Tkleather1 Report post Posted September 10, 2009 Well I am really struggling, I just got a hide of H.O. 7/8 oz I have been having great luck using rubber cement and acrylic in the past to prevent stretch while tooling. (thanks Bob) The problem I am having is that this side will not stay glued down. I havent changed anything except this most recent hide. I had to pitch a project into the trash tonight because it had a severe stretch problem that I didnt catch in time and just couldnt salvage. So do any of you have any great secrets to prevent this? I am not sure what I am doing wrong, I glue up a dry peice of leather. Wet the leather and then stick down to the acrylic and slick a little. I then allow the leather to turn back to close to its natural color and then slick again and put under a piece of polished marble(havent got any plate glass) I then allow the leather to case at least overnight. then I tool away. and today I had a major problem the glue let go and the stretch began. Please help. Tim Worley TK-leather Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King's X Report post Posted September 10, 2009 TK I could be wrong, but I don't believe that Master Hidepounder glues his hide down until he is done casing it? I thought I remember him staying that. I use HO from Stevenson-Paxton and now Springfield and I've had no problems. Now, I am too lazy to get down to Homes depot to pick up some plastic, but I have been gluing poster board to the leather. I have always do it after I case over night, drown it quickly or whatever mojo out there I have picked up. I have even tested this one. I will case the leather, trace it and carve it. When I am ready to pound on it, I will glue it and let it sit for the glue to settle before I start wacking away. I am sorry you're having problem with the HO. I can take it off your hands if it keeps misbehaving! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TimKleffner Report post Posted September 10, 2009 Tim How wet are you getting your leather when you case it? What I do, I use packing tape on the back of the leather, then rubber cement my leather to Plexiglass. I dampen my leather very damp but not wet. I case my leather case in a plastic trash bag or large 2 gallon zip lock bag depending on the size of the piece. I let my leather case for about 40 minutes, then pull it out , dampen it again then use a piece of glass to rub it out. I put it back in the bag and let it case again for about 15 minutes, pull it out.. and GIT AFTER IT! You may be applying too much water after you glue it down. Rubber cement will turn loose after it gets too wet Happy tooling Tim Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
anester05 Report post Posted September 10, 2009 (edited) Well I am really struggling, I just got a hide of H.O. 7/8 oz I have been having great luck using rubber cement and acrylic in the past to prevent stretch while tooling. (thanks Bob) The problem I am having is that this side will not stay glued down. I havent changed anything except this most recent hide. I had to pitch a project into the trash tonight because it had a severe stretch problem that I didnt catch in time and just couldnt salvage. So do any of you have any great secrets to prevent this? I am not sure what I am doing wrong, I glue up a dry peice of leather. Wet the leather and then stick down to the acrylic and slick a little. I then allow the leather to turn back to close to its natural color and then slick again and put under a piece of polished marble(havent got any plate glass) I then allow the leather to case at least overnight. then I tool away. and today I had a major problem the glue let go and the stretch began. Please help. Tim Worley TK-leather What has worked for me is I soak the leather then let it sit until the color changes back to lookin not wet. Then i slick it then wet it again with a sponge wait until the wet look disappears and slick it again. I do this several times to stretch the leather a bit. Then I back to something smooth while the backing glue is drying I set a piece of glass on top to assure adhesion. If you do not have glass books on top of Tandy tracing paper works great to. Then after a bit I start to work. I usually carve the project before I back it, I like the freedom of being able to rotate the piece with out the backing on it. but if your backing is no bigger than the piece np. This process takes a couple of hours the multiple slicking seems to make the carving easier. Hope this gives you some ideas. Edited September 10, 2009 by anester05 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tkleather1 Report post Posted September 10, 2009 Tim How wet are you getting your leather when you case it? What I do, I use packing tape on the back of the leather, then rubber cement my leather to Plexiglass. I dampen my leather very damp but not wet. I case my leather case in a plastic trash bag or large 2 gallon zip lock bag depending on the size of the piece. I let my leather case for about 40 minutes, then pull it out , dampen it again then use a piece of glass to rub it out. I put it back in the bag and let it case again for about 15 minutes, pull it out.. and GIT AFTER IT! You