why does my tooling go away?

[cruxx]

I am trying to teach myself leather work from books and Utube. I am making progress but my leather tooling patterns seem to shrink up or go away when I dye them. So far, using Eco Flo or Fiebing's water-based. I get nice deep, articulated designs that dry well but the minute I apply color they seem to dehydrate and flatten out. Not sure what I am doing wrong.

[fredk]

1. are you casing your leather properly?

1a. leather that is too dry will not take a good impression

1b. leather that is too wet will not take a good impression

1a and 1b, when both dry out the impression will soften greatly even though they may look ok. Re-wetting by dyeing will soften the impressions yet more

2. Are you hitting that tool or stamp really hard?

[Rhale]

Are you just stamping or are you carving also?  A picture off the work after dying would be helpful!

[Aven]

What thickness of veg tan are you using?

[cruxx]

Hey guys, thanks for the comments. 

fredk, hard to know if I'm casing correctly without having experienced eyes on but it seems right and takes a good impression. Once I knew it was too wet. I am hitting the stamps pretty hard.

Rhale, my first one had stamping but I am mostly carving right now

Aven, Using 6-7 oz

Here are pictures of my first 5 pieces in the order of completion. Please keep in mind that I am teaching myself and had to design the sheaths. My sewing is getting a bit better and I manage to correct a few mistakes with each piece. Hubby is making knife handles and needs sheaths. First one is from a Hobby Lobby kit, the second one was too wet.

[cruxx]

Sorry, not good at resizing photos

[Rhale]

From what I see you are doing good, carving should be about 1/3 to 1/2 the depth of the leather.  Just keep practicing the swivel knife and beveling is the most important thing to get down pat so just keep practicing . When you get tired of practicing then practice some more.  I really like the fish!  Enjoy your new found hobby, it can be a lifetime hobby as I have been doing it about 60 years!

[cruxx]

I never get tired of practicing but I doubt I have 60 years. A good 10-15. I will watch my depth and try to smooth my cuts. Thank you

[Northmount]

Take a piece of veg tanned leather, dip it in some water for a moment, then lay it out to dry.  Every 10 minutes, stamp it with a good sized stamp that has some detail in it.  Mark the time.  Watch to see the difference as it starts to dry.  When it is close to returning to its normal colour, switch to 5 minute intervals.  Continue until the leather is dry.  This will show you what too wet and too dry does to how the impressions look after the leather has completely dried.  If you use the same thickness of leather, and treat is the same way, you can literally time at what point to start tooling, and the point at which you need to add a small amount of moisture to keep the leather at the condition you want while tooling.

Tom

 

[fredk]

1. @cruxx. It would be a good idea if you would add into your profile your general location. This is a very international forum group and if we knew whereabouts you are we can better help you

2. I find there is always a bit of soften of embossed details after dyeing and finishing. How much depends on how 'sharp' the embossing or the stamp was in the first place

3. Northmount's (Tom's) advice is excellent. I still do something similar, using an off-cut of the main piece to check when its ready for stamping/embossing/tooling

[ABHandmade]

I dare to suggest that you are using a not very quality tools (stamps). This is especially true for beveler. Judging by the imprints, it has a very large radius of the edge, so you can’t "put down" the leather along the cut line maked with a swivel knife.

UPD. It’s not about looking at very high-quality (and expensive) tools right away. There are quite worthy stamps at a price of 5-7 dollars. Simply, if you use what is sold in the form of a set of “20 stamps for $ 10,” it’s very difficult for a beginner to understand whether he is doing something wrong, or the existing tool, in principle, cannot perform its functions.

Edited April 3, 2020 by ABHandmade

[joet]

I was told by, I think, Jim Linnell that you have to learn to use your tools.  Practice with one and see what it can do.  Even a cheap tool, if properly used, can do the job you want.  Learn, practice with each, see what potential it has.  Just a thought.

 

[YinTx]

No one has mentioned this yet, but quality of leather has a huge impact on the final results.  With some of the Hermann Oak leather I have, I can tool it and wet mold it and only lose some of the definition.  With some of the Tandy leather I have, I can tool it and lay it gently aside and as it dries it springs back to it's untooled state in some areas.  Very frustrating, and I keep telling myself not to tool that leather, but I invariably carve a piece now and then.  Tonight is one of those times.  Have to hammer it down multiple times it seems.  What kind of leather are you using?

YinTx

[cruxx]

Northmount    Excellent advice, I will absolutely do that tomorrow

fredk                 I never noticed that they asked where I lived but I will add that. I am in SW Florida

ABHandmade      Ummm, guilty of buying a 20 piece set for $15 although I have since added a few stamps of better quality. I had no idea what I wanted or needed until I started.

joet                    yes, still learning how to use the tools and I find it frustrating to not be able to produce the image in my mind. Just impatient.

YinTX               that did occur to me when I started reading about people's opinion of Tandy. I have to drive an hour just to get there. I haven't found a closer supplier yet and hesitate to buy online if I don't understand what I am looking for. I usually take classes in whatever new media that interests me and I go on from there. I just haven't found anyone around here yet.

Thank you all for your interest and suggestions, you have all given me new directions in which to look

[Tugadude]

You've gotten a lot of solid advice.  The only thing I will add is encouragement.  They look nicer than I expected from your first post.  Your stitching looks good to me.  Are you adding a welt?  Reason I ask is I couldn't see edges clearly and one sheath in particular looked thin to me.

Keep working and learning!  

[cruxx]

Yes....although I had to look up the term "welt". I have been calling it a blade guard. I took the design from a beautiful old Buck knife that I have. I think I will run the experiment that Northmount suggested except run it on two pieces, then dye one and put a beeswax/oil finish on the other to see how much of an effect the alcohol in the dye is having.

This forum is a godsend