dogboy Report post Posted January 9, 2014 Hello, Have yet to touch tool to leather. Bought a basic 7 pc tool kit and a few border stamps that caught my eye. So many ideas large and small in scale. Also bought a bag O' scraps to learn tool usage upon. The cost of same ($15 for a 1 lb bag of mostly small and quite narrow scraps) made me wonder if there isn't some other medium which might be used not only for tool practice, but of the perhaps 8" x 11" variety for layout work. The kinds of things that occurred to my newb-ile mind were mediums that are either "erase-able" or so inexpensive that it would not matter. Could one use a variety of wax or clay that could be tooled and then smoothed over for re-use? Might someone have discovere'd a fiberboard or styro-foam derivative that could be marked on with stamping tools and then discarded? Not really very confident of my ability to draw/pattern and then sculpt, but if I could pre-work the idea without wasting tanned leather (read $$), I get the feeling this might be something (leathercarft) that I might enjoy learning. Any and all suggestions appreciated. Thank you for your time and forbearance. Fare well, db Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pete Report post Posted January 9, 2014 playdough! cheap and won't harden. I take some to Springfield to check out possible tool impressions. Just make sure that you clean the tool before you put it back into the rack or Kevin will find you a spank you! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JLSleather Report post Posted January 9, 2014 Pretty tough to learn tooling leather on anything but leather. Translation: you need leather. Doesn't have to be beautiful flawless leather, but should be leather that tools WELL (you want to see it the way it's SUPPOSED to work). You didn't mention where you're at. I'm in Iowa, so if you're in the area I'll GIVE you some pieces, just pick em up! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
artycpt Report post Posted January 9, 2014 different materials will give different impressions of the stamps. I agree that in order to see what it will look like in leather you need to tool it in leather. Depedning on what and who is around you, scrap leather pieces can usually be found pretty cheap. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dogboy Report post Posted January 10, 2014 (edited) Hello, I would like to thank y'all for your guidance. Yes I should have figured you have to carve/stamp leather to learn how to work leather properly, but I still appreciate the suggestion about Play-Doh since I can use it for answer larger layout questions. Also very much appreciate the offer from JLS Leather for some scrap to practice on. Much kindness and info in response to my first post and no discernable derision, looks like a win-win to me. Fare well, db Edited January 10, 2014 by dogboy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
