Tap-offs

[numbrow]

As I was reading through the various posts the other night, I saw mention of tap off's. I have never heard the term before. What exactly is a tap off and what is it used for?

[Blake]

What exactly is a tap off and what is it used for?

A tap off is a master of the flower, leaf etc that you are using for your tooling pattern.It is usually cut out of leather, coated with a varnish or other hard protective coating. It then can be used to lay out the tooling pattern to whatever space is available. Saddle Makers use them a lot as it can get pretty tedious constantly tracing the same flower and leaf over again, especially on all of the different parts and shapes of a saddle.

The book on Sheridan carving goes into good detail about making them.

Once made, you simply place it face down on the cased leather in the desired posistion and tap it with a small hammer and the result is a mirror image of the flower. Some flowers and leaves require a left and right.You then free hand in the Dogs, stumps, etc between the flowers.

I think this would make a fun online clinic if anyone is interested.

I have made tap offs of whole corner patterns and book covers etc when I know I will be doing a lot of the same pattern.

They last forever and are almost free and the designs are endless. If you are trying to make money with tooled leather items, they are a must in my opinion.

I can TRY and post pictures if you have questions.

Kind Regards

Blake

[numbrow]

Thank you for the info Blake. Went and checked and I found a can of urethane varnish. Just so I understand the process correctly. I first tool a complete mirror image of the pattern, let dry. Then I figure cut roughly to shape and apply the varnish. Let that cure. Case my project, place the tap off in place, a couple of hits with mallet. Then carve as normal. Your idea of a clinic sounds like a great idea. If you could post a picture of one, so I know what to shoot for that would be greatly appreciated. Well, I have to go give this a try now. Thanks again Blake.

[ClayB]

You dont want to tool the pattern, just cut it deeply with the swivel knife. Then you cut the shape out, flower, leaf, etc. When you use the tap off, it will give you an impression on the leather sort of like a craftaid does, but the cut lines will become raised, not depressed. I haven't used a tap off, but that's the basic idea shown in the Sheridan Carving book.

[Blake]

Your idea of a clinic sounds like a great idea. If you could post a picture of one, so I know what to shoot for that would be greatly appreciated. Well, I have to go give this a try now. Thanks again Blake.

Lets see if I can do this right so the pictures aren't too big. they should be in JPG.

Blake

[SmilinJim]

Hi Folks

I did something sorta similar. My wife works with crafts and I cut a small pattern, didn't tool, and let it dry. Then I used a thin sheet of polymer clay on top, let it dry then removed from the leather. Baked it as the instructions say. Then I added a thick leather backing to it. You then have something similar to a craftaid in that you do get impressions into the cased leather. Works great for small projects. Haven't tried it on larger ones yet.

Hope this helps a little.

SmilinJim

[joet]

I wonder if the liquid plastic that was popular a few years ago could be used. They were used to make every thing from paper weights to name plates. I even saw where someone had placed a snake head inside of one and called it a peice of art. Let it harden and it is almost indistructable. -_-

[SmilinJim]

Hi

We did the casting resin thing too. Sticks to everything, forever, unless its a polyurethane. I cast some coins and name tags in several blocks for the kids when they were born and we did a table top. But what the .. try it. You may make it work. There are several other types on the market these days, maybe one of them would work. I saw one called alumalite. Might be a way there. Keep us posted if you try.

SmilinJim

[Blake]

Hi Jim

That is pretty interesting. You might even start a cottage industry if you could produce them in quantity. Have you seen the prices that Gore Tool gets for there aluminum taps? How large do you think you could go without it becoming unstable? I would imagine that the leather backing would help with that.

I did some masters , Fully Tooled a few years back for a company that used them to cast or mould lamp bases out of plastic. after they were finished you couldn't tell it from the real thing unless you probed it. You could even see every flaw in the grain. Made me nervous and insecure about the future of leather work in general.

Where in Alabama are you located?I'm an old "WAR EAGLE"

Blake

[SmilinJim]

Hi Blake

I'm from west of Birmingham. However, "Roll Tide", but been working in Auburn lately, construction. I don't know how large of a template can be made, guess its time to experiment. I'll get out the ones I've done and post some pics. Most are sort of simple but you could make as complex as you wanted. I've been wanting to try something with the alumilite and this may be the way. I've used the polymer clay to mold holders and such for my mp3 player for my car and for my daughters Ipod. It's just easy to work with but I think it would be too unstable for a large piece.

Jim