*I realize this a re-post, but I haven't had a response in the nearly 3 weeks since posting to the "Finishing Steps in Your Own Words" thread and could really use the help. Feel free to delete if this re-post violates any forum rule(s).*
Hi, All.
I've been able to glean a lot of great information here but still have some questions as I am approaching completion on my first carving piece:
a 10 oz. vegetable-tanned cowboy cuff.
Post-tooling, I am not dyeing the piece but will be:
-stitching along the border and gluing/stitching straps onto the piece
-adding snaps
-oiling with neatsfoot
-edging with gum traganth and applying edgekote
-finishing with resolene
Now, here is how I am inclined to proceed, and please correct/re-arrange the steps as is necessary:
1) -Clean the piece. There seems to be quite a bit of debris in some of the deeply tooled areas. What is the best method to handle this? My first thought is to use canned air for cleaning keyboards.
2) -Allowing the piece to dry from its "cased" state. How long should I allow for this?
3) -Oiling with neatsfoot oil. I've read that a few coats is ideal with a full day between coats. Any truth to sunlight helping the process?
4) -Punch holes for snaps and pierce leather with stitching irons.
5) -Scuff areas that will take glue to affix the straps to the cuff. (I have Seiwa leather glue from goodsjapan.com)
6) -Add glue and gently clamp together with stitches aligned.
7) -Add stitching.
8) -Add snaps.
9) -Apply black edgekote to edges and burnish.
10) -Apply gum traganth to edges and burnish.
11) -Apply resolene. From what I've read, I am inclined to dilute this even further than the touted 50:50 water/resolene solution and just add more coats of the stuff, lest I end up with a plastic-looking, gummed-up mess. How long should I wait between coats?
(I think) that's it! Many thanks in advance for anyone who replies.
**I used a casing solution from another thread on the forum, and it is fantastic.
Bottled water, listerine, lexol, and baby shampoo. I did have to submerge my 10 oz leather for about two full minutes though -- Anything less did not allow for proper tooling. With this solution, I've been able to work on the cowboy cuff on-and-off for six months. When I'm done for the day, I just case it again with a sponge and quickly double-bag it in my refrigerator.
