Casing and tooling a large project, avoiding water stains.

[jlangham]

I'm going to start a large project. I'm going to create an armor and a shield. I have a detailed tooling design that I really like and have thought a lot about that covers a lot of the leather. To do it well, it's not something that can be done within a 48 hour sitting (long as I can stay awake). Like the chest plate and a large dragon on the sheild. Oval shield.

 

I've been told that you should keep it cased in sections, and that keeping the leather wet for long periods of times is not good for the leather and can create mold.

 

When I cased it in sections for some pieces I had for a 18" dragon head it created waterstains. You can't notice it if you're not looking for it or don't know it's not supposed to be there because I dyed it a darker color and had antique gel. But for this and future projects I want to avoid that.

 

I've also been told that you should mold it after tooling if you do not have a solid mold. Someone else who doesn't have experience said molding after tooling you should use cold water and a hair dryer, and another you should use boiling water. I don't really trust they knew what they were talking about.

 

 

 

[TinkerTailor]

Ok, Two things that can help with the water marks are first to make sure you evenly case the whole thing the first time. It always seems to me that the first marks on fresh leather show up more. Dampening the whole thing after can help reduce spotty watermarks. Also important is using clean water, free from salts and minerals and from the same source for the whole project.

For mould: Do not over case it. Keep it cool when you are not tooling. Put it in the fridge if you can. Use saran wrap layed over the areas you are not tooling to help them keep their moisture. I have heard of people putting Listerine in their casing water to keep down mould and i believe there are even special products for this. You can find info on this in the casing thread on this site. The most important thing is buying good leather. Leather that has been stored next to moldy leather or was moldy itself may grow new mold in hours. If you got leather that grows mold fast, get rid of it fast. It will infect your whole stash.

As to tooling and molding: Any time you soak leather it swells. The tooling you just did will swell as well and lose definition. In addition, it will stretch and deform to the new shape. It will also get marks if you push on it with your fingers while it is being wet molded. So tooling after molding is the way to go, save for one problem. As you were told, you need to back up your leather with a solid smooth surface while tooling so the stamping works. There are ways around this. Sturdy metal bowls and stainless pots and pans can be put inside an object to tool it after forming. Be wary of non-stainless steel, it can turn wet leather black.

It may be you need to do parts of the carving before forming and details after as well.

Cold forming is fairly consistent and easy to do. Hot water forming is not co consistent and the results can vary a bunch from case to case. I would avoid heat if you can. Overheated leather will shrivel up and get rock hard, never recoverable. If you cold form, the faster leather dries, the harder it gets. Fans and mild heat can be used here but be careful and experiment first on scrap to get the process down. One test to see if leather is veg or chrome is to drop it in boiling water, if it stays the same it is chrome and if it shrivels up instantly it is veg. Try it some time.

If you look up cuir boilli you will find techniques for hardening leather.

[jlangham]

Thank you!!