Help With A Camo Tool

[Hornbag73]

Hi All, still working through my starter kit i am have a problem with my camo tool bending alot. Am i hitting it too hard?

Secondly i have bought a couple of Tandy 3d stamps and am having trouble get the full impression, i only have a poly mallet.

I am using some of the tandy leather scrap they sell to practice and trial on is this too thin for a 3d stamp.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[electrathon]

The tools that come in the starter kit are the worst of the worst, but they are guarantied. Return the bent tools and Tandy will replace them with another one. The replacement ones are a little better.

You might have to get a heavier mallet for the bigger stamps.

Aaron

[Chief31794]

To help with the 3D, Tandy sells a 3D hefty handle which distributes the blow to more surface area, they are relatively inexpensive. If you're bending the shafts even on the Z tools you got in the kit (Z designates that it is from a Kit and Aaron is right, they are the worst of the worst), that being said, they shouldn't be bending, you are hitting too hard. I suspect you may not be wetting the leather enough then allow it to dry by to nearly it's natural cover before stamping with the tools. Another tip to help with the 3D stamps is to "rock" them back and forth and side to side as you tap them, that will make them more consistent and make the depressions deeper. Go to Lowes or Harbor Freight if you have one and get a 2lb Dead Blow hammer, that will make the big stamps easier. It isn't necessary, but I use one simply to prevent more wear on my poly mallets.

Welcome to the forum and to Leather working.

Chief

[Northmount]

Check that your leather scraps are vegtan leather. Depending on the bag of scraps you got, there may be leather that isn't suitable for stamping.

If you haven't cased the leather, read up on how to properly case leather before carving and stamping. See http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=19121&hl=%20casing%20%20tutorial&st=0 casing tutorial by Hidepounder (Bob Parks). Dry leather doesn't take impressions well.

Tom

[Hornbag73]

Thanks for all the advice, from your comments i now realise i had not cased the leather enough and this caused everything else to go pear shaped.

This was my first wallet i tooled and it turned ok.

The receiver was happy with the outcome however i did learn a lot from this and realise i need to be more careful with every step along the way as lack of thought and preparation just makes live harder to reach the intended outcome.

Thanks again.