weaselrunner Report post Posted January 29, 2009 Has anybody ever tried using one for forming thinner leathers on or around an object??? Or maybe for molding leather to a form Just one of those weird ideas floating around in that almost empty space between my ears Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leatheroo Report post Posted January 29, 2009 Hi, one of our members, Banwell, did a very good tutorial/experiment using this technique, check out this post http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?s...3&hl=vacuum Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TroyS Report post Posted January 30, 2009 Hi, one of our members, Banwell, did a very good tutorial/experiment using this technique, check out this post http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?s...3&hl=vacuum I used Banwell's idea, but kicked it up a notch. I connected an air conditioning Evacuation Vacuum to piece of #40 (heavy wall) PVC pipe, then mounted the pipe to a laminated countertop with a pinhole in the middle. I lay my object on the countertop over the pinhole then put double sided tape on the countertop around the object. I then place a piece of heavy clear plastic over the object and press it onto the tape. Now that my oject is under the plastic sheet, I turn on the vac and wait about 10 minutes. It quickly draws all of the air out and sucks the leather around your object. The nice thing about the AC Vacuum is it also removes moisture from the leather also. After about 10 minutes, turn off the vacuum, carefully remove the plastic, being careful not to shift your object and let it dry overnight. The next day, you'll have perfect shaped piece of leather that won't lose it's shape. It works on almost ANY object with awesome results. I did an old gun and a saddlebag lid from my motorcycle. Here's the results ... This was done about 7 months ago and has been sitting on a shelf in my shop and still has NOT lost any shape! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WaG35 Report post Posted January 31, 2009 how heavy is the leather that you used for those two projects? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kowboyboots Report post Posted January 31, 2009 Troy I use the same thing an it worked great for me also, but i bought one of those bags from Rockler. Those evacuation units work fabulously. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TroyS Report post Posted January 31, 2009 how heavy is the leather that you used for those two projects? If I remember correctly, it's about 7/8 leather .... but it can be done with ANY leather! The results may not be as good on 10/12 as it would on 3/4 but it can be done! Troy I use the same thing an it worked great for me also, but i bought one of those bags from Rockler. Those evacuation units work fabulously. I never thought of that... Hmmmmm, I wonder how I can shove a motorcycle seat in one of those bags? HAHAH Most of my projects are large. Besides, when I wet-form leather for seats, the pieces are molded in stages then pieced together. When I did this experiment, I thought I would be using the vac method regularly, but in all honesty, those were the last 2 pieces I've vac'd... Now I mold a piece, move it to the shelf to dry, mold another piece, move it to the shelf to dry, etc... sometimes 8 or 10 pieces drying at once.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MADMAX22 Report post Posted January 31, 2009 Dont they have larger bags like for storing clothing and the such in. I remember seeing those things. A thought, you could get one of those vacuum pumps that you use for drawing a vacuum on refrigeration systems. You can get them relatively cheap (around $150 I think), they are far heavier duty then the food sealers. Now you could build a large vacuum bag with a hard bottom (kind of like if you were doing composite work ) and put your stuff in there and bam your all good. Leave the vacuum pump in there and have it set to whatever vacuum you want and you could leave it for a day or so. Probably work pretty good on even heavier leather. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
