Help needed for first time tooling

[JuntoPi]

Hello everyone. First timer here looking for some help with tooling.  As you can see from this Holly Hobby project, things didn't go well my first time out.  I watched various videos and read articles about casing leather and basic beveling and didn't come close to the results I was expecting.  To case the leather I submerged the piece it until there were only a few bubble coming out and then let it dry on my slab for about an hour.  It was a little damp and cool to the touch when I started tooling.  I bought myself a 2' x 2' piece of 8/9 oz veg tanned leather from Tandy to practice on.  There's a couple things going on here:

• There is zero burnishing on this. I wasn't expecting it to look like I'd been at this for decades, but I was expecting something.
• My beveling is shite.  I tried to tip it like the videos showed to just get in the the cut to give it a nice edge. That didn't happen.  Even when I used as delicate a touch as I could.

 

I'd love to have your suggestions and help to talk me back from the edge of this soul crushing experience.

 

Edited September 11, 2019 by JuntoPi
grammar

[JLSleather]

Okay, gotta start somewhere, right?  If you haven't made a mistake, means you haven't tried.  

STEP 1:  Throw out that BS about "cool to the touch".. that means less than nothing.  My shop stays about 74°.  Somebody else works in a space about 85°.  That guy will feel my leather and think it's "cool to the touch" even if it's completely dry.  Maybe go by that if you're tooling outside in Arizona...

Next... I usually recommend multiple parallel lines to a beginner.  But the design you're using ACTUALLY WOULD DO the same principle, so I won't bore you with that here.  

Beyond that, it's tough to tell where you placed the tools.  Lower left almost looks like you had the beveler turned 90°... instead of having the long end of the slanted face IN THE CUT.

So... what leather did you buy, and where are you located?

 

[Sturme]

ok, i would start here. these are 3 ebooks that will help you get off on the right foot.

https://www.leathercraftlibrary.com/product/1120/leatherwork-manual-by-stohlman-patten-wilson

https://www.leathercraftlibrary.com/product/1111/basic-leatherwork-by-paul-burnett

https://www.leathercraftlibrary.com/product/1116/how-to-carve-leather-by-al-stohlman

remember to take your time, and practice, practice, practice. working leather takes time and patience, so don't get frustrated. just relax and start with these basics in the books. Welcome the leatherworker.net

[JazzBass]

Fear not, and don't give up. My first "experiments" looked similar.

My first mistake was to "practice on something cheap". No, Tandy "craft sheets" are not cheap in cost, but trust me when I say that you can get top quality, Hermann Oak tooling leather, in specified thicknesses (not offered by Tandy), from Springfield Leather, for similar prices. This alone will take leather quality/consistency  out of the equation.

Casing, for me, was also the most frustrating at first, as it is so subjective. I found that, relatively speaking, I want the leather damper when carving, and noticeably drier on the surface for tooling. This allows smoother, deeper cuts when carving, BUT - you MUST wait for the surface to return to near its original color, with good moisture under the surface, to see the burnishing that you want.

I think your cuts are a bit narrow and shallow, probably due to casing, knife sharpness, and/or pressure. A wider "trench" to bevel will really help as you learn the beveler.

JLS mentioned the 90deg mis-orientation at the bottom left. On the rest of it, and in general, the visibility of individual tool strikes, means that you're moving the tool FAR too much between strikes. You're also trying to get the bevel in a single pass...yeah, I did that too. Try this -

Cut a single, straight line in a fairly damp piece. Wait till the surface dries to near its original color. Now take your beveler - make SURE that the toe is in the groove, and tap it as lightly as possible. Move the tool a QUARTER of its width, and again, tap as lightly as possible. You're creating a small shelf, that will make indexing the tool on subsequent passes MUCH easier.

It's my impression (no pun intended), that you tooled too wet (no burnish), struck the beveler too hard, and moved it far too much between strikes. Believe me...the guys who can do it in a single pass and make it look smooth and easy, have been doing it for decades! You and I need to go a little deeper and a little smoother with each of several light passes.

 

[Handstitched]

I had no idea what I was doing once upon a time, and now I have a small business. 

It looks like you've got the beveller  around the wrong way at one point but soon got the hang of it , but you have got the veiner right though . And where the veiner points join, you could experiment  with a seeder, or a 'camouflage' (or a cammo)  between the joins . Experiment with your tools, have some fun with them , emphasis on fun  .  Thats what I did.  I just messed around with a heap of scraps. With the  help of the very few books I had at the time ,   I  soon made my first key ring , and then a book mark , and then a belt,  and it grew from there.  Youtube do have a great deal of vids to help with tooling. 

