Urgent Storing Question!

[templeunderfoot]

Hello,

I've got a big of a situation hee. I'm pretty much a beginner at floral designs, although i've been playing around with leather carving for a few months now. I've made alot of free hand, small scale things, but after a floral design wallet, i felt i wanted to try something big. Maybe i went too big, haha. I'm making a fully carved hand bag, and i've been at it for 4 days now (2-3 hours after work). Now i have to leave this weekend on short notice and am not done!

I've looked everywhere and cannot find information on what to do when you attack a big project. It's been wet for 4 days now, and i'll be gone for another 3 before i can finish it. I've kept it cool and there's definitely no mold, it looks the same. But 3 more days?

Can i freeze it? What happens if it dries and i case it back when i get home? Please, any help would be much appreciated, i'm leaving tomorrow night!

[Double U Leather]

Don't worry in the least about freezing it. I do it all the time if I'm going to be away from a project for a couple days. In fact, I'm fixin' to put a notebook in the freezer this weekend while I go with my son to a high school rodeo. Just be sure to let it get back to room temperature, moisten it, and go to it.

[templeunderfoot]

Thank you!

In case i didnt get a reply, i prepared a very small, rough carving on a piece of leather. I froze it last night, and took it out this morning. I wanted to test just to be sure.

It's good to know it's being done though!

[Bob Blea]

You can also store things in the refrigerator for a while too. I've keep things I'm working on stored in the fridge for up to two weeks, only taking them out when I need to work on them. I didn't see any mold problems that way until something had been left in there for well over a month

Bob

[kseidel]

It is also fine to let your tooling dry out. We seldom put things in the fridge and never freeze. If we are unable to finish a large project and must leave it for some time, we just let it dry out. Then re-case it when ready to work on it again.

Freezing can cause a lot of problems... the water in the fibers expands and stretches the fibers. If there is excessive moisture, the leather will be torn apart from the inside out! This is also possible with excessive oil in freezing temps. Even when properly cased, after freezing, leather tends to have a "mushy" feel. I would rather dry and re-case.

Keith

[Bob Blea]

It is also fine to let your tooling dry out. We seldom put things in the fridge and never freeze. If we are unable to finish a large project and must leave it for some time, we just let it dry out. Then re-case it when ready to work on it again.

Freezing can cause a lot of problems... the water in the fibers expands and stretches the fibers. If there is excessive moisture, the leather will be torn apart from the inside out! This is also possible with excessive oil in freezing temps. Even when properly cased, after freezing, leather tends to have a "mushy" feel. I would rather dry and re-case.

Keith

Hi Keith,

When you recase the leather after letting it dry out, don't you have problems with tooling work getting distorted by the leather swelling? It seems when I've done let leather dry and then recased, the leather swells some and I need to redo some of the beveling or other tooling. It looks like I loose some of the depth of my work. Of course, my beveling may be a bit suspect to begin with!

Thanks,

Bob

[kseidel]

I hear this talked about a lot. Many people say re-wetting causes the tooling to "come out" and loose definition. When working on large items, you will need to re-wet the leather many times during the stamping process. When you are loosing definition when re-wetting, it is usually a result of tooling too wet in the first place. To clarify further, even though the surface may be the correct temper, many times the leather on the inside is still too wet. This wet middle causes the tooling to be soft and not adequately compacted in order to hold its form deeply. When you re-wet, the tooling shallows to the actual depth that you have properly tooled.

I prefer a sprayer to wet my leather for tooling. A sprayer lays an even, uniform coat of water over the entire surface. When using a sponge, the raised edges of cuts and tooled areas strip more water from the sponge funneling it directly into the center of the leather, when all you really need is to moisten the surface that has dried out from air circulation and from your hands wicking away the moisture.

Hope this does not confuse you further.

Keith

[Bob Blea]

I hear this talked about a lot. Many people say re-wetting causes the tooling to "come out" and loose definition. When working on large items, you will need to re-wet the leather many times during the stamping process. When you are loosing definition when re-wetting, it is usually a result of tooling too wet in the first place. To clarify further, even though the surface may be the correct temper, many times the leather on the inside is still too wet. This wet middle causes the tooling to be soft and not adequately compacted in order to hold its form deeply. When you re-wet, the tooling shallows to the actual depth that you have properly tooled.

I prefer a sprayer to wet my leather for tooling. A sprayer lays an even, uniform coat of water over the entire surface. When using a sponge, the raised edges of cuts and tooled areas strip more water from the sponge funneling it directly into the center of the leather, when all you really need is to moisten the surface that has dried out from air circulation and from your hands wicking away the moisture.

Hope this does not confuse you further.

Keith

Thanks Keith, not confused at all. This is great information and explains a lot. I have always had problems with tooling too wet, so what you are saying makes sense. I have heard people say to use a spray bottle to remoisten, and now I understand why. You have been very helpful!

Bob