Casing leather

[Corvus]

This is a very interesting thread! I don't have much to add, I use a sponge and water at the moment and don't have a problem with that but don't have anything to compare it too.

All Essential Oils have antiseptic properties so they will probably all be antifungal to some extent but Rosemary Oil and/or Tea Tree would be the ones to select for this - just a few drops in the water you use should work fine.

I never understood the term 'casing' but recently read something that explained that when you wet leather the water mixes with the proteins in the leather to effectively form a glue and this is why the impressions we make are retained. This made me think that 'casing' might be a bastardisation of 'casein'. Presumably anything you can add to your water to improve the glue mix might give you better results. Milk is the obvious one but somehow I don't fancy it!

With regards to water soluable oil, this put me in mind of Aqueous Cream which is a pure cream made of water and petroleum oil, it should be fine on leather as it is meant to go on living skin to soften it. You can get it from most Chemists - a big tub costs a few quid. A small amount of this in water would be an interesting experiment. Any amount of oil should stop the leather drying as quickly and also as the friction between the leather and tools would be reduced you may well see clearer impressions and find it easier to work but too much could be hazardous I guess.

Only the info about essential oils is factual, the rest of this post is spectulation based on a fondness for kitchen chemistry experiments so approach with caution!

[ClayB]

I was asked to put my comments in on this thread so here goes. There have been a lot of good responses already and I really dont feel I have anything special to add.

I have been using a spray bottle on projects when the leather is up to about 6 ounce. I put a little pro carve in the bottle, just because I got a couple bottles of it in a box full of stuff when a local leather store went out of business. I dont know that it makes any difference or not. I guess I'll find out when it's gone. I haven't had any trouble with my tools not staying put (yet) On heavier leather for belts or saddle skirting, I still dunk it under water and then bag it and put it in the fridge over night to let the water even out all the way through. Not sure if that is necessary these days or not, but that's how I have always done it. If I was giving advice to someone new, I'd say quick case your leather with plain old water and see how it works. If it doesn't carve well, or give you decent impressions, first thing I would wonder is if the moisture content is right. If you decide the moisture level is right, and the leather doesn't work like I want, my next move would be to bag it and let it sweat awhile. If that didn't help, then I'd start trying the different things people add to their solutions. I dont think any one solution is going to be right for everyone. You have to take in to account the different tanning processes, what you are going to do with the leather (carve, stamp, mold etc.) There are also differences in the climate where we all live (heat, humidity etc.) and there can be a big difference in the water we use.

It's great to be able to hear what works for each of us but when it comes down to it, I think it's going to be a little different for each of us. Just like learning how much moisture it takes for your leather to carve just right, it might take some experimenting to see just what casing solution might work best for you.

[charley]

This is a great thread with a lot of really good information. I like to read about what works for different people.

I agree that we must try things to find, "what works for us", because I wholly expect that to be different based on area water supplies, leather source, and carving habits (e.g., types of projects, how you "back" your leather for carving, whether you want to wait overnight, etc.) (Of course, some principles might be universal, but we may perceive the results differently. ;-))

For example, water quality ?might? be a big factor, so you might need to change casing solutions to cope. I'm lucky enough to be in the Colorado front range, with some of the softest water in the USA (e.g., 22 ppm Ca/Mg), but areas like Phoenix or Los Angelos tend to have very hard water (upwards of 300-400 ppm Ca/Mg). Marine and reef aquaria keepers follow chemistry like that closely, because for their chemistry, it's a huge issue. I'd assume that makes a big difference for leather tooling, but I haven't done any controlled experiments (now I'm thinking about doing those).

However, I have done controlled experiments with/without Dawn dish detergent, and found that it does (for me) make swivel knife work easier, and permit a longer tooling time before drying, without any noticeable coloration change once the leather dried (I'm using clear Dawn Lemon-scented Dish Detergent).

I haven't yet played with the full cocktail of make-your-own solution including Lexol (I learned about it from Bruce Johnson at the last Sheridan), but I intend to try it (I expect it to be a superior casing solution to what I've been using).

Something that I've not seen mentioned: I took a class from Paul Burnett (the first Al Stohlman award winner, <http://paintingcow.com/>), and in his early years he was known for his belts. In a belt class with Paul Burnett, people started casing the leather before class, and he had to stop them: He said, "Belt stamping isn't like figure carving, and you don't case the same."

