jolieo

Thanks this does help. I was thinking heat to stiffen & set . I have some elk hide I like for the color and most importantly the surface texture, it's soo soft . The nose is the problem. I think I can get soapstone but I am not sure if the mini wood chisels will do it. I am starting in on this project come monday. How big should I start? And how do you get leather to stiffen up or is that a function of which leather you buy. Aren't newbies fun! Thanks again Jolie

Hi thanks for answering It does help . If you are willing to engage in conversation - my next question is - how wet can you get the leather, would wetting one area not leave a water stain? Remember the old darn eggs - should I use something like this to stretch the leather ove, can I scrape out some of the leather from the nap side to give room for stretching or would that weaken the leather to mucg. Would I have to heat to stiffen it? If I heat it , to what temp. Thanks Jolie

Hi Ofcourse I am a newbie! Here's my tiny story : around fifteen years ago I met a woman with a face pendant on around 3" by 1.5" , anyway not big. The face was very raised, full on 3d , not tooled. I was taken with it and asked where she got it . She said she had made it, it was leather. I asked if she sold them, she said no. I asked her if she would teach me, she said it was easy, you just did it. I asked how , she just push with small tools from behind, maybe wet it a little bit, let it rest, do some more. I saw her a few more times around town, but she never was more forthcoming. This has haunted me for years. I really want to attempt this, but I can't find anything that shows me which route to take. Am I moulding, tooling , carving from behind. All and more? Please give me a start point and I'll come back to you with the next problem. I have the leather, I have various pokers, needles but only mini wood working carvers- which might work so small scale. My end goal would be a leather doll face - fairly small . Hey thank you for any input. Jolie