How do I eliminate stretching and cupping when I am tooling?

[meg1517]

Hi..

I have a tooling question. I am tooling a large piece of leather that needs to be as flat as possible when I am done. What is the best way to keep the leather from stretching and

cupping while I am tooling it so it lays flat when I am finished. Thanks so much sharing!

Meg

[CitizenKate]

What is the best way to keep the leather from stretching and cupping while I am tooling it so it lays flat when I am finished.

Before casing, try temporarily mounting the leather to something somewhat rigid. You can use rubber cement and mount it on a piece of poster (light) or illustration board (heavier and more rigid), or just line the back with packing tape (use extra layers for larger pieces). I prefer the packing tape, because it comes off easily without leaving an adhesive residue, but there are lots of options, depending on the results you want.

Kate

[Tkleather1]

Well there are lots of ways to do this. The method that I use is I tape the backside of the project with the strongest packing tape that I can find. I tape it using overlapping applications and I do this in both directions. I then case my leather and slick it to help adhere the leather to the tape as I am compressing the fibers, kind of a two for one deal on that one.

I know of a few people that will glue the project to a peice of heavy tight grained cardboard using rubber cement.

I know that a few people will glue to a piece of acrylic usning rubber cement.

I am sure that more people will chime in and help you out but these are the ways that I do it and a few that I know of.

Good luck and Happy toolin'

Tim Worley

TK-Leather

[TimKleffner]

I agree with Tim, I tape my leather prior to casing, overlap the packing tape , then , I rubber cement the taped piece to a piece of acrylic. I have different size pieces but most of them are about 3/8 thick.

I use the acrylic for rigidity , but , also, I use weights to keep the piece from slidding around the bench and keeps the tools from going thru the thin leather and damaging my tool faces.

Happy tooling

TimKleffner

[CitizenKate]

I tape my leather prior to casing, overlap the packing tape , then , I rubber cement the taped piece to a piece of acrylic. ...

I use the acrylic for rigidity , but , also, I use weights to keep the piece from slidding around the bench and keeps the tools from going thru the thin leather and damaging my tool faces.

Oooo... there's something I haven't thought to try. Looks like a great solution for the larger pieces. The rigidity of acrylic sheet with the clean separation of packing tape. Tim, you're a genius!

Kate

[meg1517]

You all are sooooo fabulous! Thanks for the suggestions. Another quick question and excuse my ignorance, what does it mean to CASE the leather.

How do you case the leather.

Thanks

Meg

[Tkleather1]

Casing is the process that you use to wet your leather. This is how I do it.

I rough cut the pattern, Tape the back, run the faucet put leather under the faucet until it is soaked but not a noodle( I look at the taped side alot to make sure that the back side is not soaked all the way through) I then slick the leather with a glass slicker, put in a garbage bag and seal up tight to let as little air as possible enter or escape. I leave it like this for preferably 24 hours but at least overnight. this will ensure that the moisture content is evenall through the project.

There are other ways

Type Casing in the search and you will find lots of ways.

Hope this helps

[hidepounder]

Hi Meg,

I glue everything I tool to a piece of acrylic. I do this after I have cased the leather at least over night. I slick my leather just before I put it up to case and again just before I mount it to the acrylic. I don't cut the leather to it's final size until I have slicked it the second time. Taping with packing tape works well but I prefer gluing to the acrylic because there is less chance of the the leather separating from the acrylic if I have to add moisture. Additionally, the acrylic is just so stable that I prefer tooling on it rather than allowing the leather to flex with the tape. It's just a personal preference thing for me. I am not concerned about any residual glue on the back because I line everything I tool. I feel it produces a much more profesional job.

Here is a photo of a piece I have glued down:

Gluing to acrylic gives me some other options as well. It gives me something to tape my pattern to so that it doesn't move while I am tracing:

When I cannot complete a piece in one sitting, I cover part of the leather with plastic wrap until I have finished the first tooling session and am ready to begin with the next section. Again, the acrylic provides something for me to seal the plastic wrap to, preserving the cased condition of the leather. This photo shows where I am working on one section of the project while the other half is being preserved under the plastic wrap:

There are a lot of methods which can be utilized to help prevent stretching....slicking and mounting to acrylic are just the ones I use.

