8-10Oz Tooling Belly And Basketweave Question

[iamasmith]

Hi folks,

I decided that Leather crafting and carving would be another thing that I could enjoy and the perfect opportunity arose when I made myself a new whittling knife (my first ever knife too - done all by hand, no power tools apart from the loan of a use of a pillar drill)..

I got myself a leather stitching kit which looks fairly reasonable and a leather carving kit from Tandy's to see if I would feel confident enough to decorate the sheath that I want to make, for the sheath materials I bought a belly of 8-10oz tooling leather.

I started to experiment a little yesterday with some of the stamps and started to get reasonably confident, the kit has tools that probably aren't the standard that you guys are used to but it should suit my purposes (at least for a while, whilst I cut my teeth).

The only tool that I had a real problem with was the basketweave tool. The tool in question is this one from the Tandy site..

http://www.tandyleat...ature=Product_9

It seems to require particularly deep impressions to be made in order to make something that describes the crossover of a basket. In particular, the central part of the weave stamp has no upper or lower walls. To make the stamp render something that looks like it crosses underneath the next row is something that is going to require considerable depth and try as I might it doesn't seem to take on the leather that I'm using.

I'm wondering if I'm simply not wetting the leather enough to obtain this effect. I am giving it a rub with a rung out soaked sponge so that the leather takes on a slightly darker tone then going away for about 10 mins until the leather starts to return to it's original tone before attempting this.

Any thoughts? is this wet enough? is there any information that folks can point me towards to give a better description of how to ensure that the leather is wet by the right amount?

It may be that I don't actually put Basketweave onto this project but I would like to try out all the options before deciding on a design for the sheath.

Kind regards,

Andy

Edited December 26, 2010 by iamasmith

[dirtclod]

Nice knife !! Andy you probley need a bigger / heavier mallet or maul. Are you using one of the wooden mallets or mauls if you are you need something heavier. I'm guessing that what's would be in the kit. Take a piece of scrap and wet up more than you think it needs to be try it and see what happens. Or take regular claw hammer and try that and see if it makes a better impression.

Edited December 26, 2010 by dirtclod

[whinewine]

Or take regular claw hammer and try that and see if it makes a better impression.

No- never, ever use a metal hammer on a leathercraft tool - it'll mushroom the end & ruin it (granted, some/many of the modern tandy tools are not finely made & are simply cast, not machined & leave soft impressions rather than crisp, but still,- that's just very bad advice to give to a newby ).

I've seen hundreds of leather tools on ebay with mushroomed ends- all because someone used a metal hammer rather than a rawhide or poly one of the proper weight.

[dirtclod]

What i ment was to try the claw hammer to see if weight was the problem.

[Ferg]

Hi folks,

I decided that Leather crafting and carving would be another thing that I could enjoy and the perfect opportunity arose when I made myself a new whittling knife (my first ever knife too - done all by hand, no power tools apart from the loan of a use of a pillar drill)..

I got myself a leather stitching kit which looks fairly reasonable and a leather carving kit from Tandy's to see if I would feel confident enough to decorate the sheath that I want to make, for the sheath materials I bought a belly of 8-10oz tooling leather.

I started to experiment a little yesterday with some of the stamps and started to get reasonably confident, the kit has tools that probably aren't the standard that you guys are used to but it should suit my purposes (at least for a while, whilst I cut my teeth).

The only tool that I had a real problem with was the basketweave tool. The tool in question is this one from the Tandy site..

http://www.tandyleat...ature=Product_9

It seems to require particularly deep impressions to be made in order to make something that describes the crossover of a basket. In particular, the central part of the weave stamp has no upper or lower walls. To make the stamp render something that looks like it crosses underneath the next row is something that is going to require considerable depth and try as I might it doesn't seem to take on the leather that I'm using.

I'm wondering if I'm simply not wetting the leather enough to obtain this effect. I am giving it a rub with a rung out soaked sponge so that the leather takes on a slightly darker tone then going away for about 10 mins until the leather starts to return to it's original tone before attempting this.

