Tooling Practice ~ Please Critique!

[Chief Filipino]

This has been a personal best but I know I can do better. Please help me improve!

I appreciate all the input I received on my last post, I took your advice and applied what I remembered on these ones. I definitely feel I need to continue with larger designs for awhile and then progress to smaller/finer. I appreciate any and all critiques, tips, and input.

I did use dots to help me remember which triangles I wanted to smoosh down with a backgrounder so those little poked holes in a few of the pictures are on purpose. Oh and there are a couple spots where I accidentally went too far with the backgrounder. Those I know about. 

Thank you!

[Colt W Knight]

1. Looks like your leather was too wet when you started tooling.

2. You are leaning your beveler, that is one reason your bevels look choppy

3. I see several places where you missed your cut line with your beveler

4. Your background stamping doesn't look even or deep enough

Beveling is really hard to get the hang of, I am just now starting to get it myself.

That is a very cool pattern, I dig it. Gives me ideas. Thanks for posting.

[Lonecreek]

The biggest thing I see is your beveling. It was too wet when you started which explains the lack of color on your beveling, and may have contributed to the choppiness. 

[Chief Filipino]

Thank you for the input Colt & Lonecreek! I am really struggling with casing the leather properly. I think I rush it a lot of times because I feel like the moisture is going to evaporate quickly. In general how long would I have on a 4/5 oz piece the size of a hunting knife sheath? With the backgrounding do I need to give it a little more power with the strike? 

[Lonecreek]

Wet the whole piece. Put it in the fridge in an airtight bag for a day, I pull it out let it set for about an hour, than start my transferring. Once the piece begins to turn back to its original color you can begin stamping. It's hard to get it down, but when cased correctly the piece will stay damp enough quite a while to work with. I'd say your background needs even mallet strikes. So it looks fluid like it's all one. Properly cased leather will help with that. 

[Horseshoe]

The leather will return to the original color but feel cool to the touch when it is ready to be tooled. If you begin to tool your piece and you don't see that burnished look where you're tooling then the leather is still too wet. As far as casing the leather if you ask 100 different leatherworkers what is best you'll most likely get 100 different answers. So just find what works best for you and stick with that. As far as you tooling while using the beveller looks like you hit it then move it and hit it again and so on. It just takes practice but what I do is I hit the beveller with quick sharp blows with my mallet while doing so I move the beveller very slightly after about three blows to the tool following the cut line. So the beveling is one long continuous motion. This takes some time to get the hang of so stick to it and you'll do fine.  If you can still see tool marks you can always go back over the area lightly with the tool. If you're using a smooth beveller you can go back over it with a modeling spoon. When using a backgrounder you need to hit it with about the same power as a beveller, three quick blows then move the tool. When you move the backgrounder also rotate the tool in your hand. If you don't then you get an unwanted "pattern" to the background. And lastly just get a piece of scrap and practice, practice, and then practice some more.

[alfredleatherworks]

I've learned a few things from this post too!  Thanks for sharing!  Looks pretty cool, I like the pattern!

[silverwingit]

I got tired of waiting overnight to start tooling. A friend told me about Bee Natural's Pro-Carv casing concentrate. I don't know what's in it though it smells pleasant enough and doesn't irritate my skin. You dilute it 10:1 so it is also economical to use ($11/quart at Weaver).

It penetrates fuller and evaporates much faster than water. My waiting to carve is cut to a fraction of the time compared to using just water. Pro-Carv is an integral part of my workflow and I'm convinced it makes me more efficient.

Might be worth a try.

Michelle

[JMWendt]

You really don't have to wait "overnight" to start tooling.  You can case and let it dry to the point where it returns to a dry looking color and it's still good to go.  Don't over wet it to begin with.

[ITCL]

Horseshoe was right. You can ask 100 different people about casing leather and get a 100 different answers. You can use a spray bottle to wet your leather and not have to wait as long to start cutting and stamping. Tooling leather does not have to be wet on both sides or dipped when it is cased. You can get a good tool burnish by using a spray bottle or a wet sponge, simply wait until it starts to return to it's natural color. When veg tan leather has water applied to it at the beginning, if you lay your hand just over the top of the leather you can feel just a little heat. This is due to the expanding fibers in the leather. Once the leather fibers have stopped expanding the leather will cool and start returning to it's natural color. With a little practice you will be able to tell when to start tooling. If it starts to dry out spray it again. Just remember, every time you wet the leather, wet the entire piece to prevent staining.  Good luck...................Ed