first carving

[Chris B]

Yep bruce, my first one.Thanks guys for the kind words. I hope i can find some more time to do this now..lol I am going to do this pattern a couple more times, then try a wallet. Hopefully all goes well. I do have a quick question though, do you guys cement your leather down before you case or after?

Thanks,

Chris

[Duke]

looks good! make sure that you are stropping your swivel knife, and that when you start tooling, you "case" your leather and let it return to the original color before you start. also, instead of a smooth faced beveler, try a checkered face beveler. it leaves less of a walking impression. also, bear in mind that you can only bevel as deep as you swivel knife.

[gearsmithy]

Yep bruce, my first one.Thanks guys for the kind words. I hope i can find some more time to do this now..lol I am going to do this pattern a couple more times, then try a wallet. Hopefully all goes well. I do have a quick question though, do you guys cement your leather down before you case or after?

Thanks,

Chris

I used to spread rubber cement on with an old credit card on both the leather and the carboard before casing. Now I rarely even cement my workpiece to the cardboard. With smaller pieces it helps to move the piece around when tooling and keep it from stretching but with larger one's there really isn't a need for it. Make sure you're using the cardboard that has a shiny side. It repels water better than the rouge side, otherwise it can get soggy if you opt for the "soak and wait" casing method.

[Duke]

what we do at my work when we teach classes is we tell people to get some blue painters tape and tape the back(rough) side of the leather before casing it. why blue painters tape? it has less adhesive on it an therefore comes off easier.faster to do an less messy than rubber cement too.

[Chris B]

Cool thanks guys!! You all are very knowledge able. Hopefully I will be able to get back to the bench this week.

[indypbear]

Good first effort. Try shelving paper on the back for the same reason as the blue painter's tape-not as sticky to remove. Or go to your local hospital and ask the Chief Tech. in X-Ray for some old film they re going to discard and rubber cement to that. None are bad ideas, just what works best for you. Keep on toolin' and it'll get better with each piece.

Indy

[howardb]

The local hospitals have all gone digital, so someone told me to buy a package of "quilters templates" from Wal Mart. I did and they seem to work if you can get your project glued down.

Note that rubber cement applied directly to the leather doesn't come off very well. The suggestions involving the low tack tape work pretty well. Too strong of a tape will rip up the back side of the project when removed. A friend recommended 3M Packaging Tape (he was very specific...). He has good luck with it. Note that the tape WILL make a difference.

I am trying an experiment. It seems to me that the tape alone should stabilze the leather against stretch, so then you shoudn't really have to glue it down to the backing sheet. I have my holster taped in place on the quilting template film. Leave the tape you put on the back side of the leather long and when you flip it over, tape those exposed edges to your plastic sheet (above mentioned template, x-ray film, etc.) and Ta Da! So far so good for me on that one.

[howardb]

Quick update on the backing issue - I was digging through a box of my father in law's stuff and ran into a partially finished purse he was doing. He had backed the whole side with what looks like clear "shelf paper".

I also found a wallet that he had started with the same backing, and it has to be at least 6 years old. I peeled the wallet (it looked complete to me, and the person it was carved for has also passed away) with only a minimum of fuzzing of the leather and no visible residue, none of that sticky glue feel either. I'm going out for shelf paper...

Brent