Any thoughts? is this wet enough? is there any information that folks can point me towards to give a better description of how to ensure that the leather is wet by the right amount?

It may be that I don't actually put Basketweave onto this project but I would like to try out all the options before deciding on a design for the sheath.

Kind regards,

Andy

Two problems I see from your post. Belly leather is stretchy and not well suited for sheath/holster work plus you are not casing your leather. Do a search in the LW site for

casing leather, you will get more info than you probably wish to have access to at one sitting.

ferg

[bison]

HI Andy,

Knife making got me into leather working too. be careful...the leather will take over!

The post you need is HERE. You'll find that proper casing really is the key to getting the stamping impressions you want. And this forum will be a real treasure trove of information.

Good luck, and be sure to post photos of the finished project.

Dave

[iamasmith]

Thanks folks, the link by Bison was a good read to understand the concepts so I'll do some more searching on Casing here to better understand the process.

In answer to the maul I'm using, it's a Tandy Poly maul from the kit that I got and whilst experimenting yesterday I did manage to get about 2 or 3 proper impressions but that was following wetting the leather far more and really hitting the stamps hard about 10 times in each direction angled towards all 4 sides.

I think understanding Casing the leather is the way to go now.

[busted]

I don't want to bust your bubble but "tooling belly" is a misnomer. Belly leather will not accept tooling. It is to soft.

If you are using a rawhide or wooden mallet they are not heavy enough to leave a good impression they have a tendency to bounce the tool. You need a heavier maul/mallet.

Good luck on your new hobby

[hivemind]

Actually, if it's a belly he's bought recently on sale at Tandy, it may be too hard. I'm not sure what kind of cows these bellies are from, but I can barely cut them with a utility knife. Glad I only bought one, I'll stick to their $15 single shoulders when I need cheap leather.

[iamasmith]

Actually, if it's a belly he's bought recently on sale at Tandy, it may be too hard. I'm not sure what kind of cows these bellies are from, but I can barely cut them with a utility knife. Glad I only bought one, I'll stick to their $15 single shoulders when I need cheap leather.

Yep, it's one of these http://www.tandyleatherfactory.co.uk/home/department/Leather/Tooling-Shoulders-Bends-Bellies/9080-315.aspx?feature=Product_8 in the 8-10oz range.

Since I wanted some practice area and enough to make a Sheath I decided to cut my teeth on something reasonably inexpensive but heavy enough to make a pouch sheath with a reasonably thick welt.

It's interesting what you say about it being either too hard or too soft, I will practice a bit with casing it to get the moisture deeper into the leather and let you know how it comes out.

[hivemind]

I'm gonna tell you that if it's the same batch we got up here, throw it out. You can't even make straps from it.

[iamasmith]

I'm gonna tell you that if it's the same batch we got up here, throw it out. You can't even make straps from it.

Well, it will take tool impressions but not deep ones, I think I'll persevere with trying to case it properly and see what the results are.

I really do need to make a sheath anyway so it may serve for a first attempt at making an untooled sheath if I still find it too hard.

Edited December 30, 2010 by iamasmith

[iamasmith]

Well, it was the casing. I didn't use the Basketweave for my first attempt at decorating anything though.

Here it is, even though a little rustic I'll work it up into a sheath since I need the practice

I guess this cheap leather will help me practice some smoother and more controlled cuts with the knife and get me used to the other tools.

[iamasmith]

Dyed and stitched (it's a necker but the loop is big enough for a belt carry)..

Tomorrow I'll see if I'm happy enough with the colouring before giving a coat of Super Shene and covering in Renaissance Wax

(first attempt at stitching or making something with leather btw also)

[iamasmith]

Actually I think I'll use this one for a while until I get better

[iamasmith]

And to close the topic off in terms of the original question I did some Basketweave today and was pretty happy with the results in terms of getting the tool to produce the proper marks so it looks like it is all down to the casing which is getting more intuitive to me now.

I may use some on my next project as the quick go I had looked rather good even in this leather.

Many thanks again for the direction and comments folks,

Andy