Casing, And Retaining Moisture During Large Jobs

[cbeatti2]

Hi

I have been trying to prevent adding moisture to a job in progress, but I have come to the conclusion that this must be near impossible for larger jobs..those requiring several or more hours, or for thin leather such as a wallet. I am trying not to rush in order to make it quality, detailed work and therefore worth the time (plus I am just not that fast at it yet). Is it common practice to add some moisture (lightly dampened sponge/cloth) as the leather starts to dry? I've searched and read on casing leather but not much is said about what to do as the leather begins to dry out, although I did read where you could cover the untooled parts with a piece of glass...make sense but I would have to adjust my tooling process and switch tools a lot more, instead of doing most of the back-grounding first, then beveling, etc, and do one segment at a time to completion. What is considered best practice here?

Thanks,

Clark

[hidepounder]

Clark I struggle with this constantly. It's not nearly as much of a problem when you're dealing with thicker leather, but as you suggest it is a problem with thin leather. Every time you add water you will lose detail in the tooling. I try not to add moisture to thin leather more than once and that is almost always to do my decorative cuts. My solution to the problem has been to cover my project with plastic wrap and expose only as much as I can tool in a single sitting without adding water. When I finish with that section, I expose a little more and tool that section.

One of the things that I do which makes using plastic wrap pretty easy is that I mount everything I tool (except for belts, etc.) on plexiglass. The main reason for doing this is to prevent stretching, however a really significant side benefit is that I can tape my plastic wrap to the acrylic which is exposed all the way around the leather which is glued to it.

I just finished a belt yesterday which I had started the day before. I cased the leather, applied tape to the back to prevent stretch and then covered the belt with strips of plastic wrap. I then tooled the belt in 8" to 10" sections, exposing one section at a time as needed to continue tooling. I got 1/2 through the belt before quiting for the evening and when I started back the next morning, everything under the plastic wrap was still cased perfectly and I was able to continue exposing 8" sections until the entire belt was tooled.

Hope this helps...

Bobby

[cbeatti2]

Thanks Bobby. That sure does help. I'll use the plastic wrap on my next project and figure out how to manage it properly. I know it's dry here in Calgary so perhaps that is part of the problem too...I was even thinking of putting the granite slab in the freezer beforehand to try to reduce evaporation, but maybe that is going too far.

Clark

[larryrr]

I have been told that you can case the flesh side as it starts to dry and not hurt the tooling on the grain side.. has any one tryed this..

[hidepounder]

I have been told that you can case the flesh side as it starts to dry and not hurt the tooling on the grain side.. has any one tryed this..

"Casing" is the process of obtaining even moisture throughout the entire piece of leather. It is possible, however, to wet the leather from the flesh side to help maintain a certain moisture level without effecting the tooling on the grain side.

Bobby

[larryrr]

Thanks Bobby I read this on a post by Greg Moody and Daddy'sRules... It made me think and it sounded logical.. BUT I glue my thinner leather to plexiglas and I dont know how the glue will affict the the leather ?guess the best way is to get a junk peace of scrap and try it...daaaaa

[pete]

Bob,

I have tried glueing the smaller pieces to plexiglass but I have found that after 2-3 projects, the plastic gets warped and doesn't sit flat. The ROCKING as I tool and carve drives me crazy! How thick is your plexiglass?

pete

[BillB]

I covered my work bench with a single piece of plexiglass, 1 inch thick. This gives me a solid base to tool against and a base that helps seal moisture in for the night when I cover the bench with a second piece of plexiglass also 1 inch thick. I use this size plexiglass on the top so that the weight flattens the work over night and I don't have to glue or tape the piece I am working on onto anything.

I also have a spray bottle filled with water that I use to add moisture as I work on the piece.

For reference, I do leather bi-folds for 8.5" X 11" writing tablets so the piece of leather I am working on is @ 20" x 13"

This is what I have found to work best for me.

Bill B

[Slider]

that sounds like a good system. Where does one find 1" thick plexi?

[hidepounder]

Thanks Bobby I read this on a post by Greg Moody and Daddy'sRules... It made me think and it sounded logical.. BUT I glue my thinner leather to plexiglas and I dont know how the glue will affict the the leather ?guess the best way is to get a junk peace of scrap and try it...daaaaa

I use rubber cement to glue with. I'm not concerned about the glue residue when I'm finished because I line everything, however, I'm told if you cover the back of the leather with packing tape and then glue that it works well and eliminates most of the glue residue.

Bob,

I have tried glueing the smaller pieces to plexiglass but I have found that after 2-3 projects, the plastic gets warped and doesn't sit flat. The ROCKING as I tool and carve drives me crazy! How thick is your plexiglass?

pete

I use 1/4" plexiglass and that works well for everything except my rope bags. They are 21" in diameter and enough leather to still cause a little warping. I've been living with it but I'm about to go to a heavier piece of plexiglass. That rocking makes me crazy too!

[BillB]

Slider - I used Professional Plastics at

www.professionalplastics.com

The product is Plexiglass-acrylicsheet-Extruded

www.professionalplastics.com/PLEXIGLASS-ACRYLICSHEET-EXTRUDED

They not only sell sheets in set sizes but will also cut-to-size up to 3/4 inch thick (my mistake on thickness) and 48" x 96"

BillB