Tooling after molding

[DPatterson]

I made a seat for my bike and molded the leather and after dying was not happy with the finish of the leather (heavy grain) I was was very happy

with the way the molding turned out Most of the time I tool my leather first then wet the edges and stretch it over the seat foam but with this last seat

I was shocked on how well the molding turned out and was curious if anybody has molded their leather first then tooled it any help would be great and pics

would be a plus

Thanks

Dale

[sorethumbs]

Depends on how thick the leather is and what tools you want to use. If it is a hard leather (tooling leather) I can suggest the following:

BTW: I did a BMX style bike seat (no padding) this way and it turned out pretty well. I think I used 3-5oz. leather

I find that you can use a lightly dampened sponge and just pat down the leather until it is just barely wet. Then you can take your swivel knife and lightly cut the lines. If there is any padding under the leather, I would suggest using modelling tools to raise the design. Otherwise I think you'd need to make a rigid form to set the molded leather onto. I'm not too good at making forms so, I couldn't even point you in the right direction.

I've found that the leather dries out pretty quick when lightly patting with the sponge, but it will keep the leather from stretching out too much while you raise the design. As always, you can wet the leather more or less depending on your own taste. Just don't soak the whole thing or it might lose tension.