Dan1378 Report post Posted May 31, 2015 Hello every one I'm new to the site and forums in general. Firstly i'd like to say thank you, as I found a lot of useful advice on this site when I was at university, helping me achieve a cracking grade and succeed. Secondly I want to mention that I am from the UK so apologise for using metric, because imperial is just beyond me. I am looking for some advice on how to press a form so that I can reliably reproduce the same shape. I was wondering if it would be possible to use ply with a hole in the same shape as the form + the thickness of the leather and use this to press the leather and former through? previously I have soaked leather in warmish water until the bubbles slow down, then layed the leather over my former and pinned it down into the shape. I hope i've made sense in this if i haven't please ask I've attched some pictures of the product, former and my original method. Thank you Dan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Big Sioux Saddlery Report post Posted May 31, 2015 Wow, first of all what you are making is cool. Second, you did a very good job forming the leather the way you've been doing it. It's similar to covering the swells on a western saddle, and it takes time and patience and just the right cut of leather. In answer to your question, yes I think what you are envisioning would work. I have done that very thing for projects that have required molding, although to a lesser extent than what your project requires. Specifically, small case goods, like pliers and knife pouches. As I've gotten older, and more arthritic, I look for ways to reduce hand work, and if I am going to make more than one like item, I make a form, mold, die, etc. Moisture content is every bit as important, maybe more so, that when forming by hand. Round and sand the edges of the hole in your plywood form carefully, because they will mar your leather if left sharp. I also liberally apply saddle soap to the leather right before I press it.Good luck! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
electrathon Report post Posted May 31, 2015 Your work looks cool. Yes, you can press form with a male and a female mold, it works well. I see you are using some form of plastic now for the male part, if you use that on both sides you will need to pull it apart to dry, then repress every now and then during the drying process. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TinkerTailor Report post Posted June 1, 2015 Have you looked into vacuum forming? There are fairly cheap diy methods out there, and you only have to do one side of the mold. It also eliminates the leather marring problem of a 2 sided mold. I have been looking into the options myself, however currently I do it the same way you do. here is a pic or two; Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dan1378 Report post Posted June 2, 2015 Thank you for your input everyone really appreciate it. Big Sioux Saddlery I agree completely the hand work involved is reliable but very time consuming and not gentle on your hands, also the pinning is degrading my former. The same as you mention, I am hoping to develop a way to reproduce this form more efficiently. Thanks for the tip about the soap. Electrathon. The former i'm using is made out of mdf with vac formed plastic over the top to: One, protect the wood from moisture and swelling, Two, it stops the pattern from transferring to the leather... coincidentally the smooth surface of the plastic leaves the felt side of the leather nicely pressed smooth as well. This gave me the idea of doing future tests to see what sort of patterns I can get to transfer to the leather during the forming process (two birds one stone) but we'll see. TinkerTailer. Vac forming has come up during my research but i've never looked further, I don;t suppose you have any links to a good tutorial or info page do you? because like you say i'm a little concerned about marring the leather with the female mould. I'm goin to have a little play with the moulding process so i'll make sure to take some photos and post what results I get from them. Thanks again every one All the best Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dwight Report post Posted June 2, 2015 Vacuum forming is a piece of cake: vac pump from Harbor Freight ($100 - $150), . . . DIY plastic bag with the plastic coming from JoAnn fabric ($15), . . . and a piece of hose and a fitting. I do almost all of my holsters with one, . . . am making one for a rifle later this summer, . . . used to use a press, but got afraid with all these plastic fantastic shooters folks are using now, . . . Google vacuum forming on Youtube, . . . as I recall, there are several there, . . . it'll give you the idea. May God bless, Dwight Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Northmount Report post Posted June 2, 2015 There are several threads about "vacuum forming" here on LW. I did a search and got 58 results. One of them is by Dwight with lots of instructions. There are others with sources of suppliers. One lists a source for a hand operated vacuum pump if you are unsure of how much you want to spend and how often you will be using it. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?app=core&module=search&do=search&fromMainBar=1 Tom Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sanch Report post Posted June 3, 2015 Vacuum formed holsters is all I do for CC IWB, also some other goods as well, MC gas tank cover skull shape 2+ years old now still holding its shape! Try it once you get it right you're not looking back!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirkba Report post Posted June 3, 2015 Hi Dan, What you are doing looks great! "I was wondering if it would be possible to use ply with a hole in the same shape as the form + the thickness of the leather and use this to press the leather and former through? " This will work if you use a fairly thick (22mm) laminated ply or solid wood as your "press". I use G clamps to secure the press - so you also need a piece of wood as a base. To make things easier to align make sure the press and your base are the same size. It becomes difficult to press with all the extra leather protruding, but if you learn to cut slits on the excess leather it should shape well. Good luck! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TinkerTailor Report post Posted June 3, 2015 Thank you for your input everyone really appreciate it. Big Sioux Saddlery I agree completely the hand work involved is reliable but very time consuming and not gentle on your hands, also the pinning is degrading my former. The same as you mention, I am hoping to develop a way to reproduce this form more efficiently. Thanks for the tip about the soap. Modify your former to insert cedar or some other softwood strips where you are putting tacks. When they are swiss cheesed, rip them off and replace. Lattice garden panels are a pretty good cheap source for these. I like cedar because it is fairly easy to push in the tacks, but they still have good holding power horizontally. For the curves, I get 8" by 10 sheets" of cork 4 for a dollar at the dollar store, it is thin, but you can layer it up. cut it into strips, and laminate it up on the curves. I use 3m super77 spray contact cement for jobs like this. It makes the job real fast. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
