Dale it sounds to me like you're putting your leather up too wet. Here is part of an earlier discsission on this subject.....I hope you find it helpful....
"Casing is a very important step in preparing you leather to be tooled. Years ago, saddle shops would have a "Casing box" which was usually a wooden box lined with galvinized steel sheets to prevent moisture from escaping the box. Needless to say these boxes were anything BUT airtight and you could put a pretty wet piece of leather into the box and remove it next day and it would be ready to tool.
Today, people use plastic trash bags, zip loc bags and ice chests, all which prevent ANY moisture from escaping....especially the plastic trash bags and zip loc bags. When you put your overly soaked leather in that sealed bag it did what it was meant to do....it preserved it....moisture and all! Your leather was not cased...it was just soaked!
When I wet my leather, I pull it through a pan of water. I want to see bubbles coming out as it passes through the water.....but waiting until all the bubbles are gone is way too long. Once you start casing you will learn how much is enough. The same holds with learning what the leather should look like when properly cased. Almost it's natural color.....a cool feel to it when touched to your cheek....you will get the hang of it quickly once you get started.
If you are going to utilize plastic bags to case your leather, you need to allow much of the moisture to evaporate BEFORE you put it in a bag. I let my leather begin to turn back to it's natural color before bagging it. I want it a little wetter going into the bag than what I want to begin tooling. The idea is for the moisture to be evenly distributed through the leather. Not wetter on the top than on the bottom. Properly casing your leather will result in cleaner, crisper and better colored tooling. In addition, properly casing the leather will allow you to tool a little longer than than just wetting it with a sponge and starting to tool. Wetting the leather with a sponge IS NOT casing!
Additionally, the more you have to re-wet the leather, the more definition you lose in your tooling! The colors fade, beveling begins to raise and the piece doesn't look nice and crisp because it isn't any longer. If you can wet your leather once and get the whole thing tooled then that is fine. It will look nice. But you won't get the nice burnish produced when beveling and shading that properly casing your leather will give you. Nor will it cut as nicely! When I am tooling a piece that I know I can't finish without re-wetting several times, I break the tooling down to sections and keep everything I'm not tooling covered with plastic wrap until I am ready to move on to the next section. I am not saying you can't add moisture as you go...it's just that the more you do it, the more you will lose.
I do not know one single professional tooler who does not case his leather. Give it an honest try...once you get the hang of it I think you will be sold.
I hope this helps....
Bobby"
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 8:32 PM
Subject: [flasah] Casing
Not to beat a dead horse with this subject after the past furious
discussion, but I'm just wondering if I'm doing something wrong. It
seems that no matter which method I use to wet the leather (sponge,
submersing, even waiting for all the bubbles to stop) I'm having this
problem. Maybe it's just that I'm too slow, bit I don't think so.
After unwrapping my leather the next day, it usually takes a looooong
time for the natural color of the leather to return to the grain side.
Once it does, from this point on the drying process seems to shift into
high gear and it almost always dries quicker than I can finish the
tooling. I always wind up having to add moisture to finish.
--
Dale Erwin
Av. Circunvalación CEC-2
Los Girasoles de Huampaní
Lurigancho, Lima 15, PERU
http://www.casaerwin.org
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