Casing leather

[BillB]

Well since every one else has added their 2 cents, I thought I would add one additional bit of information.

I know that I have properly "cased" my leather when:

1. The tooled side has returned to its natural color (already mentioned in the thread)

2. It is cool the the cheek of my face (already mentioned in the thread)

3. When I bevel, the top edge is natural colored, but the bottom is dark due to the moisture in the leather. This is when I get my best impressions with the tool.

4. I get a reverse image on the backside of the leather.

I have tired most of the methods for getting the leather moist, dunking, spraying, sponging, ... They all work and they all don't work.

Although I agree with Johanna, I always thought it was determined by the phase of the moon.

[Leerwerker]

Bill, this is the best summary yet - I fully agree all the way!

Well since every one else has added their 2 cents, I thought I would add one additional bit of information.

I know that I have properly "cased" my leather when:

1. The tooled side has returned to its natural color (already mentioned in the thread)

2. It is cool the the cheek of my face (already mentioned in the thread)

3. When I bevel, the top edge is natural colored, but the bottom is dark due to the moisture in the leather. This is when I get my best impressions with the tool.

4. I get a reverse image on the backside of the leather.

I have tired most of the methods for getting the leather moist, dunking, spraying, sponging, ... They all work and they all don't work.

Although I agree with Johanna, I always thought it was determined by the phase of the moon.

[gtwister09]

I have been offline for quite some time and just started reading the past 4-5 weeks worth of posts. I was given the No More Tears Formula more than 30 years ago. Listerine was in the original formula. I have tried plain water, distilled water, dish washing detergents in water (Dawn Ivory, Palmolive and others), Procarve and other surfactants because I constantly like to test new and different formulas and techniques but I keep going back to this formula.

It seems to burnish better when tooling (especially basketweave and some geometrics). I have blind tested these using other formulas with many different people and up to this point I have had 100% of them pick the burnishing from the No More Tears Formula. I also use the formula as a quick carve formula in a sprayer as well.

The other anti-fungal items mentioned should work just as well.

I believe that I have a convert in Bruce.

On another note I know that Pete Gorrell has a similar formula with baby shampoo as well.

Regards,

Ben

[Biblethumper]

Unlike most, I use a kip/calf hide, veg tanned, 2 oz. leather. I spray a 50/50 solution of lexol and water on the flesh side until it starts to soak through. Then I put it in one of those HUGE zip lock bags and zip all the way over to the corner and "blow it up" like a baloon to keep the inside surface from touching the smooth side of the leather. Otherwise you get drop marks from the condensation inside. This technique allows the moisture to evenly penetrate the leather and it is consistent in moisture. I can then take it out and let it dry to the point of tooling and put it back for later if I don't finish, or just keep it in a consistent moisture state until I have time to complete my tooling. Hope this helps.

[Davy]

Now i think I've figured out what casing means , is it just , wetting your leather ? Any way , I couldn't resist putting my bit in here . The following explanation is in reference mainly to stamped patterns , I think it was abn that referred to it as coverage stamping . I use a piece of sponge dipped in water to coat the surface a couple of times . I will squeeze some water out of the sponge first , I want it so that its not dripping water . This should wet the epidermis and about that again on 2.5mm to 3.5mm leather. This will give a crisp sharp print . (Too wet = rubbery = dull print . Too dry = too hard = print has no depth ). This way will also reduce the stretch but not eliminate it . Whenever you displace leather with a stamp , its gotta go somewhere , usually sideways so with thinner leather say 1.5mm (dunno what that is in oz) , again just wet the epidermis , not right through . If its too wet wait for it to dry and start again , you only want the epidermis wet not the fibre . if there are a lot of stamps going in the pattern a good idea is use rubber cement to glue the piece onto x ray film or something else suitable . this will eliminate distortion and stretch . I've only done this once or twice and it worked well . I wet the leather the same way when I carve with the same results . I hope that this info is useful . Dave

[radams1943]

How do you guys actually case your leather?

Over the years I have read all kinds of stuff about soaking leather in cold water/warm water/baby shampoo/leather conditioner and a raft of other less savoury stuff and then putting it in the fridge overnight, leaving it outside in the porch (and even digging a hole and burying it) but it seemed like a whole lot of fiddling about for little return - I'm now doubting my decision to ignore this stuff. Can anyone shed any light on the best way to case leather or even why their way works for them?

Is it all nonsense and hype? Do you really do any of those things or do you just wet it with plain water and sponge? I have to know the honest truth!

Who is brave enough to reveal all?

i have been doing custom leather work for the last 35 years. i have tried all those things. i have found that a bowl of clean warter and a sponge is the best way. i wet the leather good with the sponge and when it returns to its color its ready to cut. i re-wet it again as needed during the tooling.. i have also found that painters tape on the back of you project keeps it from shrinking or loosing its shape during tooling. i use the blue 2 inch painters tape

[Trevor]

Here's what I do.

