apkayle Report post Posted April 26, 2013 Hello all, this is my first post here. I've been lurking for a while and I decided to get onto my first leather project. I'm making a leather journal out of 4 to 5 oz leather. I cased then tooled, dyed, oiled with with neatsfoot, and then finished with resolene. When I folded my leather to turn the leather sheet into a cover, the spine seemed to wrinkle and crack. Is there any way to minimize wrinkling along leather folds? Would molding the leather piece into a bookcover shape prior to tooling and dyeing help? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
benlilly1 Report post Posted April 26, 2013 Next time if there's no tooling on the spine you could slightly dampen it and then mold it before the dye process Bending leather dry tends to do this. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billymac814 Report post Posted April 26, 2013 At the very least wait to put the resolene on until its in its final shape. Resolene is flexible to a degree but you don't want to bend it a whole lot. You should be able to do the rest flat and if you need to make any super tight bends wet it first as was already said. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bob Blea Report post Posted April 26, 2013 Hello and welcome to the forum! I make quite a few notebooks and journals. I found it works best to fold the leather as soon as I finish carving/tooling the cover. The leather is still moist from casing at that point so it fold easily and will hold that fold once it dries. I then give it a good coating of neatsfoot oil. This restores some moisturizers to the leather and it is less stiff and more flexible. I make sure the spine area gets a good coating since it will do all the flexing over the lifetime of the notebook. Just make sure you use it sparingly. A little goes a long way. I haven't used Resolene as a finish, so I haven't had any experience with it flexing, but I know enough about it to agree with billymac above. I apply several thin coats of Wyosheen to my notebooks prior to antiquing. After antiquing, I have a spray on acrylic coating (similar to Resolene) but it's thin and just there to protect the antique and give some moisture and UV protection. If you thin down your Resolene (you should always use it thinned 50/50 with water) and put it on sparingly, it will probably flex OK. Hope this helps, Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
apkayle Report post Posted April 27, 2013 Thank you all so much! The molding and neatsfoot oil recommendations were great! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
