First wet forming project

[Dr-Birkin6]

I've been working with leathercraft for a few months and decided to try making a cigar case for my neighbor, who has been helping me with woodworking. I have veg-tan leather and a basic mold but I'm unsure how to combine carving and wet forming. Should I carve before forming or will the water mess up the design? Also, if I dye the thread after stitching, will it take on too much color? Any tips would be appreciated!

 

[Kasios_Music]

Carve first, form second. Once you soak it for forming, you'll flatten or distort anything you try to carve after. Just don't go too deep, or the form will stretch the detail out anyway. As for dyeing thread... yeah, it'll bleed. Better to pre-dye or pick the right color to start with.

 

[l34therman]

@Dr-Birkin6 I agree with the comment above, you definitely need to do your carving before you wet form. The wet forming process, especially pressing the leather into a mold, will flatten and distort a lot of the detail from your carving.
You can get the leather wet for both processes, but they are done at different moisture levels. For carving, you want the leather damp but not soaking wet.
For wet forming, you need to submerge it so it's fully saturated and pliable. Do the carving, then re wet it completely for the forming process

 

[Dr-Birkin6]

I've got the mold ready and plan to start carving tomorrow, then wet form over the weekend. If the leather holds shape and the carving stays clean, I'll move to dyeing next week. When you say not to go too deep with carving, do you mean avoiding beveling altogether or just keeping it light?

 

[HandyDanny]

Thought I'd jump in. When you carve, you're cutting the top layer of leather, and the beveler is what creates that nice, clean, shadowed edge to make the design pop. If you go too deep, especially on a tight curve, the leather will want to tear or stretch unevenly when you go to wet form it around the mold. So you don't want to skip beveling, but you want to keep it light. The goal is to make the design look good now, but not to compromise the leather's ability to stretch and conform smoothly to the mold without distorting the pattern you worked so hard on. It's a good rule of thumb to make a test piece with the same leather weight you're using for the case! Carve a small design on it, then wet form it over a similar curve to see how the lines hold up.

 

[liz_gets_crafty]

I've been working with leathercraft for a few months and decided to try making a cigar case for my neighbor, who has been helping me with woodworking. I have veg-tan leather and a basic mold but I'm unsure how to combine carving and wet forming. Should I carve before forming or will the water mess up the design? Also, if I dye the thread after stitching, will it take on too much color? Any tips would be appreciated!

@HandyDanny has great points on the carving technique and he's spot on about the beveler. It's what gives the design depth without risking the leather tearing. Keeping it light is also key! It's easy to get carried away and go too deep, which just makes the wet forming a nightmare. I also second making a test piece. It's always better to mess up a small scrap than to ruin a project you've already put a ton of time into.

 

[anzengruber_78]

Thought I'd jump in. When you carve, you're cutting the top layer of leather, and the beveler is what creates that nice, clean, shadowed edge to make the design pop. If you go too deep, especially on a tight curve, the leather will want to tear or stretch unevenly when you go to wet form it around the mold. So you don't want to skip beveling, but you want to keep it light. The goal is to make the design look good now, but not to compromise the leather's ability to stretch and conform smoothly to the mold without distorting the pattern you worked so hard on. It's a good rule of thumb to make a test piece with the same leather weight you're using for the case! Carve a small design on it, then wet form it over a similar curve to see how the lines hold up.

Thanks for the help. I’m making a small pouch for my multitool and carved a compass rose into 6 oz veg-tan. It looked nice at first but got a little bent after shaping. Do you wet the leather fully before carving or just add water as you work? Also, does a modeling spoon help make the edges look cleaner after using the beveler?