Newbie Question On Carving

[KLS]

(Actually calling myself a newbie is a misnomer as I just order some supplies yesterday and have yet to do anything.)

Is "leather carving" and "leather tooling" the same thing? Are you actually carving away any material in "carving" or are you just smooshing down the leather?

I didn't think I was interested in doing any of that "fancy stuff," but seeing some of the beautiful and original work on here makes me eager to try it all. My first project is going to be a relatively plain double layer dog collar decorated with a few rivets. One layer is going to be dyed black and one tan. Maybe my next one will have some carving/ tooling.

Thanks!

[Cyberthrasher]

basically the terms are interchangeable. Usually anyway. The term "carving" seems to stem more from people relating it to woodworking.

But, a more appropriate distinction would be "tooling" and "stamping", where tooling is an all out modification of the leather using knives and bevelers as well as different "stamps" to obtain various effects. But, "stamping" is usually just that. No knife work or modeling or anything, just the use of pre-made stamps either used independently or configured in a pattern. Personally, I do enjoy some stamped patterns, but I feel there are a lot of people who ONLY stamp designs who might be better served by picking up that swivel knife. My thought is that maybe they didn't put enough practice into handling the knife from the beginning, so it was always "too hard".

But, back to your original question on "carving". You're not removing any leather. You're simply deforming it to fit your needs. The swivel knife creates a relief along with the line, allowing you to maneuver the leather into the desired position. It's a weird way of stating it, but it's somewhat accurate.

[KLS]

Thanks for the clarification! :-)