What am I missing... Or am I missing anything?

[LRBespokeGoods]

I've been having a bit of an issue with my tooling but I've tried several things to sort it with no success.

When I tool or stamp I'm not getting the satisfying burnish on each tool stroke consistently. Initially I thought it was my casing so I've tried several different moisture levels from a little damp to nearly dry, then I considered the amount of pressure on the tool and struck with a range of pressures on the varying moisture levels... Nothing was working so I bought different tooling leather and repeated the process....

Am I going totally quackers and missing something? I also won't be offended if the answer is simply I'm doing something fundamentally wrong.

I'll drop a photo of the piece that started my conundrum in the comments when I work out how to reduce file size on my phone...

Edited Saturday at 10:20 PM by LRBespokeGoods

[Beehive]

Try slicking the leather before you stamp. Burnish it with denim or glass when it's dry. Case and stamp it. 

Compare the results.

[LRBespokeGoods]

Thanks, I'll give it a go tomorrow.

And I've just seen this is probably in the wrong place... Is it possible to move it?

[Beehive]

You can also burnish it after it's stamped. Same things, denim or glass. If you use glass, it'll level out the highs and lows on basket stamp. Go easy using glass. Irregular shapes, I use denim. 

Edited Saturday at 10:27 PM by Beehive

[LRBespokeGoods]

@Beehive thanks for the recommendation, it looks great but seems to be the opposite of what I was expecting.

[TonyV]

On 2/1/2025 at 3:09 PM, LRBespokeGoods said:

 I've tried several different moisture levels from a little damp to nearly dry, 

You might need a bit more moisture, depending on what you mean by "little damp".  We can't get a burnish with the stamps unless there is enough, but not too much, moisture inside the leather.  There are many different methods to case the leather, a simple search of "casing leather" on youtube will give you plenty of options, but most of them agree, get it damp enough until it doesn't absorb the water quickly, and then wait long enough for the leather to begin looking like it's dry.  

Of course, too much moisture has its own set of problems, like mushy imprints and cuts, but judging from your statement, I would try more water and a bit more time to let it penetrate to the center.  Trial and error will find the right moisture level and technique.

Edited Monday at 01:38 AM by TonyV

[LRBespokeGoods]

Thanks for all the help folks, as it turns out I needed to get the leather what I would call "really wet" so it was almost "squishy" and then let it really dry out for almost 3 hours before getting a reasonable result. Seems rather strange given the last couple of tooled pieces wanted waaay less moisture.

At least I'm learning, even if I have to go back to pulling my hair out from time to time!

[Beehive]

1 hour ago, LRBespokeGoods said:

Thanks for all the help folks, as it turns out I needed to get the leather what I would call "really wet" so it was almost "squishy" and then let it really dry out for almost 3 hours before getting a reasonable result. Seems rather strange given the last couple of tooled pieces wanted waaay less moisture.

At least I'm learning, even if I have to go back to pulling my hair out from time to time!

 

It's happens to the best of us. However, look forward to what you've learned. It's something you can't buy. You gotta earn it. Every step forward is a mile to an inch. 

Keep at it and you'll be rewarded more then you have been.