Quick Question About The Order You Do Things In...

[Citrus]

Hi there -

This is just a quick question about something that's been bugging me: when tooling and wet-molding leather, which do you do first? I've made one tooled-knife sheath which I tooled after molding, but it was pretty tricky to do and I just winged it really as it was my first attempt at tooling. I didn't use any mallets or stamps, but just pressed into the leather with an embossing tool. I'm now working on a leather water bottle I want to add some details to, and thinking that it would be wasier to do it on the flat, but then the image might distort? If I do the tooling second, then I have to hold the bottle while I'm tooling, which seems tricky.

Any advice would be much appreciated

Hannah x

[BillB]

Hannah x,

When I have done holsters, knife shealths, quivers, etc. I have always tooled on the flat and then done the forming. I do it this way since I can get good clean impressions with the tool on the flat where as trying to tool on the curve could yield lighter impressions on the edges of the tool pattern since the leather would be curving away. Or if you try to get the edges to impress you would run the risk of cutting through the leather with the center of the tool. The one trick of tooling first then forming second is to not get the leather wet, it should only be moist as in a good casing. If it is too wet, the impressions will come out when you form the leather. It does make forming the leather a slower process since you should do it in increments and not all in one shot.

That is at least my experience. Others may have other solutions.

I hope this helps.

BillB