Big carving project. Casing question.

Ebbtide

Ebbtide

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Joined
Aug 20, 1999
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I'm going to embark on my biggest project yet.
Approximately 30 x 8"
There is no way that I'll be able to carve and stamp this all in one setting.
Most likely to be stretched out over a number of weekends.

So to the question.
Case the whole piece of leather, transfer the art and then:
•work as much as I can & let the leather dry?
•keep the leather in a ziplock and let it stay in the fridge?
•just wet sections as I go along?

Suggestions are welcome!
:)
 
Ebbtide said:
I'm going to embark on my biggest project yet.
Approximately 30 x 8"
There is no way that I'll be able to carve and stamp this all in one setting.
Most likely to be stretched out over a number of weekends.

So to the question.
Case the whole piece of leather, transfer the art and then:
•work as much as I can & let the leather dry? YES
•keep the leather in a ziplock and let it stay in the fridge? HELL NO
•just wet sections as I go along?YES

Suggestions are welcome!
:)
Click to expand...

If doing a large item, it's best to just wet and tool one 'section' at a time. Since the project is 8" wide, I'd probably section it off in 8x6 or 8x10 inch sections. In other words, whatever 'length' you choose to do on a particular day, at least do the entire width across.

When you are finally done with the carving/tooling, let it completely dry. When you are ready to stain it, stain the whole thing - DON'T stain one section at a time.
 
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I haven't done a piece like that, but I agree with druid. Re-wetting a stamped piece can cause it to lose some of the definition. Found that out pretty quickly so I stamp all at once. Curious to see others comments. :)
 
Thanx guys.
Everything I've done so far was finished in one session.
Should be interesting :)

All comments welcome :D
 
If I have a project I can't finish in one day, I place the cased leather in a plastic bag and store It in the refrigerator. That keeps if from drying out and if you do have to re wet it, usually a spray bottle will be enough and since it is already moist it won't splotch. But I have found that if I case the leather well the first time and let it set overnight in the refrigerator that I rarely have to wet it again. That's an old trick, nothing I came up with. Good Luck

tim
 
I have done a number of large projects that took more than a day. The process I have always used is to do a good casing of the entire piece, allow to dry to the correct level and then start carving, keeping the areas I am not working on covered in plastic wrap. The plastic helps to keep those areas from drying too fast. When finished for the day, I wrap the entire piece in plastic (sometimes with a light wetting in drying areas using a damp sponge) and place in a refrigerator. If you can finish in a day or two the fridge is not really necessary but the plastic is. The reason for the fridge is to slow the development of mildew which can happen with leather kept wet and warm for a long period of time. To start the next day, uncover the area you want to work, let it reach the proper moisture level and go back to work. Repeat as needed. I do use a sponge to keep areas from drying too far but use it in moderation or you carving will suffer.
The longest I have ever worked on one piece was 4 days but I see no reason why you could not take more time. In my experience, letting leather dry between carving sessions will not give consistent results as the leather's response to tooling changes with repeated wet and dry cycles.
FWIW,
Randy
 
Thanx guys.
I did one side of the project in one 7 hour setting.
It has since dried, but I think I can wet the other side without rewetting (is that a word?) the carved and tooled side.
Only get to work on this on the weekends so...
So far, so good. Fingers still crossed.
 
Ahhh the suspenders are killing you eh?

I posted looking for info about the project a while ago.
The thread sank like it was torpedo'd ;)

This one is testing my limits and I'll certainly post it up when I'm done.
Didn't accomplish anything last weekend since I had to work.

poco a poco...
 
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