Carving ...only wet the surface and carv away keeping it damp. wet the whole piece once to keep the colour the same. (if using Natural russet).

Moulding... wet the leather in warm water for 10-20 minutes or until the bubbles stop. dry off the then roll up the leather both ways to soften the hide up.

This works with both factory dyed and natural leather.

Rolling... in a machine (belt pattern) run the belt under the hot and cold taps (Top surface only) for 1 minute. Then dry off and roll into the machine. Factory dyed and Natural.

I have made hundreds of moulded pouches of all shapes and sizes. mostly out of factory dyed veg tanned and chrome leather. Once the mould is in place in the press I leave it for a couple of hours then staple the wet item to a board and put overnight on a hot cupboard. (hot water cupboard that is) and it will be perfect to cut and sand in the morning. When dry it will keep its shape forever.

cheers

Trevor

"Way Down Under"

[dougfergy]

I'm resurrecting an old thread because it has a lot of good discussion about casing, different techniques and formulas.   Lots of us are newer members and might have missed this thread.  And I have some issues with the latest leather I bought.

After reading all three pages I'm convinced that everyone has their own way and not one thing works for everyone.  I've been messing with leather for several years as a hobby, with minimal tools and no training other than this forum and you tube videos.  I've never purchased Hermann Oak or any really good leather even though I've read that stamping and tooling on the good stuff gives you best results.  My observation has been that the leather has characteristics that determine how to case or wet it for tooling.  Seems to me that the leather is the key.  The last leather I purchased (I only buy one piece, a double shoulder or something similar, at a time, use it and run out and go back to Tandy and buy more) was a better class of leather from Tandy called Craftsman grade Oak Leaf, in 8 or 9 oz.  It was much lighter colored than anything I've bought in the past, very smooth and consistent in thickness.  Seems pretty stiff too, tight grain I guess.  My first couple of tries to case and tool didn't give me very deep impressions.  I dunked for three different time periods, half bubbles out, all bubbles out and third was just a pass through the warm water to get an even wetness front and back.  I have been dunking in very warm water but I just read here that warm water is for molding since it makes the leather dry very hard.  Makes sense.  I will be testing the sponge on the smooth side to wet the leather half way down, leaving the flesh side dry and see how that goes.  I'll also just use cold water this time.  If this doesn't make it easier to work, I'll try dunking and bagging for 24 hours, letting dry back to color and see how that goes. 

The softer veg tan I've used in the past just seemed to stamp fine just using a sponge in cold water to wet the front side good before letting it return to color to stamp, re-wetting it a bit as needed to complete it.  This leather just seems stiff to start with compared to any I've used in the past so I'm thinking it has to be handled differently.  Me using very warm water probably didn't help.

[Northmount]

Warm should be lukewarm, not hot.  Warm water does seem to soak in faster, but the real result you are looking for is to get moisture into the core, let the surface dry to about its natural colour, and the go to work.  Wetting the surface and casing are not the same.  Casing is allowing the moisture you have added to the leather to equalize throughout the leather.  It still has to dry enough to take crisp tooling and to burnish.  Test a piece.  If you are going for full casing, after you pull it out of the bag or whatever, use the same stamp and stamp it every 15 minutes.  Write the time down beside each impression.  Keep going until it is obviously too dry, then look back and see which time had the best detail, crisp, and burnished.  Then use that information to tool that piece of leather.  Another new hide may require different timing.

Tom

[dougfergy]

Thank you Tom.  I'll be testing. 

[fredk]

On 8/7/2019 at 3:43 PM, dougfergy said:

The last leather I purchased (I only buy one piece, a double shoulder or something similar, at a time, use it and run out and go back to Tandy and buy more) was a better class of leather from Tandy called Craftsman grade Oak Leaf, in 8 or 9 oz.  It was much lighter colored than anything I've bought in the past, very smooth and consistent in thickness.  Seems pretty stiff too, tight grain I guess. 

I picked up on this. Tandy leather can be very inconsistent, even hides in the same 'batch' can be very different

Whenever you buy some leather and you think you might want to tool it, cut off a couple of those sticky-out bits, cut them down and see how each of those bits does with different wettings. It will give you some indication how that hide will do

[Northmount]

Should also note that seasonal differences in temperature and humidity will affect how long cased leather takes to dry to the optimal tooling state.  So times you figure out for summer may be substantially different in the winter.

Tom

[fredk]

This is true, even for day to day. Yesterday I cased some leather, it took almost all day until it was ready, today it took less than a couple of hours, due to weather changes - yesterday was very wet and cool-ish, today is very warm and dry

[dougfergy]

Yes, the more I try, the more I learn that I have so much more to learn!  Something like that.  I wrongly assumed that all veg tan would act the same and that is obviously not the case.