It will stamp worse,. Even on a small project its best to case only once and keep it damp, even in just a sealable plastic bag
Are you speaking of top surface burnishing or edge? The edges will burnish up real nice and easily, it will take a lot of effort, and I mean a lot, to burnish the top surface
Yes it does alter
After your first casing when the leather dries you'll find it stiffens up and also shrinks a bit
After each subsequent casing the leather will get ever so slightly more stiff but won't shrink by very much, if at all
To counteract this stiffening you should feed it with nfo as it dries after casing
Upon the initial casing it will tool nicely and easily. Upon subsequent casing it will need more effort to tool well. But we are talking of it'll just need a greater whack on the tool with the mallet, not having to use a 15lb sledgehammer. The difference is there but not too noticeable
If you are going to tool over a period you can do a first casing, keep the leather damp with a sponge as you work. At the end of a session wrap it in ceran food wrap and put it in the fridge until the next session. It will keep for days like this. When I do this I put just a little bit of bleach in the casing water to prevent mould from growing
Chromexcel is a trade name for a leather that has been both chrome and veg tanned. Veg tanned to give the leather bulk and stiffness and chrome tan to make it supple
My family used to have a set that looked exactly like those
The forks were 'pickle forks' , the straight un was for pickled onions and the nut crackers.
On of my older sisters used to torture me by using the nut crackers on one of my fingers ; ~ 'do as I say or want or. . . . ' as she squeezed
Back on topic; it does look like the pickle forks have been re-purposed to edge bevellers and/or for pulling out small tacks, like shoe sole tacks
In the normal course of things it doesn't matter, if you are saddle stitching
On straight run stitching it can make a difference
On some thin leathers I have holes at 2 -3mm rip out and I have to go up to 5 - 6mm
What happens comes with experience
Just use ordinary paper patterns. Even the seam allowances are alright for leather seams
My first choice for leather would be from Le Prevo :
http://www.leprevo.co.uk/hides.htm
Scroll down for the clothing leather. And the staff at Le Prevo will help with advice too
I get advertising emails from 'Ivan'
I just got one about a range of hole punches;
https://www.ivan.tw/products/craftplus-professional-drive-punches
Interesting shape. And I wonder if that wider chute on the smaller sizes will make it easier to clear the punches of the plugs?
Sometimes the subject comes up ' does chrome tan leather affect steel' ?
Today I got out of my EDC pouch a small pair of snippers. I'd made them a small sheath out of some chrome tan leather to cover the blades. The snippers have been in the pouch for months, unused until today. The bare metal blades had some mild corrosion on them
Just over a month ago Gezzer posted up a thread on a hatband he'd made
In that thread I suggested getting some false fingers to put on the hatband
I got the fingers. They are polythene plastic, not real ones (aww!) They were painted, very terribly, so I repainted them. They are about 50% bigger than real ones
Now to find a use for them
There should be a letter before the number. The letter indicates which group the tool belongs, eg A = Backgrounders (mostly), B = Bevellers, P = Pear shaders, S = Seeders, et cetera
We discussed that knife previously. Many other trades lay claim to it. If you shop around you can buy a good but cheaper one meant for another trade, such as carpet fitters or glaziers
yes it will.
I find that a belly stretches more from back-bone to centre of belly than along the belly from leg to leg. Laminating it with a less stretchy section reduces the stretchiness
The chap I was talking to who showed me the metal parts soaked the parts in cellulose thinners. He did not explain why though. But that might have been to dissolve the plastic
Eagle looks good, Marine looks subtle.
A wee tip/idea, if you can't paint really neatly, do it deliberately rough. EG on the Arizona, don't try to fill the rays with colour, do it sort-of child-like scribble, not right to the edges