Tooling Parts- What's Most Common?

[pete]

I just finished my first saddle. I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE NEXT but can't decide how to best tool the fenders in particular.

If doing the whole length, should I case the entire fender, trace and do a section at a time while keeping the rest covered,

or---

case, say , the top 12" and completely tool it, then move down to the next section.

I MIGHT not be able to trace and cut the entire piece in one day even though I'm pretty fast.

Please chime in and tell what you fellas do when doing a large piece.

[kseidel]

I just finished my first saddle. I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE NEXT but can't decide how to best tool the fenders in particular.

If doing the whole length, should I case the entire fender, trace and do a section at a time while keeping the rest covered,

or---

case, say , the top 12" and completely tool it, then move down to the next section.

I MIGHT not be able to trace and cut the entire piece in one day even though I'm pretty fast.

Please chime in and tell what you fellas do when doing a large piece.

I have often wondered why hobby leatherworkers think it is wrong to re-wet leather while tooling. Do you think we professional saddlemakers tool entire saddle parts in one sitting without re-wetting? You give us too much credit. For a full fender, it will take a couple of hours to draw the pattern and usually 6-8 hours to stamp and another to do finish cuts. It is impossible to do this much work without re-wetting.

You can case the entire fender and draw and cut what you can. Keep it in plastic when not working on it. Keep re-wetting the surface as necessary... once cased it is not necessary to wet thoroughly, just maintain the surface moisture. I prefer a sprayer to add moisture during the stamping process. Sprayed water is applied uniformly over the surface without pooling and over-wetting at the cut lines and stamped edges as a sponge does.

If you wish, you can keep part of the project covered with plastic while you work on the rest. There are no rules preventing this. Just try to do all of the stamping at the same temper to avoid different burnishing colors and different depths.

Keith

[pete]

I have often wondered why hobby leatherworkers think it is wrong to re-wet leather while tooling. Do you think we professional saddlemakers tool entire saddle parts in one sitting without re-wetting? You give us too much credit. For a full fender, it will take a couple of hours to draw the pattern and usually 6-8 hours to stamp and another to do finish cuts. It is impossible to do this much work without re-wetting.

You can case the entire fender and draw and cut what you can. Keep it in plastic when not working on it. Keep re-wetting the surface as necessary... once cased it is not necessary to wet thoroughly, just maintain the surface moisture. I prefer a sprayer to add moisture during the stamping process. Sprayed water is applied uniformly over the surface without pooling and over-wetting at the cut lines and stamped edges as a sponge does.

If you wish, you can keep part of the project covered with plastic while you work on the rest. There are no rules preventing this. Just try to do all of the stamping at the same temper to avoid different burnishing colors and different depths.

Keith

Thanks so muck Keith! I'll send pictures of my first!

Of course- comments are welcomed

pete

[hidepounder]

Pete,

Congratulations on your saddle! To answer your question, it is impractical to case part of a piece of leather...I'm not sure how one would do that. So case the entire fender and then work the fender in stages. I like to do all my cutting first and then I divide the fender in sections that I think I can complete in one sitting. I cover what I am not tooling with plastic wrap and it holds the moisture very well. Depending on the size of the pattern I will generally divide the fender into two to four sections. I have done tooling projects where I have worked on a single piece of leather for two or three days and was able to maintain moisture nicely using plastic wrap.

The detrimental effect re-wetting has on the tooling depends largely on the tooling pattern. The finer or more intricate a pattern is, the lighter the leather needs to be. Consequently re-wetting will have a much more detrimental effect on the tooling. When tooling saddles, you are generally working with larger patterns on skirting leather. The heavier leather holds moisture much longer and re-wetting is much less of an issue. I use a sprayer and a sponge depending on the circumstances.

Hope this helps....

Bobby