Members Sylvia Posted December 3, 2011 Members Report Posted December 3, 2011 (edited) Hi CJ: I've recently returned to leather working (hobby) after 30 some years away from it. My first piece looked much like your first piece, and I said to myself, "@#$@#%! What the?!" . I discovered that I had too much water when I cased the leather which made it kind of mushy and the impressions, no matter how hard I pounded, just didn't seem to take. I found a lot of visual aids and help on Youtube. Some are from Tandy and may mimic the DVD you got with your kit. But there are plenty of others on there that have helped me quite a bit. I found that a heaver mallet works best for me. I have confiscated my husband's dead blow rubber mallet and that works pretty well for now. The thing weighs a good 6-8 lbs and as long as I don't grip it too hard and just let the tool do the work I get some nice impressions without having to beat the living daylights out of the tool. (I have to remind myself about my grip, since just like playing guitar... there's no need to strangle the python.) LOL I think you are well on your way... Edited December 3, 2011 by Sylvia Quote A teacher pointed at me with a ruler and said "At the end of this ruler is an idiot." I got detention when I asked "Which end?"
Members cjdevito Posted December 3, 2011 Author Members Report Posted December 3, 2011 Thank you Sylvia. I keep experimenting with water content as I go and I'm finding I'm definitely getting better results with less water. Don't think I'm quite finding the 'perfect' spot just yet, but I'm definitely getting closer each time. And yeah, I'm also finding that between the granite slab and the less wet leather, I can get good impressions without having to pound the hell out of the leather. While I still have a long way to go, I do feel like I'm starting to get there. Quote
Members jdwintx Posted December 31, 2011 Members Report Posted December 31, 2011 (edited) First I want to say welcome, you will find a lot of advice and help here to build on. As we all started from similar beginnings I wouldn't worry to much about how your first or fiftieth piece turns out as you will improve as you practice. Second, living in NYC you should be able to get almost anything you need to get started without relying on Tandy for to much. You will find if you look around you can get suppliers for everything. Case in point, the granite slab you ordered. I picked up my granite slab from a headstone maker, it was broken in shipment, paid 10 bucks for a 4"x36"x24" slab, you don't have to use granite though, any solid industrial steel plate (have to be careful that it doesn't discolor the leather so I would coat it with either contact paper, sealant or something along those lines) would work as would any of the New England heavy stones from some of the quarries. The point is that you can find the materials you need to set up a workshop without having to rely on "traditional" suppliers. As for preparing your leather, there are some excellent articles here on how to "Case" the leather. Myself I usually submerge my leather in a few drops of Dawn dishsoap, with a couple of tablespoons of Lexol conditioner and a few tablespoons of Listerine for about 30 minutes in warm water, then I wrap it in Press N Seal overnight in the fridge and the next day uncover it a few hours before I start tracing and cutting my patterns. As stated, you need to wait until the leather is almost it's original color and cool to the touch, this will take a few trial and error scenarios before you have it right for you. Also if you are tooling a large piece you can keep the section you are not working on covered in the press n seal to prevent it from drying out while you work on another section. I also keep a spray bottle with my soaking mix handy to spritz the leather in the event it does become to dry. Also, apply contact paper or tape to the back of your piece to prevent stretching if you are tooling a large amount on the leather. Another thing that worked for me is that I don't do Sheridan carving, I've practiced at it but it's not my style, so don't feel that you have to be good at Sheridan to carve effectively. The principles apply but if you are not a flower/oak leaf/acorn kind of person then find some images you can trace and do those. Myself I like skulls, dragons, celtic and mythological items so those are what I used when I started out. Just my thoughts on starting out, good luck. Edited December 31, 2011 by jdwintx Quote
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