Tooling designs onto leather

[Mububban]

This thread is purely for people with experience or practical tips for working with leather who may be able to help.

I'm planning on making a Faramir leather chestplate and need to know how best to emboss such a large and curving design as the Tree of Gondor onto it. I've found the design on the net and can trace it onto the leather easily enough, but how then do I depress or carve out the leather sufficiently to then fill in the White Tree design? I don't want to just paint it on top of the leather because it will just rub off. It needs to be set into the leather somewhat.

I'm also planning on making some Gondorian vambracers with the wing motif and the Tree of Gondor tooled into or carved out of the leather. I'm after some help on what specific tools and techniques to use to work the design in with, and what material/paint to use to fill in the White Tree with.

Both of these pieces will be functional armour that I will wear with my re-enacting group while doing sword fighting and combat archery so they need to be proper techniques, no short cuts, and they have to be able to withstand swords and (blunt) arrow hits. Obviously they'll get marked as all armour does but I don't want to get one hit and my whole Tree of Gondor comes flaking off :-)

If someone has tools for such a job, some photos would be ideal rather than trying to explain them verbally.

Thanks for any help.

[The Man from Niefldarth]

how thick is the leather you will use?

[Mububban]

In Australia we use metric so ~3mm thick. I think that's very roughly 8 oz.

The stuff I've bought is a 15 square foot ~2.6 - ~3mm thick half hide, in a rich chocolate brown colour.

[The Man from Niefldarth]

ok... what I propose, it may not be the best solution, is wetting the leather, stretching it to make sure it doesn't roll on itself, and hammering the desing with a small Beveler.
there is a great variety of bevelers and other tools on this site (http://onestopcandle.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?page=OSC/CTGY/CTBV)

[waenlotien]

i wouldnt get it wet first, you might get a mis-shapen tree when it dries, as leather does not dry evenly. When cutting out i have always used a leather chisel that was V shaped. as for coloring, i have no clue, your best bet would be to email Christophe. He does all the kewl stuff, I haven't been brave enough to try it yet. I just carve designs out, or stamp them in the a stamp and mallet.

[jake1964]

It's been many years since I did any kind of leather work. But, I was taught to dampen the leather for any kind of stamping work. Don't saturate it. Just use a wet washcloth and rub it over the surface. If you don't get it wet all the way through you won't have to worry about it losing its shape when it dries. Let me qualify all of this by saying, I'm no expert. This is just what I was taught. If Christophe says differently, I would definitely listen to him.

[VikingLeather]

The rich chocolate brown color bothers me a bit when you talk about carving the leather. I am thinking you have bought a bridle leather. Is the leather dyed on both front and back? If this is the case, you won't need to dampen the leather, but it may not take the tooling well.

For tooling regular vegetable tanned leather (undyed). DAMPEN the leather with a wet sponge, get it very moist. Use the mylar transfer film to transfer your pattern. You will need to copy your pattern onto this, then overlay in onto the leather. Make the transfer material large enough to hang over your leather piece and onto the surface of the table you are working on. Tape down the pattern to the work surface, taking care not to tape the leather. You will then need a stylus to trace your pattern and impress the design onto the leather. Remove the mylar and you should have a nice viewable pattern. Next you will need a swivel knife to cut in the pattern. Use a flat bladed swivel knife and lean it back on a 45 degree angle and pull toward you. Practice on a scrap piece first. Don't cut too deep, just through the first bit of the leather. Next you will need a beveler. There are several different types, get the smooth surfaced one and get a medium sized head on it. You will also need a hard surface to pound on, a piece of granite or marble works the best. You will also need a rawhide or poly head mallet. Place the beveler on the line and gently and rapidly start pecking the beveler while moving it toward you. Don't hit too hard or you will have deep marks and lighter marks all through the piece. Try to get a consistent pattern. This will raise the center of your work and define the line of the piece. As far as the Gondorian tree for the armor, this is about as far as I would go. You can get a little fancy with knotholes or extra branches, twigs, roots, but when you paint it, it will all be covered up anyway. Use acrylic paint which can be picked up in hobby stores, craft part of Walmart, etc. Paint on a smooth and even coat and let dry. Now if you are going to dye the entire piece, do this before you paint. Dye the piece with a Fiebings dye or something close. Let the piece completely dry and use a sponge or cloth to dye the piece. Try to use a larger applicator since this is going to be a large piece. Don't use one of the little wool daubers, it will be very streaky if you use anything other than a black dye. Dye one direction say left to right, then dye up and down to make sure you cover the entire area. Rub off the excess dye when dry and apply a top coat of your choice. You will be ready to paint the tree.
As for your bracers, you can put a little more detail into the feathers and tree there, but the tree is going to be much smaller. You might need a different beveler and swivel knife blade. Remember on the gondorian bracers, they are 2 pieces overlapped. The bottom piece has the straps affixed to it and the overlayed piece has most of the tooling. You can place the top piece on and sew around the edges or rivet in place.
If I can be of service, just give me a shout and I will try to clarify anything that isn't clear. As far as your leather, if it is the bridle leather, it isn't a loss, you will just have to try to do everything without wetting the leather. Try to tool it and see if it will hold the pattern. If it looks good to you go for it.. Remember when cutting out your patterns to turn your leather face down and mark all your patterns backwards on the back of the leather. Just in case you slip with your pen or decide you made a mistake. You can always fix it before you cut the leather and deface the front of the leather.

Frank
Viking Leathercrafts
sales@vikingleathercrafts.com