Tooling/Stamping question

[ANovinc]

I've been researching casing and such...it seems to be a bit of art/science to find the sweet spot for not to wet, not to dry, which I'm figuring is probably something you learn from trial & error and experience. But my main question is more basic: Do you do the stamping/tool work before or after you've dyed your leather?

 

[Skystorm]

If cased the same I've never had any problem doing it either way.

 

[ANovinc]

Thanks, Skyler.

 

[Isaacherring]

I dye it after I stamp, not really a good reason, that's just the way I do it I guess

 

[leatherman]

Depends on the dye you use, some dont wet well, they tend to go blotchy while drying.

The water can be an issue if your area has a high water hardness, it causes "halo's" or odd areas of light and dark.

Fiebings dyes do have an odd effect, spirit dyes of the lighter type can dry unevenly. The "pro dye" will not take wetting very well because of the agent they use to retard the drying, its a glycol which can cause uneven water dispersion in the leather. Tandy's new oil dye will not do well as it uses a mineral oil.

All of these I've experimented with at one time or another since the 90's.

My conclusion so far. I do all my tooling and carving on bare leather, let it dry thoroughly, then and only then do I go for the dye.

Just my experience, and as always everyone has a different experience.

 

[ANovinc]

I've only done tooling a couple of times (and did do it before dyeing--intuitively it seemed the way to go) but I wasn't sure if it truly was. I am using Fiebings pro dye so it is helpful to know it doesn't take to wetting before learning this the hard way. Thanks for the input~!

 

[jaymack9100]

Yes, definitely carve and tool before you dye. You want the dye to penetrate the cuts and tooling. Also remember that you can dilute Fiebings oil dyes with denatured alcohol to get different dye effects. I've gone as thin as 8:1 but have heard of others that thin things more.
As far as casing you veg tan leather prior to carving, leatherworker.net has some good tutorials. One from Bob park on casing specifically

 

[ANovinc]

Yes, definitely carve and tool before you dye. You want the dye to penetrate the cuts and tooling. Also remember that you can dilute Fiebings oil dyes with denatured alcohol to get different dye effects. I've gone as thin as 8:1 but have heard of others that thin things more.
As far as casing you veg tan leather prior to carving, leatherworker.net has some good tutorials. One from Bob park on casing specifically

Thanks much! I will def. experiment with diluting the dyes now that I know it can be done (and what to use to do it), and will check out leatherworker.net for tips on casing.