Shrinking Leather

[johnnydb]

Ok...

Leather shrinks and stretches... normal part of working with this stuff. 

I've heard of pre-stretching leather. (Wetting it and then hanging weights on it) 

 

But....

I cased a piece of leather that I had carefully cut to size and cut and tooled it and it shrunk so much that it was unusable. 

 

Is there any way of predicting or rule of thumb of how much a piece of leather is going to shrink from oiling and dying or casing?  

 

I know that we have to keep the heat away from it...but I'm just curious about what (if any) rule of thumb can be used to help predict this stuff. 

[Tugadude]

I doubt there is any method guaranteed to work.  Just way too many variables.  If this is a persistent problem for you I would cut the pieces large and then after tooling cut to size.  That's the only way to guarantee success every time, it seems to me.

[johnnydb]

16 hours ago, Tugadude said:

I doubt there is any method guaranteed to work.  Just way too many variables.  If this is a persistent problem for you I would cut the pieces large and then after tooling cut to size.  That's the only way to guarantee success every time, it seems to me.

Yeah...now I remember that leather shrinks after I screwed up...lol 

9 inches went to 8½ in a heartbeat...

I just wet the leather the next time and cut it large...only shrunk an ⅛ inch this time. 

[fredk]

No formula, but I think I've noticed that the further from the back-bone you go the greater the shrinkage rate. ie, at the back-bone = very minimal, by the belly = more shrinkage.

I do very little tooling but some stamping. I've limited shrinkage by keeping the casing to the very minimum, just sponge wetting the surface mostly and by changing from water/alcohol based dyes to oil based dyes

[Squid61]

How large/thick a piece of leather is involved?  I tool smaller items like coasters and notepad/book covers and don't get measurable shrinkage, I don't case I just wet the surface with a sponge as needed to achieve good tooling.

[johnnydb]

On 10/22/2021 at 9:33 AM, Squid61 said:

How large/thick a piece of leather is involved?  I tool smaller items like coasters and notepad/book covers and don't get measurable shrinkage, I don't case I just wet the surface with a sponge as needed to achieve good tooling.

I was told that a day long casing leather process makes the leather easier and smoother when carving and tooling...

And I tried it...but absolutely destroyed the leather by shrinking it too small to be used. 

It was going to be a 300pg A-5 journal cover.  So 9"X13.5" made with a shoulder piece that was about a 5oz thick of veg tan...I wasn't wanting to make a 3-D that jumps out at you...just a well tooled piece that is nice and classy looking. 

This is what I remade and did. 

 

[tsunkasapa]

I have never had leather shrink while casing. In fact, I've never had it shrink at all. Stretch yes, shrink, never.