New Member With Zero Experience: Leather Questions

[Locry]

Hi,

I'm a craftsman at heart, i've sculpted and scratchbuilt a lot of mixed media stuff including resin and fiberglass... and yet I find myself being drawn to leather... there's just something about leather that other media simply cannot "achieve" (if that makes sense...)

Anyway, I'm just starting to get to know the material. I've tried my hand at stitching. I want to get into wet modling. But the thing is, I don't know what types if leather there are.

Can all things "leather" be wet molded?

I tried boiling/drying 1.5mm leather but doesn't seem to want to stiffen up. Then I chanced upon info that says I have to have at least 5 or 6 oz leather to successfully wet mold. So i bought a few scraps of 2.2mm leather (5-6oz?). Will try boiling those later.

I guess what I would really like to know is this: is THICKNESS the only factor with wet moldable leather?

The leather supply store I went to has "tooling" leather... but I have to buy the entire hide... I'm not ready just yet.

What's the difference between "tooling" and other types of leather?

Thanks

I attached a few test stitches... I'm enjoying the process.

[Chief31794]

Hard to tell what type of leather you have from a picture, it may be latigo. In order to wet mold you want Vegetable Tanned Leather. Tooling leather is always veg tan. If you want small quantities of leather (less than a side) then the only place I know of is Springfield Leather Company, they will sell you high quality leather tanned by Hermann Oak. They sell in quantities as small as 2 sq ft. Thinner leather (4oz or so) will mold, however the thicker leather 8/9oz or so does a better job. Hope this helps, others may know of other places that sell small quantities, Springfield Leather is good, their turn around time to get the order picked and shipped is a little slow. They are good to deal with.

Chief

Edited February 28, 2014 by Chief31794

[Locry]

Thanks for the info. Though I'm not from there... I'm in Manila, Philippines.

I tried stiffening up the 2.2mm that I got... it did stiffen up quite a bit, I'm considering it a successful attempt. As the thinner one (1.5mm) I got earlier did not.

How do I know if the leather is ready to be molded? And once ready how easily should the leather conform to the mold?

The description: "clay-like" is pretty vague... clay, as I know it, is easily shaped. Is this also the case with leather?

Thanks!

[ReneeCanady]

Yes, you want vegetable tanned/tooling leather. The pre-dyed stuff usually already has a finish on it that doesn't allow the water to penetrate the leather.

The boiling method is one way to stiffen leather and depending on what you are doing, you may not need to do all that as far as boiling and then baking in the oven. For some sheaths, armor, and holsters that may be necessary (not sure really). The term to search is called cuir boulli.

One thing to be mindful of if you use the cuir boulli methond is the wax. Remember you can not dye over the wax.

Many make wet molded items just by wetting the leather completely and using things like a bone folder, or even vac seal bags to form their items. Just air drying without the oven seems to get the leather pretty stiff and hold its shape.

[Locry]

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it.

So anything that has been "dyed" (colored) is a no-no?

What's the difference between tanned and dyed?

I honestly do not know what type of leather I have... but it did respond well to "wetting" and air drying. It held it's shape. So am I safe in assuming that it's "workable"? and moldable?

[mtroyalguy]

Tanned is the process of preparing and curing the leather. Dying is done after tanning and adds colour. Generally leather is only moldable once. Once you wet it and shape it and dry it, rewetting it does not work well. Adding more water while it is still wet to correct or reshape works to a point, depending how dry you have gotten it. In my experience, mostly masks, there is no need to boil the leather, just soak it until the little air bubbles stop coming out of it in hot tap water, but not so hot you cant put your fingers in it.

And watch your fingernails if shaping by hand. The leather wont hold your finger marks noticeably for the most part, but I have a few masks with little grooves from my nails.

[Locry]

Thanks! That cleared things up. I'm just getting the hang of the molding process... trial and error and stuff.

Thanks again!

Yeah... I'm having trouble with fingernail marks.

[Northmount]

Thanks! That cleared things up. I'm just getting the hang of the molding process... trial and error and stuff.

Thanks again!

Yeah... I'm having trouble with fingernail marks.

Do a search here for wet molding and you will find lots of threads. Here is a pinned topic http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=19782

Tom

[Locry]

Thanks for the link.

Yeah, I stumbled upon that thread before I became a member, been studying it ever since. Pretty informative.

It's the actual material/leather that i'm not a 100% with. Don't know which are just tanned, dyed, veg tanned at such.

The leather supply store I go to doesn't always have informed staff at hand. I'm just winging it at the moment... buying scrap leather for practice.

Edited March 6, 2014 by Locry