Stamp or Carve wet mold

[Bert03241]

I've done a lot of knife sheaths and a couple of holster that I've wet molded, they were laser engraved and wet molding doesn't bother the engraving. I'd like to stamp of try carving some, but wonder if wet molding will deform the stamp or carvings. Has anyone any experience with this?

[Dwight]

If you stamp / engrave a holster or knife sheath . . . there is a BIG fold that must be done after the stamping / engraving is done.

Typically . . . I do not stamp or engrave in that area . . . will bring the stamping up to "almost" the fold . . . (especially on a knife sheath) . . .

And I'll stay away from the stitching on the other side . . .

If you do it right, looking at it from the front . . . there will be an equal border on the left side and on the right where the fold is . . . 

And by doing the same up at the top where the knife goes in . . . it makes a really pretty border of unstamped leather around your stamped part.

Now you can stamp  all the way to the back on some gun holsters . . .  and then fold . . . it is often done on large revolver holsters . . . but the folding around the gun is much less pronounced than the fold on a knife sheath.   Doing that with a knife sheath will cause distortion of your stamping in the fold area.

Personally . . . I don't mind it . . . just one of those things we cannot perfectly control.

AND . . . one last point . . . you want your leather to be "in case" when you do that fold . . . or maybe just a tad wetter than "in case".  Just don't get serious with that wetting.

Practice on some scrap . . . it won't take you but a couple small pieces . . . you'll get the hang of it.

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited February 13, 2022 by Dwight

[Bert03241]

Thanks Dwight