Tandy Leather How to Carve Leather Book 6047-00

Al's books are a wealth of information. This is no exception. It has a lot of carving ideas, and gives us the stamp number required to perform details in the carve. It is a large book, and does take some time to absorb all the details. I think this book is a value to any one who wants to carve leather.Carving leather is almost a lost art. Most people, and/or leather workers tend to stamp leather. There is even a rumor that carving leather somehow weakens the leather. This is completely untrue.I have seen a leather carver at work. I have seen a bunch more leather stampers. Leather carving is one of the great beauty's in life. I would almost consider it the eighth wonder of the world. There is nothing quite as beautiful as a carved piece of leather.I live in the west where we have several saddle and harness makers. Of the dozen or so shops, only one carves leather. It is a skill that requires practice, practice, practice. It requires patience, and a few tools.I took a 15 hour tooling course from a local carver which showed me some of what was required that the book does not tell, like tracing patterns, and transferring to leather. Other books do tend to offer some more insight, but all in all this book just about covers the trade.

I was really excited to give this to my brother-n-law for his latest hobby of leatherworking. Unfortunately this book is HUGE! I either misread the size, or didn't read it at all, and the size is definitely a deal breaker. It is wider than a couch cushion and half as deep. Way too big to set up in a workshop even for the largest book stand I could buy. It is also full of outdated patterns and extremely difficult to understand diagrams/instructions. I would go for something smaller, in color (this one is all done in the same light to medium brown), and definitely more updated. If you're already an expert, are interested in working on saddles and with hardcore cowboy designs, and have an entire table to set this book on while reading, then this may be the book for you. I'll be looking for something else.

I have been attempting to carve leather for a few weeks now. Book has lots pictures . Helpful for different ways of doing things.

Al Stolman classic instruction. Suitable for all types of leather craftsmen, smart or dumb. In other words, he's a man of the people and couldn't be more engaging as a paperback how to writer. You feel like you have him with you in a classroom and you understand Al and learn well how to sketch, transfer sketches, prep leather, judge readiness of leather, tool selection, swivel-knife usage, stamping technique ect. ect. ect. Money and time well spent.

Very happy with the quality of this book. While I do not claim to be a pro, my humble opinion is that this book is for somebody that has the 'knack' for leather tooling. If you have done at least 5-6 wallets as an example and you are continuously improving the quality of your work then this book is for you. The reason I am saying that while this book provides hints and guidance on how to achieve good results, it will not spoon feed very detailed information. The designs and bag/wallet patterns are very nice and I made many friends and relatives happy thanks to this book.

I have always loved the work and artistry of Al Stohlman. This is one of the best instruction manuals on figure carving ever written. Well written with clear and well defined drawings.

Wonderful examples and guided techniques. I look forward to using many of these examples for practice and in my own planned pieces.

This is an incredible book. Lots of detail on how to cut and bevel as well as how to stain to get animals to look real. Teaches great techniques that you can use with your own designs.

Great starter book

For a product in this price range this book simply doesnt offer enough.It roughly explains the basic techniques of leather coloring, but it certainly doesnt go into the finer details or gives really advanced readers enough for their money.Especially when it comes to shading this book keeps it silence.Half the cost would have been justified, but like this it is a rip off in my book.