tooling

New Online Leather Floral Carving Course in the Academy!

Posted by Don Gonzales

If you follow us on social media and/or our YouTube Channel, then you have heard us talking about building a new course for the DG LeatherCraft Academy. After months of gathering information, photos, and videos we have finally completed what we think is the most comprehensive online course on Floral Carving and Tooling that is available.

I will first say, there is no in person or online course that is going to make you a Master Floral Carver over night. Becoming efficient and proficient with leather floral tooling takes practice and study over a long period of time. What I wanted to do with this new course was to consolidate all the information in one place that is easy to follow and offers the best information possible. Along with this information, we created patterns and exercises that help to develop the skills and techniques needed to begin to build a quality skill set.

Our First Floral Carving and Tooling Course is Open for Enrollment!

Continue reading →

Tooling a Saddle Cantle Back in Hyper Speed

Posted by Don Gonzales

This is a Hyper Speed video of me tooling a saddle cantle back for a saddle I am making.  This is the entire tooling process from start to finish at 500%… minus carving it in.  The last one we did like this was the tooling of a belt and you guys seemed to like it so I thought I would show y’all this one. If you want to learn how to tool floral patterns into leather, then be sure to check out one of our tooling series playlists here on our channel.  In this series, we explain in depth the tooling process and different tools used.  Click Here to see our latest Tooling Series Project and get your free pattern to tool along with us.

May Tooling Series

Posted by Don Gonzales

In this video series, I show you the complete tooling of a Cluster Flower Pattern.  The goal of these videos is to show you my complete tooling process when stamping leather tooling patterns.

This video covers the following tools and the order that I use them in:

-push beveler

-flower centers

-flower center liner

-undercuts (4 different tool sizes- small to large)

-crowners (2 different tool sizes)

-bevelers

-Bargrounders

There is a FREE PDF for this pattern that you are welcome to download.  If you would like that then Click Here.   Just enter your email address to confirm access to download a copy to use so that you can follow along with us.

 

Here is a link to the second and final video in this tooling series “How to Tool a Cluster Flower Pattern – Video 2.”

 

 

Learn How to Tool Floral Leather Tooling Patterns

Posted by Don Gonzales

You bought a mess of leather stamping tools for tooling leather tooling patterns.

What do all these tools for stamping leather do and where to use them?

This is a common challenge for us when we start tooling leather.  We gather all the tools, a good mallet and some floral tooling patterns.  Yet we are unclear of what some of tools are for or how to use them.

Other areas that I struggled with early on was the proper order to use the tools in.  I found myself rambling through the patterns in a completely random fashion.  This led to long tooling sessions that left me feeling a bit lost and confused.

If you are new to tooling leather tooling patterns, then you are going to find great value in this!  Here you will find a 4 part video series that we created for our YouTube Channel.  The series is called “How to Tool Floral Leather Tooling Patterns.”

Each video covers a certain number of stamping tools in the order that I use them in my work everyday.  You will see how I use each tool for this particular tooling pattern.  The use of many of these tools takes practice and sometimes requires a little trick to use and we go through this in the videos.

So let’s just jump right in and get started! Continue reading →

Drawing Vinework in Leather Tooling Patterns

Posted by Don Gonzales

Introduction into February Tooling Floral Theme

For the entire month of February, I want to focus on floral design and tooling.  Everything from drawing leather tooling patterns, carving them, and tooling them.  I want to spend the time using our different platforms to help you improve your tooling and design.

So whether you are a seasoned leatherhead or a rookie, be ready to follow us into this deep subject.  We will not have enough time in one month to cover it all.  We won’t even have enough time to cover a quarter of the subject.  But I hope to shed a little light on the subject and hope that you will find value in it.

Tooling isn’t something that you can just read one book about, watch one youtube video, or spend one weekend in a workshop and become a master at.  Learning to draw leather tooling patterns and to tool them, takes practice and commitment to the idea that you will become a true life long student of the subject. Continue reading →

Undercuts in Floral Tooling

Posted by Don Gonzales

Leather stamping tools can be somewhat overwhelming when you look at all the different brands, styles and types that are available from all the different producers.  Then you try to figure out which tools you actually need versus the ones that are just nice to have.  There seems to be an infinite amount of choices in the “nice to have” category.  While there are many stamping tools that fall into the “nice to have” category, Undercuts are not one of these.

In my opinion, undercuts belong in the “must have” category for any tool collection.  I have seen many collections where the maker simply made his own version of undercuts but the fact is that he had a set.  Much like a beveler, the undercut is one of those tools that can make your job smooth or the lack of them can hinder your tooling progression.

In this article we will discuss the purpose of undercuts along with some of the ways to modify them to make them unique to your style of tooling.  If you have watched my video on My Tool Roll, then you have seen the types of undercuts that I use and the different sizes. Continue reading →

How to Sharpen Your Swivel Knife

Posted by Don Gonzales

In this video I quickly show you how I go about sharpening my swivel knives.  A sharp swivel knife is key to a successful tooling session and is more times than not the reason for poor results.  I also take a minute and show you the difference between cuts made in leather with a dull or rounded knife blade compared to a sharpened blade.

If you are wanting to insure that your tooling sessions go as smoothly as possible, check out this video and see if it helps you to get a good edge on your blades.

*I apologize for the audio quality in this video… I am not sure what happened to it.