Yet another casing question

C

Chris 54326

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Sep 13, 2017
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I've read everything I can find and watched all the videos on Youtube about casing I can stand. Sounds so danged simple. But I either start stamping before it's dry enough or wait too long.

Here's my take on it. Submerge leather in a tray for 10 seconds and lay aside. If I'm not going to get to it until the next day I put it in a Ziplock bag. Anywho, when I pull it out, I wait until the top of the leather looks as close to dry leather as possible. (takes a lon-n-n-n-ng time!) Then I start stamping.

I don't typically get the nice burnished look that I see on most everyone else's work I see on Youtube. Sometimes I do, sometimes not. If I get a nice deep bevel, I find later it is rising back up. (I assume that means the leather is too moist) If I wait longer to start, I don't seem to be able to get as deep a stamp. I'm using a 1 pound wooden wood sculpting maul as my hammering tool. Don't know if that has anything to do with my results. If I wait long enough for the color to be close to dry leather, I have to keep a spray bottle nearby so I can re-wet it. I know I'm doing something not quite right, but I just don't know what it is. Wish one of you more experienced guys could stop by and sit down at my bench and mentor me through the process.

Anything in my description of the process that sounds out of kilter???
 
Chris,
I generally leave my leather in the water a bit longer to ensure there is enough to penetrate deep enough. 10 seconds might be a bit short to get it wet enough. A few minutes is better but I have had good results with a minute or so. I let mine dry until it just starts to change back to the original color. That will result in the darker stamps impressions you are looking for. How hard you hit also affects that color. I think your may be getting too dry before you start and if you don't keep adding moisture it just won't tool well.
Randy
 
Thanks, Randy. I'm planning on working on my Elk carving tomorrow while the little wife is "playing" in her kitchen. When she's cooking, I'm banished to Siberia. :D

Since I've already started on this carving, would soaking in the water diminish in depth the work I've already done???
 
It probably would cause it to swell back up. In your place, I would probably just keep a wet sponge close and wipe it down frequently to keep it from turning the original color. It is a fine line but you can see it. Keeping it wrapped in plastic when you are not working it will be essential. When I worked on large pieces, I always kept some saran wrap over the areas I was not working to reduce evaporation. It helped.
Randy
 
Hmmmm. That's an interesting tip. Of course, you must have been working on some fairly large pieces, I'd imagine.
 
You could say that. But it is more a matter of how long it takes you on your piece. Drying leather is not good when carving or stamping so it is a matter of judging what you need to keep it in the state needed for your work. I was working on this. It has two sides. Not my perfect but it met my needs at the time.
 
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Chris,
I intended to tell you one other thing about moisture content. If you have it too wet and you are stamping impressions close to each other, you will see them get pushed up as you stamp them. Think about hydraulics. With a lot of water, stamping creates a pressure pulse that pushes out and makes it impossible to get good marks. As you saw, they will keep rising up and you will not get the good clean lines and color contrast you are looking to achieve. Too dry and you will not get the depth you want and it will keep changing as it dries further. The reason for the sponge at hand for longer work times.
Randy
 
Nice work, Randy. Yes, I've experienced that "pushing" you mentioned. I'm working on an Elk portrait and I've run into that. In fact that was exactly why I started this thread. The way my mind see's it is that I need the surface nearly dry so I'm punching through it, but the inside to be moist enough for the fibers to compress. When it's too wet, I can push it around like clay. I'm also researching mallets and mauls. I'm using a wood sculptor's maul made out of Lignum Vitae that weighs right at a pound. After watching a video last night where I guy was using a 4 oz maul for his beveling I'm wondering if maybe I'm having trouble controlling the maul. ???
 
I generally use a 1 pound maul for tooling unless I am using large stamps. Too heavy and too hard can drive small size stamps through the leather. That said, once you get the feel, it is easier to use heavier mauls for most work. Figure carving takes a lot of finesse and, except for perimeter bevels, I tend to mostly use modeling tools of different shapes to create the bevels. They give you a lot of control and can work well on very small features like eyes.
I don't recommend letting the surface dry too much . When I am working, if I see the surface get too light colored, I use my sponge and add some more moisture. It should not look completely dry for best results, but somewhere in the transition of wet to dry. Properly cased leather will work almost like clay. That is why being careful with forces applied to tolls is important.
 
Thanks, guys. Soaking all of this up like a sponge. Just wish my durned old brain would leak so much of it out! :D
 
I worked more on my Elk carving in the early afternoon before Thanksgiving dinner. (and man was it ever scrumptious! The dinner, not the Elk!) I got to paying close attention to my wood sculptor's maul. With a finger on top and just twisting my wrist to stamp, I realized it's not balanced as far as weight goes. Way too "top" heavy. So I got on-line again and started gathering info about Poly-mauls. I ordered this one: https://tinyurl.com/y32kk7r9 It's not a Barry King by any means, but I think it will serve me while I figure out what the heck I'm doing!
 
Indeed!!!!! Any time I've a question, I go to his comment/videos on the subject. Never failed to more than adequately answer my questions. Dave Ferry is a Top Drawer guy!!!
 
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