HobbyWelder Report post Posted September 20, 2009 I've gotten into tooling leather to do personalized items like bookmarks, book covers, etc. Mostly what I'll do is the persons name in a special font. I'm always trying to keep the letters themselves untouched and the surrounding modified. I've used the shader tool to make them pop but I've had no luck with the bevel. I'll cut and tool with the bevel but the effect is barely visible. There is a good example of what I'd like to be able to do with the lettering in this post: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=17159 So here are the questions: -From what I describe what do you think I'm doing wrong? -How deep (1/2, 3/4?) do you cut for letter work? -I'm using 5/6 leather, anything to keep in mind? -From the example in the other post, what tooling do you think is done to get that nice dark outline to the letters? -What kind of finish would complement the beveling and make it "pop"? I'm sure some if not all of these are really novice questions but hey, when you don't know you don't know! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TwinOaks Report post Posted September 20, 2009 (edited) Welcome to Leatherworker.net!! The slight darkening around the carvings is caused by the compression of properly cased leather. Cased means 'moistened'--not wet--.<br />There's quite a few posts on how to case leather, and I'll leave the precise method up to you, but I generally spray the leather with water with a little bit of Dawn dish detergent to act as a surfactant. The leather should absorb the water, then dry to the point that it <i>looks</i> dry, but is still cool to the touch. You can test a corner or scrap piece with a stamping or beveling tool. If the impresison isn't dark, then either the moisture content is not right, or you may not have vegtan leather. Other leathers, like chrome-tanned, oil-tanned,garment leather...anything other than vegtan isn't suitable for getting the burnished effect. Edited September 20, 2009 by TwinOaks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hidepounder Report post Posted September 20, 2009 Hobbywelder, Do you have any photos we could see? It would be much easier to help you if we could look at something to focus on...... Bobby Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HobbyWelder Report post Posted September 30, 2009 Here are some pictures of what I'm working on. I'd love to hear any tips you can give me. After the initial carving: A progress shot: I'm having an issue with tooling marks. I'm trying to blend them and, in some light they are, but then in another light they show up like crazy. What can I do to smooth those out? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ClayB Report post Posted September 30, 2009 A modeling tool can be used to smooth out some of your beveling marks. In a situation like this, I would just slightly wet the leather before starting to work with the modeling tool. I will just dip my finger into some water and dab it on the areas that I am going to work on. With the leather just slightly wet, the tool wont make deep marks into the leather, just smooth out the surface. Use of the smooth figure carving matting tools around the letters would make them stand out a little more. Use of a checkered matting tool would also help to hide some of the beveling marks. You've done a very nice job carving the letters, and the beveling isn't that bad. You just need to learn to "finesse" your work. If you learn to strike the beveler with even pressure as you are going around the letters, cleaning up will be easier. Running the beveler back over the uneven areas can also help hide the tracks. Hope that gives you some ideas to try. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MADMAX22 Report post Posted September 30, 2009 (edited) I could be way off as Im not good at determing what causes stuff with leather alot of the time but it looks like you could be beveling when the leather is still a little to wet. Take a piece of your leather your using and case it like you would, cut a line with the swivel knife and bevel that line, enough to get a good example, then let it dry some more, come back and repeat. Do this a few times as the leather dries and see if it improves your beveling. If you find a spot where it seems to smooth out easier then you know you found the right dampness to tool it. I know when I first started I allways started tooling to early. The leather would mound up on the edges of the beveler and was a pain to lay down because there was too much water in the leather. I gradually learned to hold off longer till I started and it made a world of difference. Good leather helps too Letters look really good though. Edited September 30, 2009 by MADMAX22 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
