Wrapping up another November here in Northwest Florida, and also the final day of the 2021 Hurricane Season. I thought I’d brag a little on what’s easily a “hidden gem.” Cliche’s aside, if you’re interested in the trade, or just the craft or hobby of working with leather, then I’d highly recommend checking out Leatherworker.net. I’ve been a member over there since 2007, and never fail to discover a nugget or two on every visit. Head over and check ’em out!
From what’s left of America…
“It’s all in the details,” is a pretty common statement, but it’s critical to making leather products one piece at a time. I thought I’d show a photo of a gun belt being hand-stamped with a basket stamp and half-flower border. This is the cleanest, longest-lasting way of putting a design on the leather.
There is another way I know of to do this. It is by embossing or pressing a design into damp leather using a press or a roller/wheel with an embossing machine. This is the mass-produced, inexpensive way of doing it. It also results in a fairly shallow imprint that is subject to fading away over time. It can be done quickly, whereas hand-stamping takes more setup, and much more time.
Embossing can be done in seconds. Stamping can take hours.
Here’s a video from Tandy Leather and George Hurst showing you some of how it’s done.