Stamping a Old Saddle

[bexrivera]

The title pretty much explains my question but I'll go further into detail. I am just about to get started leather tooling or whichever is the preferred term, and a friend of mine wants me to add a little detailing to her old saddle. Is it possible to stamp designs on a saddle that has already been built, used and sort of old?

 

She's asking for her name to be done with some flowers surrounding it, here's pictures for an idea:

Thanks for any help in advance.

[JHayek]

Short answer is no. There is really no way to tool flowers in old oiled leather with even satisfactory results let alone being able to achieve the level of detail in your given example. You may be able to "stamp" letters with some success but I woild steer clear of this project

[bexrivera]

23 minutes ago, JHayek said:

Short answer is no. There is really no way to tool flowers in old oiled leather with even satisfactory results let alone being able to achieve the level of detail in your given example. You may be able to "stamp" letters with some success but I woild steer clear of this project

Thank you!

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

I wholeheartedly second what JHayek said.  New tooling leather is dry in order to absorb moisture for casing.  Used leather will likely have been oiled and compressed by use, which would make doing a decent job of tooling difficult if not impossible.  Even a new saddle that has not had oil or use will have had some kind of finish coat applied which will inhibit the absorption of moisture for casing.  And even if you got it cased up by wetting from the back side, there is still the finish coat to deal with.