Question about casing large projects

[Regis]

Being new at this, I'm pretty slow. I have a simple but rather large pattern that will take me more than one sitting to transfer to the leather. Then it will probably take me 2 or 3 evenings to cut. Once I case the leather the 1st time, do I keep it damp for days until all cutting & stamping is done? Or, can I put on the side and get back to it a day or more later and case again?

Thanks,

Regis

[ClayB]

Being new at this, I'm pretty slow. I have a simple but rather large pattern that will take me more than one sitting to transfer to the leather. Then it will probably take me 2 or 3 evenings to cut. Once I case the leather the 1st time, do I keep it damp for days until all cutting & stamping is done? Or, can I put on the side and get back to it a day or more later and case again?

Thanks,

Regis

Different people have different opinions on this subject. I think part of it depends on the quality of the leather you are using too. Some leather will harden a little more every time it dries out, making it more and more difficult to work with. Other leather doesn't seem to be as bad at this.

On a project that I knew I wasn't going to be able to get done in one sitting, I would case the leather well the first time. Soak it completly, and then let it dry until it starts to turn back to it's original color. Then you can start tracing the pattern on it. If you have to stop, then I would place it in a plastic bag to keep the moisture in. If you are going to be away from it for a long time, you could add a little more moisture to the leather from the backside before putting it in the bag. If I am going to be away from it overnight, or a couple days, I put the bag with the leather in it in the refrigerator. I have kept leather this way for long periods of time. Some people have problems with mold doing this so you might want to check it every couple days if you aren't working on it. I have only had it do that one time so I don't worry too much about it. When you are working on the project, you can add more moisture if you need to. Ususally I will add most of the additional moisture to the back side, but I also rub a damp sponge on the front side from time to time. Some people prefer to use a spray bottle and mist the additional water on. There really are no set rules. Take all the information you can get, try it out and do what works the best for you.

In the last Leather Crafters and Saddler's Journal, there was an article about a saddle the Don Butler built that was fully tooled. He said in the article that he remembered stamping on the seat for 24 straight days. He said after the first few days the leather was getting pretty fuzzy but he would just knock off the mold every morning and keep going. I am guessing that means the mold must not have any permanent detrimental effects to the leather.

Good luck on your project and I hope you will post pictures of it when you are finished.

Clay

[Regis]

Clay,

That is exactly what I needed to know. The project is a leather tray to go on my nightstand for keys, glasses, etc. After carving and stamping, I plan on raising the sides 1.5 inches on each side. Haven't exactly figured how to angel the sides up 30 degrees or so and connect the corners.

Thanks again for the help.

Regis

[ClayB]

Clay,

That is exactly what I needed to know. The project is a leather tray to go on my nightstand for keys, glasses, etc. After carving and stamping, I plan on raising the sides 1.5 inches on each side. Haven't exactly figured how to angel the sides up 30 degrees or so and connect the corners.

Thanks again for the help.

Regis

Regis,

That sounds like a neat project. The first thought that came to mind for raising the sides would be to cut a V out of each corner. Then when you folded up the sides until they fit the V, you could lace the corners back shut. You might want to use a gouge on the back of the leather to help the sides fold up easier. Just a thought. There should be others here who might also have some ideas as to things you could try.

Clay

[abn]

Regis, I saw a neat (and very simple) design for this on RedEnvelope.com:

RedEnvelope Leather Catchall

The corners are snapped together...

[Regis]

Thanks for the link/picture Alex. My daughter has one of those for travel because it lays flat in her suit case. I think I'll get some snaps and make another one like it. The one I'm working on now will be rigid and have stitched corners. It's mostly a simple carving and forming project for me.

I used the plastic bag to keep it for a day but was concerned when I opened it because the leather was pretty 'mushy'. When I tooled along the edges that I had cut, the water would slightly oooz up. Obviously I got it toooo wet. I left it out last night and now it is nice and dry BUT, the tooling I did is now very shallow. Can I start over and case it and tool over the same area? Or, will that fail or simply cause new problems?

I do appreciate the help.

Regis

Regis, I saw a neat (and very simple) design for this on RedEnvelope.com:

RedEnvelope Leather Catchall

The corners are snapped together...

[ClayB]

[quote

I used the plastic bag to keep it for a day but was concerned when I opened it because the leather was pretty 'mushy'. When I tooled along the edges that I had cut, the water would slightly oooz up. Obviously I got it toooo wet. I left it out last night and now it is nice and dry BUT, the tooling I did is now very shallow. Can I start over and case it and tool over the same area? Or, will that fail or simply cause new problems?

I do appreciate the help.

Regis

Yes, that was WAY too wet. Casing is a learning experience to figure out what is just right. They used to describe the right condition as "when the leather begins to look dry, but still feels cool when you touch it to your cheeck". If it is too wet, it will be mushy and your impressions won't be sharp and clear and as the leather dries, they may just disappear. Too dry and it will also be hard to get a good clear impression. Just right and it will be easy to carve and stamp, and you will get "burnish" when stamping. Burnish is a nice brown color that the leather will turn in the stamped impressions. I think you can try again to get the moisture right and save the project. The biggest problem is that you cut lines will probably have closed up and you might have a lot of trouble trying to re cut in the same lines. But, you have nothing to lose by trying.

Hope this helps.

Clay