Evening. As a start I have done some tooling with good results but usually on single pieces of 8oz. So as a project I now want to build a cue case for snooker cues. This is essentially a 60 inch long wooden box in 2 parts (top and bottom hinged). I want this to be covered in natural veg tan leather and tooled in a western style pattern. with that in mind its a big job (maybe too big) and will require buying probably 2 shoulders, so I want to get it right. I think the cover will be in 6 pieces - 3 top, 3 bottom (end-middle-end) . my question to you guys is this:-
1) how do I get the leather round the ends smoothly? I've added a picture of the frame (The pic shows the inside but you get the idea of the shape). My thought is I wet mould it into shape before trimming the straight end and sewing the next piece on. I assume there is still some flexibility once moulded to remove it, stitch it and then glue in place? Once glued I'll tool it in place
2) To get the smoothest mould I will need the thinnest leather possible BUT it needs to be thick enough to tool in the design. What is the thinnest you guys have successfully tooled and still kept its integrity? My thought is 5oz (2mm) but I don't know how well that will mould.
Any advice is truly welcome, even if the advice is "this is crazy hard, don't do it, you'll lose hundreds of $$". Cases of this design are common for snooker and English 8 ball but they usually use Aniline leather that can be stretched, which isn't suitable for the design I have in mind. I did make some enquiries of an English case maker but he said the amount of hours it would take to work out would make the case $000 of dollars.
I've also added a mock up of what I'm trying to create. I'll keep the updates coming if I get a way forward.
