boning tools

[SkaerE]

huh, huh... sorry...

ahem.

anyhow, anyone have any good ideas for boning tooling? ive heard folks use everything from shaped plastic pieces, to actual bones, to pieces of brass etc...

can i see some pictures?

[DC KNIVES]

Hi SkaerE, most all of the leather supply houses sell the plastic variety. Check out the Leather Factory,OR do like alot of us do and use a well rounded and smooth antler tip. You can use any number of items but they must be smooth so as not to scratch the surface. Hope this helps,.Dave

[SkaerE]

thanks, never thought of using antler tip. and i have plenty of it

to really smooth items up, should i buff them a lot or...?

[Chuck Burrows]

The one on the left is made of bone, the next two are commercial leather modeling tools, and the last three are antler tips of various sizes.

The most important thing when hand boning is to make sure the leather is at the right "temper" - neither too wet or too dry - and that is a a matter of practice and experience. When fitting around a thick folder or some such the leather may need to be very wet, but you need to let it dry more to get the finely defined modeling that is the mark of a real pro.

[MtMike]

Yes, buff them till they're as smooth as possible. As Dave sez, you want it to form the leather, not to gouge or scratch it.
I use the narrower tips for sharp creasing, and the wider ends for "blending" the leather around rounded handle shapes. The sides of the antlers can be used to "bone" flat surfaces.
No end of things you can do with these homemade tools, and if you do some looking arorund thru the catalogs, you'll see that good ones can cost a bunch of $$$.
More fun to make it yourself too
Mike