In essence, we'd start with dry leather, and case the top (grain side) heavily. The goal was to case halfway through the leather. Because the back was still "dry", it wouldn't stretch/deform during the stamping, and we didn't need to reinforce the back during stamping. Also, the dry leather at half-way through would "stop" the stamp (because stamping too deeply on a belt would weaken the belt - Paul wanted stamping to half of leather depth at the most).

I've found his lesson very useful and effective, and that's what I follow now. So, I actually (explicitly) case several different ways:

• - Figure carving - (or my best work), case heavily, let rest overnight (in a bag usually in the refrigerator), tool after returns to color the next day
  
• - Moulding - case with warmer water (makes it harder when dry), mould while soaked, tool when color lightens, but never re-wet
  
• - Belts - (a-la-Paul Burnett) - Quick-case the top heavily to half way through the leather, when the top returns to color, tool immediately (you don't want to keep re-wetting because you never want to wet the back half)
  
• - Quick-Case - When I want to "get to work" without waiting (e.g., to try things out, or if I don't want to wait overnight), I *always* case the back (flesh side) first and very heavily, and the front (grain) side very lightly. Then I don't have to wait long before the front is ready to tool, and the wet back gives me a longer "golden carving" period to work (because it continues to automatically case from back-to-front). (Works better on heavier leather, back/front casing doesn't matter much for 2oz leather.)
  

Also, in general, I ascribe to the Peter Main approach that Rawhide/Marlon mentioned (e.g., never re-wet the area being carved, but frequently dampen the edges while working).

It's true that there are some additional subtleties in these (e.g., what's "warmer" mean, what chemistry to use for casing), but after a while these things seem very intuitive/obvious/simple to me (although that still leaves a lot of room for experimentation, and I'm still changing what I do).

--charley

[UKRay]

'Picking the bones' out of the last few posts isn't going to be easy but I'll do my best:

Corvus said: "All Essential Oils have antiseptic properties so they will probably all be antifungal to some extent but Rosemary Oil and/or Tea Tree would be the ones to select for this - just a few drops in the water you use should work fine."

This really does make perfect sense. I just tried three drops of tea tree oil in some warm water and gave it a quick whisk. It appeared to vanish so I can't envisage too many problems there. By the way, tea Tree Oil is a famous cure for foot fungus like athlete's foot so it could be perfect for mouldy leather. Obtainable at pretty nearly every good pharmacy worldwide these days - certainly the ones I have visited.

It is great to hear a fine craftsman like ClayB's common sense suggestions. His comment: "...I don't think any one solution is going to be right for everyone..." just about sums up this thread. I think we have given everyone plenty of food for thought and the tools to do some experimenting on their own.

I was interested to hear that different water types could affect casing. Is soft water better than hard? Does anyone have this kind of experience or knowledge. Do we get a different reaction from the leather if we use soft water?

Ph is something we haven't really touched too heavily on but my reading suggests that leather actually has a Ph of about 4. This is quite acid. Is the baby shampoo with its neutral Ph reducing this acidity and making the leather easier to carve? Has acidity got any bearing on usability?

Does anyone know the active ingredient in Dawn Lemon-scented Dish Detergent? Does it matter if all it does is act as a 'lubricant' / surfactant? Charley obviously derives some benefit from using Dawn and I feel sure others would enjoy finding out if they might do the same. I have looked all over the place but can't find it in the UK - anyone got any suggestions for an alternative?

One of the most interesting points to come out of Charley's contribution is the observation that we should case leather to different depths for different jobs and if we simply stamp leather we may not need to case right through the leather. In fact it may actually be detrimental to do so.

I can speak from personal experience here, and say, like most folk, that I've made leather too wet to work on occasion and, once or twice over the past thirty plus years, I've even put a sharp stamp almost right through the leather by mistake. I think Charley is right, we do need to watch depth as much as ingredients and application technique.

The big thing that has come out of this thread is that we all enjoy experimenting. I just hope that there are a few more ideas to come on this topic as it has opened up a whole new direction for me and made my leatherwork more enjoyable. Thank you all.