As for casing, everyone is different. I use a spray bottle.  I saturate the leather, wait for it to  go back to original colour, then stamp away. 

 We are here to help . We all had to start somewhere. 

Welcome to the world of leathercraft btw     But just to let you know...its addictive    

HS 

[JuntoPi]

Thanks for the replies everyone. you've convinced me to keep tying.  @JLSleatherI'm in Everett, WA and I got the leather from a Tandy Leather store.

[Handstitched]

On 9/16/2019 at 9:02 PM, JuntoPi said:

you've convinced me to keep tying.

 Thats music to our ears     

[Sturme]

@JuntoPi please keep us posted, I for one am interested in seeing your progress. And welcome to leather working. welcome to leatherworker.net

[EthiopianBone]

Hi JuntoPi,

If I'm correct in the assumption you went to Tandy in Shoreline (im in edmonds), you might call and ask if they still hold beginner classes.  When Andy ran the place, they did classes on Saturdays that would go over basics for carving, tooling, stitching, dying, etc.

Strictly learning through trial and error like i (foolishly) do can get expensive fast, so the free classes are probably wise.

[JuntoPi]

@EthiopianBone, yes I'm talking about the one in Shoreline.  I think they do still have those classes, at least they did the last time I was there.  I'm trying to keep this as simple as I can and not get carried away getting a lot of tools all at once. I'm sticking to what I need to build a skill, then build on that.

[stelmackr]

On 9/16/2019 at 6:02 AM, JuntoPi said:

Thanks for the replies everyone. you've convinced me to keep tying.  @JLSleatherI'm in Everett, WA and I got the leather from a Tandy Leather store.

Go to PSLAC.ORG and go to one of their meetings.  They are south of Seattle.

[YinTx]

On 9/11/2019 at 4:40 PM, JuntoPi said:

To case the leather I submerged the piece it until there were only a few bubble coming out and then let it dry on my slab for about an hour.

This equates to "soggy" leather around here.  I'd have to wait a week for that to dry out enough to tool.  I can't imagine it being dry enough in an hour unless I set it outside in the sun on a summer day in the desert southwest.

Try a bit less water.  In fact, a lot less water.  Don't even submerge it.  Just spray it until it is plenty wet, let it soak in and even the moisture out a bit.  It will begin to return to it's original color - it'll cut and tool much nicer that way.  For me, that is a few hours minimum, overnight in a bag to really even the moisture out, and another hour or two on the table to get it right.  And I am sure there are others that understand moisture content a lot better than I do with better methods.

There is even the wet sponge method:  wipe it on, let it soak in, wait 5 minutes, get to work.  But sop it in a bucket of water until it stops bubbling?  A bit much water in my opinion.

Let us see the next version.  Make small things, like 5 different squares of leather, with different stages of dryness, cut on them and tool/stamp them, and you'll begin to find what level works best for you.

YinTx

[chuck123wapati]

i would also suggest you download all the free books from tandy while you can. Great info!

[JuntoPi]

OK.  I made an adjustment in how I case the leather and got some results I was expecting. The right side and bottom of the M were done after whetting the leather but not saturating it like I did the first time.  Same with the longer piece. Interestingly enough it started to dry out as I was working it and you can see in the third line the burnishing is not as pronounced.  This is encouraging, so I'm going to continue experimenting with moisture levels.  And trying to get nice straight lines.

[Sturme]

1 hour ago, JuntoPi said:

OK.  I made an adjustment in how I case the leather and got some results I was expecting. The right side and bottom of the M were done after whetting the leather but not saturating it like I did the first time.  Same with the longer piece. Interestingly enough it started to dry out as I was working it and you can see in the third line the burnishing is not as pronounced.  This is encouraging, so I'm going to continue experimenting with moisture levels.  And trying to get nice straight lines.

that's looking a lot better. keep up the work

[dougfergy]

Great progress in a short time!  Way to go!  Different leathers act different too, so I always try to trim a small piece off and test stamp some to see how it acts, how much water it needs etc.  The last piece of Tandy leather I bought is hard as a rock and doesn't stamp very good.  As someone else said, the leather makes a world of difference.  Good leather is a dream to work.  Springfield Leather is cool because you can order small pieces of most leathers to give you some less expensive trial work.  I ordered as small as 1 sq ft of Hermann Oak my first time to try it.  Dang good stuff!

[TonySFLDLTHR]

Here is a couple different remnant options we have to get you some practice pieces.

https://www.springfieldleather.com/2lbs-Heavyweight-Veg-Tan-Scrap
https://www.springfieldleather.com/Pieces-Tooling-2-lbs-Bag