here says several times throughout this series things like, "Now, this is how *I* do this, but others may do it *this* way, or *that* way. You might like to do it your own way," or "I like to use this wiggler tool, but you can use a veiner if you prefer that," and so forth. There are so many similar things to carving leather in tattooing, which I've done professionally now for 35 years, and what I'm saying here applies to tattooing, leather carving, pyrography (woodburning,) and pretty much every art and craft, and that is; learn what everybody else does, then do it the way that makes the most sense to you, and what gives you the best results. For me, one of the best ways to carve or stamp something is to take a remnant or piece of scrap leather, cut lines similar to the section you're working on, then try different *wrong* tools that might in your mind result in a better result than a traditional tool would. From the way Don talks in this video series, he not only uses several tools that are very different than are traditionally used, but has modified standard traditional ones that do a better, faster job of it...for him! And I guarantee that nobody told him to use different tools, at least not all of the ones he uses. Who knows, maybe after you try these techniques to replace the (so many things you've been doing wrong, you may decide that the way you've been doing it works better...for YOU! You never know, maybe doing some things "wrong" will identify you to leather crafters as your "signature style," just like the guys Don mentions in these videos!

The vast majority of people who use strops claim that the grain (smooth) side is best, but I get more or less the same results with either side. But I do have some food for thought... The flesh (rough) side of leather can load up (hold,) more rouge (or compound) if you prefer that gel than the grain side can hold, but most people agree that the rough side "rounds" the blade's edge more than the smooth side does. Personally, I use the smooth side unless I'm out and don't have a strop handy, in which case I just remove my belt, step on the tongue with my heel, pull the belt right with my left hand, then strop it back and forth several times. Works like a charm.

I noticed the same thing and saw that most of those areas got fixed up when he used the larger size undercuts to re-define the outsides of vine lines or re-bevel. Then more got fixed up with the decorative cuts, too. Still, at the end there were a few areas where you could clearly see the heel of the lifter imprint on an adjacent part - particularly the leaf that overlapped the border cut, and on the vines that became the stump on petal before the stump is defined. I am curious if there's a way to fix those up more, or if they look over-exaggerated in the video vs. in person.