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I actually decent with tooling (at least I've been told, but I notice all my mistakes). What I can't do is stitch. At all. It always comes out terrible. Anyways, I haven't done anything a quite a while. I used to do figure carvings a lot, (usually gave them away as gifts, I'll have to snap a few pics next time I'm at my Dad's house, he has several things I've done) This was one of the first things I ever carved, so it is a bit rough, and someone spilled something on the backside of the leather, so there is now a stain...  I had to have someone else stitch this, but I did the carving & staining:  And a few of my favorite tools!:  And the guy who taught me how to carve gave me this:  What the pictures don't really show is the detail work thats been done with a spoon. When you angle it, you see more detail in the reflections. EDIT: Also I live in MD & might be interested in the "guild" thing.
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Jul 16, 2012 04:16
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| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 18:10 |
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Pagan posted:You've figured it out, but it bears repeating. Ideally, you soak the leather, then let it dry until it appears on the surface that it's dry, back to it's original color, but it feels cool or even cold to the touch. It takes a while to get to that point, so it's quite easy to rush it. I use a water spray bottle (plant mister?). The guy who taught me said that you want the leather to be burnished (I think that was the term he used) so that when you cut in to the piece with your swivel-knife it will be darker than the surface (look at my pics, the stain in the beveled portions is about the color in comparison to the surface color). Basically cool & very slightly damp to the touch. Obviously thicker pieces of leather take & hold the tooling better. Soaking the piece makes it too wet. The mister/spray bottle approach allows you to keep it at the perfect dampness level when working with it. If you are dunking/soaking it, you would have to continue to let it dry again to reach the proper consistency. When you are using the mister, you don't spay a ton on the front surface, the majority of the water will be absorbed through the back. I dunno if that was confusing, its just something you have to see & feel to understand better. Once you have done a few pieces you will really understand when it has too much or too little water.... It's hard to describe on the internet. Too much water & it will just sink in & deform (and be super easy to cut way to deep), and too little & it wont hold the tooling (or carving) very well. Amazon.com posted:"Also known as Red Rouge, Jewelers Rouge was originally developed for the Jewelry trade for buffing soft, fine and precious metals to produce a brilliant, high lustrous finish. This extremely fine compound will not scratch or cut away the finest or softest of metals." Basically it does exactly what you would want it to do with a straight razor. Polish & keep it as sharp as possible. Remember leather used to be skin... as gross as that thought might be.... Next time I chime in, I'll give the secret to being able to do plants/animals/humans. Its sneakier than most of you think.... alternate.eago fucked around with this message at 22:30 on Jul 18, 2012 |
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Jul 18, 2012 22:19
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