Tooling a Rifle Sling

Just thought it would be fun to post some progress pics while I tool this sling. As of now I'm planning on lining this one so I'll be hand sewing the full length of it also. I got the artwork drawn on the leather and got all of the lines cut. I'll let it sit in a plastic bag overnight to let the moisture equalize. I'll start tooling tomorrow. It's difficult to see the pencil lines in the first pic because the lead is reflecting the light.
Hope y'all find it somewhat interesting.

Great work as always amigo.

Hey I need to hit you up for some custom slings for 3 of my kids. I want initials for sure, decorative stuff if any is undecided.

Right on

Flower centers are set and the petals are shaded

Beveled the tight inside lines

These are the tools. Next I'll bevel the rest of the lines

I had forgotten just how much work went into leather art. Course, it's been about 60 years since I was involved in doing it. Mike, you do fantastic work!!!! Daniel

Nice work.

Finished beveling all of the lines and got the background work done. Time for a break

Awesome !

That’s nice.

Thanks guys, really appreciate the compliments
Ended up taking a longer break than expected and went to dinner.
Got all of the shading done. Just a few more tools to add some more texture.

Ok guys, that's it for the tooling. I'll let it dry overnight and start thinking about dye and finish work

Looks great! You have some serious talent, buddy.

Thanks Doc!

Perfect, outstanding work.

Looking good

I have always wondered instead of doing the typical leather,patterns, why not change it up like a tattoo artist? Can it even be done?

Might open up to a broader audience.

Looks great btw.

Thanks Shane. That's a great question and the answer is yes it can and is done often. Probably the most prevalent that I have seen is custom motorcycle seats and "biker" belts. I recently saw a guy on a Harley with a prominently displayed 1911 in a beautiful tooled holster. I wanted to ask him about it and find out who did the work but I'm pretty sure he thought i was chasing him. Figured I'd best leave it alone.
Tattoo art is interesting and can be beautiful done right. But it's normally applied to un-tanned hide so it's being applied to a different medium by a completely different process. There has recently been a trend of tattoo artists inking western floral art. I've seen several pictures of arm bands. My nephew was wanting me to draw a pattern for him to have tatooed. There is also a lot of engraving art that is being applied in leather tooling and tattoos. There are a lot of lines being crossed with some really interesting art being put out. It's definitely not dead, it's just changing. Agreed, mine is more traditional.
I might dabble with it, but just like western floral, it's not everyone's style. I get it and am not offended if people don't care for my work. I guess I figure the broader audience here is the western floral guys but I also do lots of basket weave and other geometric designs for guys here. If you want a rifle sling with a Koi fish and cherry blossoms, give me a shout and I'll fix you up.

Sheridan Rose?

I don't doubt it's been called that. Even though they can be drawn differently I just call them Sheridan flowers. In my mind it's the basic shape and how they are shaded but I could be wrong. Along the same lines, to me that is a Sheridan leaf also.

I put some oil on it this morning and was pretty worried. This piece of leather drank up the oil and was super dark. After sitting until now it evened out and got much lighter. Still a little darker than I wanted but I'm good with it.
Leather is funny, you can cut two pieces side by side and they will take oil, dye and finishes differently


Now I've just made a mess or so it would seem. This is an antique paste that gets down into all of the tooling and impressions. It'll sit for 15 minutes or so then I'll start taking off what I don't want. Thinking I'll leave this one pretty dark

Ok, here it is. We could punch the holes and attach some swivels and it would be ready to go but I'm going to line this one and get it sewn at some point. I have some other obligations that I need to get started on but will get back to this one as time allows.

Awesome outstanding work !

Awesome Job Dink!

Very nice work!

Beautiful work Sir. I like that sling.

I’ll be the proud owner of this one come Sunday

Thanks guys. Hope y'all enjoyed this build along. I got it finished this morning and it's drying. Got the liner on and all sewn and finished the edges. Im really happy with how it turned out. Going to meet up with cbump tomorrow and get it to it's new home. I'll get it outside and get a final pic in natural light later this afternoon

Here's a final picture in natural light. All finished and ready to go

Beautiful!