IlluminousCorvid Report post Posted October 16, 2020 My apologies if I’m in the wrong section, this is my first time doing this. I work at a Leather supply store, and I have a full side of veg-tan with a beautiful Oregon Trail scenery tooled on it. It is a memorial piece, and I want to make sure that I mount it right and take care of it and preserve it in the best manners possible. I consider myself a general leatherworker, and while I’ve mounted things before, I haven’t done anything this intricately tooled or important, and I don’t do much tooling myself. I want to use a service protectant that won’t damage it or anything. My current plan is basically to glue it in the middle area down to a board to keep it flat and act as a kind of plaque, then use small decorative brass nails to tack down the edges and give it a look of being tacked to the board instead of glued. I was going to use Saddle-Lac spray to seal it, but was thinking that maybe I should use something liquid instead so that I can really work it into all the crevices and tooling. Would anybody recommend something to use, or if I should go with wax or acrylic? The story behind it is basically that about 15 years ago we gave a customer a side of veg-tan to tool a scenery on, they disappeared for 15 years, and the side just came back to us with the news that the artist had passed some years back. It is slightly unfinished, with the wagontrain fading into the mountains. Wonderfully appropriate. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rahere Report post Posted October 17, 2020 Hold fire while the heavyweights get their thinking hats on. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fredk Report post Posted October 17, 2020 Well. I'd treat it like a work of art and not a bit of leather. What I would do, 1. get a piece of marine grade plywood for a main back piece. 2. cover the plywood in very thin acrylic sheet, such as a perspex, about 1mm thick 3. use a hard wood such as oak, walnut, teak or redwood, to frame the plywood. But never use any soft wood. The frame to cover the edges of the ply, plus the depth of the leather plus about another 3/4 inch, plus 1 inch off the back of the ply 4. whilst making 3, drill 1/2 inch holes along the top and bottom edges of the ply/perspex combination, depending on length of the leather piece and ply backing, one hole about every 6 inches, do not have holes along bottom in a direct line with the top ones, stagger their spacing. Rebate the front edge of the frame about 1/4 inch deep 5. use brass tacks to tack the leather to the ply/perspex combo. 6. cover the front with a sheet of clear acrylic perspex type, set into the previously made rebate in the frame This is basically museum type casing for preservation of artefacts Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YinTx Report post Posted October 17, 2020 Just my thoughts, get in touch with Jim Linnell at Elk Tracks Studio. He has several historical and collectible examples of tooled leather, and is probably aware of how the tooled leather pieces in the Tandy Museum (including Al Stohlman and others) have been mounted, displayed, and preserved. YinTx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kiwican Report post Posted October 18, 2020 23 hours ago, YinTx said: Just my thoughts, get in touch with Jim Linnell at Elk Tracks Studio. He has several historical and collectible examples of tooled leather, and is probably aware of how the tooled leather pieces in the Tandy Museum (including Al Stohlman and others) have been mounted, displayed, and preserved. YinTx Good idea Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