[barra]

I have read all of the posts and just for grins and giggles decided to play a bit. I took some scraps and tried different casing solutions from common household products. I also did a combination of long and quick case with all of my goops. With each combo I swivel knifed, bevelled and basket stamped.

1. Plain water. Worked fine. No difference in quick/long case. Swivel knife cutting was just what I'm used to as I traditionally just spray water or dunk and bag.

2. Hair conditioner. No difference in swivel cutting and no difference betwen long and quick case. There was however a noticeable difference in burnishing. When completely dry I then coated the swatch in a light coat of hair conditioner and let it soak in and dry. I then buffed which produced a super shine. As an added test I then oiled to see if there were any resist properties. The oil sat on the surface so I originally thought it was going to act as a resist. I then went for a coffee and when I came back the oil had soaked in evenly.

3. After reading all the posts about water additives like dish soap, pro carve and the lexol mix, I went in search of a cheap alternative. To me the cost of pro carve is prohibitive so have never tried it. I don't have a mould problem but added eucalyptus oil to water anyway. I usually wander around hardware stores and supermarkets looking at how I can adapt items to a leather application. Out of the toiletries and cleaning section of the supermarket sections. I got some baby shampoo and washing soda to soften my hard water (I'm yet to try the soda). The baby shampoo worked fine and did add to the burnishing effect but again there was no difference in long/quick case.

After thinking about the antiseptic properties of eucalyptus/tee tree oil etc I thought what type of product would have those ingredients and here is what I tried.

Wool wash

The brand was cheap as chips (couple of bucks for a 1.25lt bottle), biodegradable, neutral PH and has eucalypus oil. I then added a small amount to both a bowl of water and my 1 litre pump up sprayer and tried both the dunk and spray methods. At the amount I used this bottle will last a long time.

Yet again no difference in long/quick case. I think swivel knife cutting was easier but maybe I convinced myself it was. The biggest difference was that it definately improved burnishing (markedly so).

Barra

[Johanna]

My first husband was a carver, and he liked plain water in a spray bottle. When we moved to Georgia, where the air is more damp (mold!) he would put a few drops of baby shampoo in the water. He never dunked anything, never refrigerated any leather, nor did he wrap it in plastic if he was called away. He would just mist it again. He said no two hides were the same, and that you just got a feel for what you needed to do.

When I worked at Tandy and gave classes, I issued sponges to wet the leather. Cub Scouts armed with spray bottles are distracting. I knew an expert carver in Georgia who echoed Paul Burnett's theory of "don't wet it all the way through". His shop was outdoors, and he refrigerated wet leather, probably to keep down any mold. He used to tell people that if you wet the leather too much it would be too mushy to hold good impressions. He has passed on now, but I wish he were here to give his observations to this thread.

I also had people come to the Tandy and complain about the leather not taking their stamps well and found out they didn't know you had to wet the leather first. There were days it was hard to keep a straight face. I met a man who bought distilled water to case with because his well water would discolor the leather, and it wouldn't dye evenly. I met another man who cased leather with, and I am not making this up- Diet Coke.

There were many discussions around the back table in the Tandy on how to "properly" case leather. Some of it was akin to "bury the dead cat in a circle and walk around it counter-clockwise a dozen times". Here are the variables as I see them:

1. The leather you are using

2. The water you have available

3. Whether you are molding and tooling, or just tooling

4. The moisture content of your shop environment

5. How quickly or slowly you will work the piece

6. The way you were originally taught

Great conversation, folks. Disclaimer- I can't carve a turkey, let alone a piece of leather. All I know is from personal observation and discussions like this.

Johanna

[Rawhide]

I use distilled water as well because I have well water too. I figure the with the distilled, there's no chance of the water reacting with tannins or such and fouling the project.

Marlon.

[skipj]

I have a question re: Listerine. Are we talking about Listerine mouth wash, or Lysol. I guess I got courious when brown Listerine was mentioned. I haven't seen brown Listerine but have seen brown Lysol.

SkipJ

[Rawhide]

I have a question re: Listerine. Are we talking about Listerine mouth wash, or Lysol. I guess I got courious when brown Listerine was mentioned. I haven't seen brown Listerine but have seen brown Lysol.

SkipJ

It's the original formula of listerine. It's a brownish/gold color.

[skipj]

Ok thanks,

SkipJ