may be applying too much water after you glue it down. Rubber cement will turn loose after it gets too wet Happy tooling Tim Hey Tim I was using Packing tape but then I ran across a few hides that I couldnt get it to stick worth a hoot, These hides were sanded I think. So then I tried the acrylic and really liked it. and now I hate it. I cant get this hide to stick for nothin. I dont saturate the leather, I use a spray bottle to wet it and let it set until a dry look and then repeat. I am not sure what the heck I am doin wrong but I need to start this project over any way so I will try another method. Tim Worley Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hidepounder Report post Posted September 11, 2009 Tim, I think the trouble you're having is that you are not casing overnight BEFORE attempting to glue to the backing. The purpose of casing is to allow the leather to evenly absorb the maximum amount of moisture at a saturation level suitable for tooling ( BTW, I just wrote an article about this earlier today, LOL!). I slick after I initially wet the leather, case it overnight (or longer), and then slick again just before gluing to the acrylic. Before I bag my leather, I allow it to dry a little...I want to see some color return but I want it wetter than would be suitable for tooling...that's when I seal it up. If I'm using an ice chest to case in it is not necessary to allow the same amount of evaporation because there is so much air in the ice chest. Either way, when it comes out of the bag/ice chest, the flesh side is usually dry enough to hold the glue...if it's a little too wet, turn the leather grain side down on your stone and allow a little evaporation from the back...just enough to allow the glue to stick. Adding large amounts of water to the leather after it is glued down will cause the glue to release. A lot of people mistake the term "casing" for wetting the leather. There is nothing wrong with wetting the leather and then tooling when the leather returns back to a suitable color....that's what production toolers do....but that is not casing! Production toolers often don't have the luxury of being able to case everything properly and they are still able to tool, however the leather will not cut as nicely nor will beveling and shading produce the same color as leather which has been properly cased. There is a difference in the amount of moisture held in the leather when it has had an opportunity to sit overnight (24 hours is often even better). When the leather has had the opportunity to be in a wet environment for several hours the moisture is more completely absorbed. Properly cased leather will stay moist longer and will have a little different feel to it. It will cut better and burnish darker! I could go on, but I've strayed enough.....I hope this helps solve the problem...... Bobby Bobby Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hidepounder Report post Posted September 11, 2009 Part of what I was trying to say wasn't at all clear and for some reason I couldn't edit.....this is what I was trying to say..... I think the trouble you're having is that you are not casing overnight BEFORE attempting to glue to the backing. The purpose of casing is to allow the leather to evenly absorb the maximum amount of moisture at a saturation level suitable for tooling ( BTW, I just wrote an article about this earlier today, LOL!). The process of achieving that saturation level is often too wet to keep a backing glued onto the leather during the process. The bond is likely to fail due to the amount of moisture which is introduced. If you case first and then glue, less moisture is trapped against the backing and the bond is more likely to hold (I think, LOL!). Tim, I think the trouble you're having is that you are not casing overnight BEFORE attempting to glue to the backing. The purpose of casing is to allow the leather to evenly absorb the maximum amount of moisture at a saturation level suitable for tooling ( BTW, I just wrote an article about this earlier today, LOL!). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tkleather1 Report post Posted September 11, 2009 Thanks guys. I think half of my problem was that I didnt let the glue set up long enough and the other half was that I got the leather too wet. Well I tried again yesterday and it worked out much better. I did things a little different than you did Bob but it worked out. I applied rubber cement to the dry leather as well as the acrylic that I scuffed up real good. Let it tack up a little and stuck together, I then dry slicked the leather a little bit to adhere the two and let the glue set up for a couplce of hours while working on another project. I them wet my leather, I do this with a spray bottle, I wet it pretty good and let it sit for a little while and let it come back to light color and then rewet a little more and put shrink wrap over it. I went out this morning and started tooling after about a 16 hour "soak" and its tooling up great not much stretch at all. ANOTHER CASE OF IMPATIENCE. I hate it when I get in a hurry. at least it was a small project. Thanks again Tim worley TK-Leather Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
