Am I Totally Inept

[leatherthresher]

Regarding of casing the leather: you probably have learnt not to drown it as I did when I started out; the colour of the leather should turn to almost normal, but it should feel cold to the touch.

leatherthresher.

[bermudahwin]

I note this is for tooling, casing for moulding/molding is slightly different as you need the leather to be flexible.

When tooling, with a lightly wrung out sponge, I moisten the flesh of the leather, then moisten the skin.

The thicker the leather, the slightly more I moisten it.

Everyone works out what's best for them, after a while.

In the meantime a thread from 2009 by hidepounder got a lot of discussion going:

Good luck,

Harry

 

[chrisash]

I intent to make a slip over PLA square or rectanguler sheath to go over my basket weave handle so i get a more positive feel for lining up the tool, at present i line up visually but being such a small tool head iand having a round handle its not easy to get accuracy

Maybe it will work maybe not but feel its worth a try untill i get more experience using them

[Ed in Tx]

A couple of things I noticed that weren't mentioned or I missed them...

Just "casing" the leather isn't all you need to do before attempting to stamp a piece. Using a glass burnisher to compress the fibers in the leather before starting to stamp is an important step. Also you should use

something on the back side of the piece such as blue painters tape to keep the leather from spreading when you stamp. I am no expert by any stretch but the two items I mentioned are what I was taught when I first tried my hand at tooling.

[Rockoboy]

10 hours ago, Ed in Tx said:

Using a glass burnisher to compress the fibers in the leather before starting to stamp is an important step.

I am also not a expert in any sense of the word, but after viewing a fair number of tutorials, I have never heard of doing this.

On some of my attempts at stamping and carving, I have applied the painters tape, but some I have not. I have not had any huge problems either way. Then again, I have not stamped or carved any larger areas, just around 4 - 5 inches by the same at the largest.

[bermudahwin]

38 minutes ago, Rockoboy said:

I am also not a expert in any sense of the word, but after viewing a fair number of tutorials, I have never heard of doing this

Me either.

H

[battlemunky]

I've seen it before and have tried it myself but I can't say it made it harder or easier or the stamping more crisp. I don't usually do it. I'll make a point to try it a few more times and pay better attention. It may be a "do it sometimes" thing too since it darkens the leather quite a bit.

[YinTx]

On 11/12/2018 at 11:10 PM, Rockoboy said:

I am also not a expert in any sense of the word, but after viewing a fair number of tutorials, I have never heard of doing this.

On some of my attempts at stamping and carving, I have applied the painters tape, but some I have not. I have not had any huge problems either way. Then again, I have not stamped or carved any larger areas, just around 4 - 5 inches by the same at the largest.

I do the glass burnisher rub down on my leather before carving.  It helps in my humble opinion.  Seems to settle the top into a smooth surface, and evens out the compression of the fibers below.  This makes it easier for me to carve, less fighting inconsistencies in the leather, resulting in a smoother cut.  Here is a video from Alden's School of Leather talking about how to do this.   I don't do my casing or glycerin bar work the same, but the concept is there.

YinTx

 

 

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

Regarding your problem lining up the basket stamp, I have used basket (and other geometric) stamps that are not perfectly symmetrical, and no matter how hard I tried or what I did, they left an imperfect design.  The type of basket stamp also makes a difference; flared end stamps are more difficult to line up, and keep the same angle throughout the piece. Also, a bigger stamp is easier than a very small one. 

[JLSleather]

On 11/10/2018 at 11:46 AM, hwinbermuda said:

When tooling, with a lightly wrung out sponge, I moisten the flesh of the leather, then moisten the skin.

The thicker the leather, the slightly more I moisten it.

Yup, that works in teh states too

And PUH LEEZE .. no more "cool to the touch"   If my thermostat is set at 64, the leather is ALWAYS "cool to the touch", no matter wet or dry.  If you're toolin' in San Antonio, I doubt there's much "cool to the touch".

 

 

Edited November 16, 2018 by JLSleather