Hope this helps....

Bobby

[hidepounder]

You all are sooooo fabulous! Thanks for the suggestions. Another quick question and excuse my ignorance, what does it mean to CASE the leather.

How do you case the leather.

Thanks

Meg

Meg,

This is a copy of a recent post I made in answer to the same question:

Casing is a very important step in preparing you leather to be tooled. Years ago, saddle shops would have a "Casing box" which was usually a wooden box lined with galvinized steel sheets to prevent moisture from escaping the box. Needless to say these boxes were anything BUT airtight and you could put a pretty wet piece of leather into the box and remove it next day and it would be ready to tool.

Today, people use plastic trash bags, zip loc bags and ice chests, all which prevent ANY moisture from escaping....especially the plastic trash bags and zip loc bags. When you put your overly soaked leather in that sealed bag it did what it was meant to do....it preserved it....moisture and all! Your leather was not cased...it was just soaked!

When I wet my leather, I pull it through a pan of water. I want to see bubbles coming out as it passes through the water.....but waiting until all the bubbles are gone is way too long. Once you start casing you will learn how much is enough. The same holds with learning what the leather should look like when properly cased. Almost it's natural color.....a cool feel to it when touched to your cheek....you will get the hang of it quickly once you get started.

If you are going to utilize plastic bags to case your leather, you need to allow much of the moisture to evaporate BEFORE you put it in a bag. I let my leather begin to turn back to it's natural color before bagging it. I want it a little wetter going into the bag than what I want to begin tooling. The idea is for the moisture to be evenly distributed through the leather. Not wetter on the top than on the bottom. Properly casing your leather will result in cleaner, crisper and better colored tooling. In addition, properly casing the leather will allow you to tool a little longer than than just wetting it with a sponge and starting to tool. Wetting the leather with a sponge IS NOT casing!

Additionally, the more you have to re-wet the leather, the more definition you lose in your tooling! The colors fade, beveling begins to raise and the piece doesn't look nice and crisp because it isn't any longer. If you can wet your leather once and get the whole thing tooled then that is fine. It will look nice. But you won't get the nice burnish produced when beveling and shading that properly casing your leather will give you. Nor will it cut as nicely! When I am tooling a piece that I know I can't finish without re-wetting several times, I break the tooling down to sections and keep everything I'm not tooling covered with plastic wrap until I am ready to move on to the next section. I am not saying you can't add moisture as you go...it's just that the more you do it, the more you will lose.

I do not know one single professional tooler who does not case his leather. Give it an honest try...once you get the hang of it I think you will be sold.

I hope this helps....

Bobby

[steveh]

Hi Meg,

I glue everything I tool to a piece of acrylic. I do this after I have cased the leather at least over night. I slick my leather just before I put it up to case and again just before I mount it to the acrylic. I don't cut the leather to it's final size until I have slicked it the second time. Taping with packing tape works well but I prefer gluing to the acrylic because there is less chance of the the leather separating from the acrylic if I have to add moisture. Additionally, the acrylic is just so stable that I prefer tooling on it rather than allowing the leather to flex with the tape. It's just a personal preference thing for me. I am not concerned about any residual glue on the back because I line everything I tool. I feel it produces a much more profesional job.

Here is a photo of a piece I have glued down:

Gluing to acrylic gives me some other options as well. It gives me something to tape my pattern to so that it doesn't move while I am tracing:

When I cannot complete a piece in one sitting, I cover part of the leather with plastic wrap until I have finished the first tooling session and am ready to begin with the next section. Again, the acrylic provides something for me to seal the plastic wrap to, preserving the cased condition of the leather. This photo shows where I am working on one section of the project while the other half is being preserved under the plastic wrap:

There are a lot of methods which can be utilized to help prevent stretching....slicking and mounting to acrylic are just the ones I use.

Hope this helps....

Bobby

Bob,

What type of glue do you use to glue your leather to the acrylic?

Thank You,

Steve