Question About Stretching Leather

[mikey]

Hello,

I was wondering how one gets leather to stretch across and conform to curved surfaces (such as a show last)

without throwing wrinkles.

I never had any training in shoe making. So I have just been going through the motions by trial and error.

The attached picture is something I made, but it's not the best example of the effect I am talking about, since

these did not turn out as diastrous as others. However, I would eventually like to move on to something more

sophisticated (like a full shoe).

Any tips would be apreciated.

Thanks

Mike (new here)

[Dwight]

Mike, . . . if you have ever worked around metal or plastic casting, . . . you know they use a two piece mold, . . . one for the front, . . . one for the back, . . .

I use that process for making the "front" for my "Fanceee" molded magazine carriers. Most of my customers are easily pleased with the ones I sew, . . . but occasionally I get one who wants something with a bit more finesse, . . . hence the molded mag carrier.

In the picture you see both pieces, . . . I simply lay a flat piece of 6/7 vegetable tanned leather over the female mold, . . . force the two pieces together, . . . clamp with a couple of carpenter clamps, usually overnight, . . . pull it apart, . . . voila, . . . molded leather. Before I put that leather in the mold though, . . . it is absolutely, positively, surely, and completely SOAKED through with warm (not over 130 deg F).

You should probably only need the inside mold if you are doing something generally round and not too complicated, . . . stretch it over the mold, . . . tack it down until it dries, . . . trim it and go for it.

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited January 30, 2013 by Dwight

[mikey]

Mike, . . . if you have ever worked around metal or plastic casting, . . . you know they use a two piece mold, . . . one for the front, . . . one for the back, . . .

I use that process for making the "front" for my "Fanceee" molded magazine carriers. Most of my customers are easily pleased with the ones I sew, . . . but occasionally I get one who wants something with a bit more finesse, . . . hence the molded mag carrier.

In the picture you see both pieces, . . . I simply lay a flat piece of 6/7 vegetable tanned leather over the female mold, . . . force the two pieces together, . . . clamp with a couple of carpenter clamps, usually overnight, . . . pull it apart, . . . voila, . . . molded leather. Before I put that leather in the mold though, . . . it is absolutely, positively, surely, and completely SOAKED through with warm (not over 130 deg F).

You should probably only need the inside mold if you are doing something generally round and not too complicated, . . . stretch it over the mold, . . . tack it down until it dries, . . . trim it and go for it.

May God bless,

Dwight

Hello Dwight,

Thank you for the tips. I was thinking about soaking the leather, but I was afraid that it would make it too stiff / brittle.

Mike

[Dwight]

Hello Dwight,

Thank you for the tips. I was thinking about soaking the leather, but I was afraid that it would make it too stiff / brittle.

Mike

Mike, one of the "niceties" of vegetable tanned leather is that you can wet it, form it, and after it dries, . . . you can "work it" so to speak to loosen it up.

Think about those round toed shoes us old timers used to wear. When we pulled em out of the box, they were stiff and if you weren't careful, you could wind up with blisters all over your feet. Once we wore them for a couple of days, . . . creases formed where our toes bent, . . . loosening up the leather.

The same applies to any leather that has been water formed, . . . so don't worry too much about that. Make your shoes, . . . break em in later.

May God bless,

Dwight