Christophe of Grey
Leathersmith/Archer
Tooling
The article Stamping dealt with creating a pattern in leather using a tool to literally stamp the pattern into the leather. This article will discuss the much more involved yet rewarding tooling or carving of leather.
Let’s start first with the tools and materials you will need. They are: tracing paper, stylus, swivel knife, hard surface (like a marble slab), poly head or leather hammer, tooling tools. OK, sounds like a lot but you will need all of this if you want to do a good job. Let me take each item in turn as we create our project. And for the sake of this discussion let’s assume you want to tool a Celtic knot into a piece of leather.
First trace the pattern onto the tracing paper. Now leather tracing paper is NOT the same tracing paper you buy in the stationary stores or WallMart. It has a plastic-like coating so it will not get wet and soggy when placed over the leather, more on that later. When you trace the pattern onto the tracing paper realize that you will be placing the tracing paper pattern with your markings up, that is, away from the leather. You don’t want the lead from the pencil marked on the leather. And don’t use a pen. It will smear and most likely get on the leather causing big issues.
Now wet the leather. This is called casing and you can soak it in a sink or just spray it with a flower mister. Make sure the leather is wet but not soaking, i.e. no drips. Now place the tracing paper over the leather positioning your pattern where you ultimately want it on the project. Now take your stylus, which is a rounded point tool of ten used for molding clay, and trace the pattern. As you trace the pattern you are making a slight dent in the leather. Make sure you have traced all the lines. Remove the tracing paper. I DO NOT recommend taping the tracing paper to the leather. When you remove the tape it tends to rough up the leather just a tad which makes it take dyes and stains differently thereby accenting where the tape was. Now you should have your pattern traced onto the project.
Now take you swivel knife and cut along the lines you just traced. As with all leather working tools, the sharper the better. Strop your swivel knife blade on a piece of leather you have rubbed jeweler’s rouge on. Make sure you are working with good light from both sides of your project. The trick with a swivel knife is consistent pressure with the finger resting in the knife saddle while the other fingers guide the blade along the lines you’ve traced into the project. Don’t be in a hurry as this is a very important step to get right.
After you have cut around all the lines traced on your project you have a decision. As our project here is a Celtic knot on leather typically we would want to “lift” the plaits of the knot up or off of the project surface. To create the effect we would use our bevel tool to push the leather just to the outside of the plait down. That is, think of a line about ¼ inch wide. This line represents a plait of our Celtic knot. I want the leather right next to this line to be depressed while the leather representing the line to appear elevated. The alternative is to depress the design thereby pressing it down into the leather surface. Using the bevel tool, depress all around these lines on our project. As you do this there are a few tricks. Typically you would place the tool then hit it with a hammer making the depression then move the tool and continue. That works but it also leaves individual tool marks. Instead learn to walk the tool along the line as you constantly tap the tool. This should result in a smooth even depressed line right next to the plait. It takes a bit to get good at this but it really adds to the quality of your work. I like to use the largest beveller I can for the work. Thus I have them from about 1/8th inch wide to about ½ inch wide. You can also purchase bevellers that have a cross hatch pattern on them. These are particularly nice for beveling the outside of your project to add some texture to it. I typically use the textured beveling tool after I have done the basic beveling. It’s a finish touch.
When you are finished with this last step you should have a Celtic knot “elevated” above the rest of your project. Take your stylus which has a modeling spoon on the other end and smooth out all the beveling you’ve done. Also try to smooth out the “shelf” that gets created from the beveling tool and the rest of the surrounding area. All this just makes your project look nicer and erases the individual tool marks that may remain.
Some folks like to bevel where the plait goes under another plait. This enhances the illusion of one plait passing under another. That becomes a personal choice. I don’t do that and feel there is nothing lost in not doing it. The illusion of over under remains regardless.
Now you have a choice, you can just go from here to dying or staining your project or you can go one extra step. Using stipple tools, stipple all the inside areas of your knot. Stipple tool impressions leave hundreds of tiny “dents” in the leather creating a textured look. These tools range from very small to mildly large (for a leather working tool) for different sized areas. The trick for backgrounding a large area is to constantly move the tool as you tap with the same force every single time. If you’ve done it right you don’t see individual tool marks just a whole area stippled. Stippling tends to accent what you have carved into the leather. Also, if you plan to paint your project, stippling provides pores for the paint to “hang on to” much better than smooth leather. Stipple tools come in two patterns, very fine and fine. Your choice.
You can purchase carving tools in packages but I wouldn’t recommend it. The tools in these packages, while of good quality and are the same as individually purchased tools, usually aren’t that useful when used together. You will need a swivel knife, bevellers, and maybe some background stipple pattern tools to get started. Don’t forget a very hard surface to tool on and either poly head or leather hammers. Don’t use a regular hammer as you will round over the back of your tools over time. You can also use a wooden hammer but the leather or poly head work better because they have more mass.