First Seat

[KurseD]

Well, this will be a long ongoing thread. Figured I would post progress here and keep you up to date with my learning curve as I'm sure this will probably turn into "First three attempts at the same seat" before it's all said and done.

Cut the leather, then started doodling. Trying to keep with a 60s/70s concert poster style.

[benlilly1]

That will be a cool design on a seat! Keep us posted.

[KurseD]

Finally got my "lightbox" going. Well, the lid to it anyway. Used the picture frame and two under cabinet floursecent fixtures from the home hardware shop. So finished the artwork and on to the leather work. I'm getting some "folding" or "wrinkling" around some of the tight edges when cutting as seen in the pictures. Also having a hard time with tool marks from the small beveler I'm using. Not sure what I'm doing wrong with either of those areas. Feel free to chime in with suggestions. Here's what I've got so far.

Final design

Starting the cutting

Wrinkling around the tight edges

Tool marks

Edited March 10, 2013 by KurseD

[Cyberthrasher]

For your cutting, make sure that knife is stropped well and possibly wait a couple minutes longer before cutting. That can also happen if you're not keeping your knife perpendicular to the leather. Happens to me sometimes too, nothing that can't be fixed by rounding off the edge with a modeling spoon. If you don't have one, get one. It's one of the most important tools on your bench.

We all start with tool marks - even when we think we're doing everything right. Make sure you're walking the beveler like a jack hammer or tattoo needle. You should be holding it just barely inside your cutline (or above it if you're comfortable there) and let the beveler bounce back up after you tap it down by using your finger as a shock absorber. The beveler should be doing the work. It should also be taptaptaptap with the mallet, not TAP......TAP.......TAP. If you can't get it all the way down without hitting too hard, make a second, or even third pass.

Take a look at this video from Standing Bears. He does a good job at showing how to hold the beveler and walk it. Listen to the speed of his tapping too and notice that he goes back over the work instead of trying to compress the full depth in one blow. This video was actually the AHA!! moment that got me heading in the right direction at first.

[chancey77]

Looking good so far!!! Get Er done !! Don't do it 3 times do it once

[KurseD]

So I got a little more beveling done. Been really busy at home lately. I'm having a hard time with this leather warping and wanting to sit up off the granite in certain places. I get to those areas where it's kind of bubbled or just warped and not laying flat on the granite and I have a really hard time keeping them flat while trying to get a good stamp. I even tried to case the leather and leave it under the granite for a while to flatten things out, but still no luck. Is it just because it's a lower quality piece or am I doing something wrong?

I thought about maybe glueing it to a piece of heavy weight cardboard or something to try to keep it flat, but not sure what kind of glue to use.

I watched the video on stamping and it was a bit of an AH HA moment for me as well. I was definitely pecking too hard. Also, leaning the beveler back a bit towards me helps quite a bit too. I am finding that the very small beveler doesn't give me the deepness I want, and the larger beveler doesn't give me the defined edge at the cut that I want, so I've mixed the two. I'm now running the small beveler around my cuts first to get my edge sharp first, then coming back around with my large beveler to get more bevel and a darker stamp. Does any of that make sense?

Don't know how well you can see the "warping" I'm talking about in this picture, but the wide part of the seat is sitting higher and the center is kind of bubbling up. If you've ever made fried bologna, that's exactly what it feels like. Well, dangit, wish I hadn't thought of that as an example... Now I want a fried bologna sandwich...

[Cyberthrasher]

I've never seen it curl up in the center like that, but the edge is normal as it's drying out. If you can get it to lay flat for a minute, just use some rubber cement on a piece of poster board or cereal box to hold it flat.

Edited March 17, 2013 by Cyberthrasher

[KurseD]

Done tooling. Got it coated in oil then the resolene. Will try my hand at antiquing and then dye soon.

[Cyberthrasher]

Done tooling. Got it coated in oil then the resolene. Will try my hand at antiquing and then dye soon.

how many coats of Resolene did you use? Just want to get that out of the way so you don't have troubles down the road

Oh yeah, and you may have to let the dye sit for a bit before it soaks in since you put the Resolene on first. You might want to take care of that now before adding more finish then antiquing.

Edited March 18, 2013 by Cyberthrasher

[KurseD]

I did one coat of resolene at about 4PM and another coat around 6PM. So I should have dyed it first, then resolene, then antiqued? Oops.

[Cyberthrasher]

I did one coat of resolene at about 4PM and another coat around 6PM. So I should have dyed it first, then resolene, then antiqued? Oops.

Yep, dye penetrates the leather to color it. Resolene and other finishes seal it so nothing else can get in (hence the reason they're used for resist). But, it can still penetrate.

So, I was reading some writings from another crafter who says they apply their resolene first ALL the time and then dye in order to get a perfectly blended dye job. I don't know about perfect in my eyes, but I did use it after reading that, when I realized some things weren't quite right with my color. It pools up on the resolene and allows you to move it around before it penetrates (it may take quite some time to settle through). Give it a try on an easily covered spot to test it, then have a go. Once you get all the dye done - go apply 3 more coats of Resolene before antiquing. That way you don't effect the dye you just put on at that point.

Remember:

Dye

Resolene for resist (x3)

antique

Resolene for finish coat

Edited March 18, 2013 by Cyberthrasher

[KurseD]

That should have been a common sense I guess, don't know where my head has been. Ugh, hope this comes out right. On a side note, I think the wings may be too wide so this might not work on the seat in the end. Oh well, learning experiences all the way around.

[Cyberthrasher]

Don't beat yourself up man. It will just take a little more time to get the dye right. I think it will be fine. The wings look like they might reach out to the edge of the seat once it has some foam under it, but still in the "not bad" category. It's your first seat and about your 5th project - nothing to be ashamed about here

[KurseD]

Sprayed the dye on. I'd DEFINITELY recommend NOT using the resolene until AFTER the dye process. Gave me some splattering issues. A quick wipe with a wet rag usually helped a lot though. Also having a ton of trouble with my airbrush since it seems I didn't remember to clean it last time I used it, don't know what that was all about. Used the saddle tan first, then the med brown, then I brush painted the eyes and nose on the skull. Letting it dry, then lots more resolene, and on to the antiquing.

[Cyberthrasher]

See, it's looking good man. May not be exactly what you set out to do, but it's still getting up there.

[KurseD]

Yeah, I was a lot happier once I got some color on it. Already thinking of things to do differently. Clean out my airbrush for one.

[KurseD]

*Edit* I said earlier that I used "medium brown" for the darker areas, I actually used uncut "saddle tan". Well, I let it dry for a few hours and went back to apply the next coat of resolene. OOPS! The new coat of resolene wiped off the darker areas of dye. So I wiped the whole thing down with denatured alcohol really well, let that dry for a bit, then I went back over it with "medium brown" this time to see what that looked like. So I'll let it set a couple days to dry this time, then try the resolene again.

[Cyberthrasher]

You might try spraying your resolene. But, make sure you get some kind of airbrush cleaner to get that acrylic out of it. If you leave it, you'll have to spend some good time cleaning things up later. The resolene gets extra gunky pretty bad. The first coat is the one that will move things around, so that's the main one that should be sprayed if you can. Same thing after your antiquing so you don't pull it out of the tooling as easily. I like the new color better