Marks On The Leather

[Bluesman]

I have taken all the advice and cliiped my nails so low, that it HURTS!!!!!! Even then I find marks, here and there. The more I progress, on the project, there are more. I use a glass slicker and most come out, but then there are more..........Mmmmm Aliens? There are folks on here who take a piece of hide, tool it, finish it and the results are flawless. Now, not asking to get from A-Z. But what do I need to do to get to mabye, I don't know. how about A-F? You folks have seen it in your work and solved the issue in many different ways. Just looking for you observations.

Thanks,

Jon

[Ferg]

Jon,

I have a trailing "Little Finger" if I don't keep it out of the way when tooling etc. I get little swirled marks. Slightly dragging a tool when you lift it, a straight edge, O'boy! there are many others.

Observe closely how you use your tools, that will probably tell you more than anything.

Hang in there.

ferg

I have taken all the advice and cliiped my nails so low, that it HURTS!!!!!! Even then I find marks, here and there. The more I progress, on the project, there are more. I use a glass slicker and most come out, but then there are more..........Mmmmm Aliens? There are folks on here who take a piece of hide, tool it, finish it and the results are flawless. Now, not asking to get from A-Z. But what do I need to do to get to mabye, I don't know. how about A-F? You folks have seen it in your work and solved the issue in many different ways. Just looking for you observations.

Thanks,

Jon

[katsass]

I have taken all the advice and cliiped my nails so low, that it HURTS!!!!!! Even then I find marks, here and there. The more I progress, on the project, there are more. I use a glass slicker and most come out, but then there are more..........Mmmmm Aliens? There are folks on here who take a piece of hide, tool it, finish it and the results are flawless. Now, not asking to get from A-Z. But what do I need to do to get to mabye, I don't know. how about A-F? You folks have seen it in your work and solved the issue in many different ways. Just looking for you observations.

Thanks,

Jon

As ferg says, there are all sorts of possibilities. Do you were a long sleeved shirt --- with button cuffs? How about a wrist watch? A pinky ring? or just a ring that turns on your finger. You just have to start looking at your movements and actions and figure out what's going on. Mike

[Bluesman]

As ferg says, there are all sorts of possibilities. Do you were a long sleeved shirt --- with button cuffs? How about a wrist watch? A pinky ring? or just a ring that turns on your finger. You just have to start looking at your movements and actions and figure out what's going on. Mike

Short sleeves, no watch, wedding ring on left hand, swivel knife in right hand. Good point, I need to start watching more closely.

[UKRay]

Laying tools down on the leather occasionally causes me some hassle... no matter how careful you are...

Ray

[ramrod]

this is a great thread. i find that the longer my project lasts, the more marks i will get on it. i made an absolutely beautiful quiver and was very careful about NOT marking it up - until the last few stitches. one of my (very short) fingernails made sucessive marks in the leather that followed the stitches very nicely. i DID point it out to the new owner and tried to pass it off as "tool" marks on a "handmade" item or some such nonsense. he said it added character and proved that it was handmade.

i'll keep that comment about the glass slicker in mind for the nect time.

[DoubleC]

Jon, it seems like every time I breathe around leather, I get nail marks on it. And I know I can't pay close enough attention for that long to try and keep everything out of the way. Right now I'm working on a project that's a 3 piece overlay. I was so proud of myself for remembering to coat the edges on the first cut out before I glued the ostrich on. On the second one, I had the glue already on and had to coat the edges watching the glue dry. If you ever figure out a magic bullet for this I could use it too. Cheryl

[Rawhide]

i used to get marks from slicking the back of the piece. When I flipped it over, I didn't realize that the little gribblies from tooling were all over the granite. Now I have a habit of using denatured alcohol to clean my block, before I flip my piece over for anything. I also don't lay tools on the leather as I'm working. I lay them to the side or in front. you might try some rubber or latex gloves to tool with, and see if that helps.

Marlon

[Bluesman]

i used to get marks from slicking the back of the piece. When I flipped it over, I didn't realize that the little gribblies from tooling were all over the granite. Now I have a habit of using denatured alcohol to clean my block, before I flip my piece over for anything. I also don't lay tools on the leather as I'm working. I lay them to the side or in front. you might try some rubber or latex gloves to tool with, and see if that helps.

Marlon

Excellant..........................Thanks!!!!!!!!!!

[Sylvia]

Blues:

I also had trouble with that.... gribbles are an issue... but I also found that when my granite piece's cut edges were not filed down, I would get scratches from the rough edge of the granite as I moved my piece. I've since ground, sanded and filed those edges over... rounding them off.