Shaping and Molding Leather - Part Three

I think that the last couple of posts covered sizing the form sufficiently enough that you should be able to wing it well enough to make your own. Remember, the form that you use for molding and shaping your leather does not have to be perfect. Leather is a little forgiving and you can adjust the shape and size at almost any time in the process. I would advise that any changes be made early though. As we move along in the process, I will try to point out any challenges that might come up during the process.

Now with the leather softened by the rubbing alcohol-water mixture, it is time to begin the rough shaping and molding. I begin by pressing the leather down on the two sides of the form with my fingers. In this stage, it is a very good idea to have very clean hands because the wet leather will absorb almost anything on your hands. The photo below shows this first stage of molding the leather.

Rough shaping of leather around the form

It is easy to see the outline of the form under the wet leather after pressing it down. I try to hold the leather down with the tips of my fingers without making impressions with my fingernails. I keep my fingernails clipped short, especially when I know that I will be molding leather. Minor fingernail impressions can be rubbed out with a folding tool, but deep impressions may be there for the life of the item you are making.

During the rough molding process, I do not try to get the sharp/tight corners that you will see at the end of this process. The main idea here is to get the rough shape of the form to show through the leather. I guess that this is in a way a little like kneading bread, you don not throw it on the kneading surface and pat it once or twice, at minimum you will probably be into it for five minutes. If everything turns out the way you hope it will, you might have five minutes in just the basic molding processing.

Something that I will point here as well is that the leather that is wet enough when molding it is not necessary to cut out corners to make the fit good. It is similar to wrapping a package in that it is necessary to fold the wrapping paper at the corners on the package ends to make it look good. If you like the looks of sown corners you can also use this method to shape the corners so you can stitch them but that will have to come in a different post. Basically, it will take a little elbow grease to get your leather molded to the form, but it will eliminate the steps required for cutting out the corners and sewing them, which could be tedious from the word “go.”

One of the tools that I use a lot for molding and shaping leather is my elk antler-folding tool. A friend gave it to me. He also did leatherwork and he used it for shaping the leather for some of his projects. I like it because it was a gift, it has a good surface to smooth out the surface of the leather a little more, and the tip is just blunt enough to help me shape the corners a whole bunch better. If you would like to make your own folding tool from a piece of bone or an antler, you can sometimes find pieces of antler in a pet store or if you happen to be at the right place in the woods you might find a set of antlers that were dropped by an elk at its annual antler shed. Otherwise, you might want to purchase a folder/creaser from a leather craft store.

Piece of elk antler used for folding and creasing leather

The photo below is not the best representation of using the antler to crease the corner folds of the leather but it does give a basic idea of how it is done. Again, it is necessary to hold the leather in as close to the same position on the form as with the rough mold at the start. Press down and hold the leather with the fingertips on one hand and move the edge the folding tool down towards the board on which the form is mounted and against the side of the form. Do not exert excessive pressure on the leather with the antler as it may cause creases in the leather that will be difficult to hide or remove. As in the photo below, I try to avoid using the very tip of the antler because point may cause unwanted creases at the point of contact and might be difficult to eliminate.

Making the lower crease  using a piece of elk antler

It is always a good idea after using the folding tool to allow the leather to dry for a few minutes to an hour. I like to do this so that the leather has a bit of time to “relax after being stressed.” (Please forgive my attempt at humor.) This will also let you take your focus off the task at hand for a brief period so that you can come back to look at with what some might consider “fresh eyes.” By that, I mean that by stepping away from what you are currently doing you might be able to see something that you need to alter a little before you make the final commit. I have found that this works very well for me for almost anything, especially when it comes to programming. It might sound a little funny, but I have had a little experience with database design and programming. I like to work both ends of the spectrum.

After letting the leather relax for a time, I will come back and use my fingers and my folding tool again in the same areas as I had on the first go around. It might not be necessary but it is how I like to complete this part of the process. I have found that it allows me to get a little better fold or crease on the leather after the some of the moisture has had time to evaporate. It also holds the fold better on the second time around.

Even after I have remolded the leather the process is not complete. I then like to clamp the formed leather onto the mounting board. I do not remove the form but leave it in place. If you look closely at the photo below, you will see that there is a bit of a shine on the surface of the board that clamped onto the mounting board. This shine is the plastic wrap that I put on the board to keep it from adhering to the leather. It is very important to make sure that if you wrap your boards with plastic wrap that you make sure there no wrinkles in the wrap. The wrinkles can cause unwanted lines in your leather. Some of the lines can be rubbed out but maybe not completely.

Leather with first clamp applied

When I look at the photo above, I notice a few things that should be pointed out. The object on the left side of the photo is an inexpensive ratchet-clamp. This type of clamp works perfectly well for clamping the plastic wrapped board in place. The leather is wetter than I like to have it at this point in the process but I wanted to get it done quickly for the photos. I may have mentioned it before, but the leather has shifted up a little on the left side. This happened when I put the board in place for clamping. The last things that are visible in the upper right hand corner is some black spots on the board. These black spots are actually carpet tack holes. I used to use carpet tacks to anchor the leather around the form. It was extremely tedious. I would not advise using this method unless you do not have access to a couple of clamps. Carpet tacks are blued and the coating will come off in the leather. In addition, it you are bad a pounding in the tacks you might hit the leather.

The photo below shows how our project looks with the second ratchet-clamp in place. It is a good idea to leave the clamps in place for a few hours. As wet as this leather was when I finished clamping boards down it needed extra time for drying sufficiently. I left is for a few days because I was out of town. I should point out that it is important to have the fold at the bottom edge almost exactly where you want it to be. It will be more difficult to reshape this area of the carrier pocket after it dries. Re-wetting the leather here and reworking it may affect either side of the pocket and cause the leather to stretch where you did not want it. It might be better to accept it as it is and proceed on with the process.

Both clamps applied to the project

In the next post I will cover the assembly of the multi-tool carrier and have a few more ideas on how you can make your project shine a little. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. I will be glad to hear what you have to say and if you have any questions I will be glad to help you if I can.

Have fun!

Shaping and Molding Leather - Part II of Basic Project

In the last post, I left you hanging on how to do more than one thing and I promised you a recipe as well. This recipe is not for something to eat or drink but it will help you when shaping and molding leather. I will share this ‘recipe’ a little later in this post. For now, I would like to continue from the point where I left you in the last post.

After marking the form for length, it is a good idea to set the leather on the form just to get an idea as to whether or not the leather is going to be the right size or not. Position the edge of the leather that you would like to have for the top edge of the pocket on the line. If you have enough length and width with the piece that you have cut, you can proceed on with the process. The photo below shows the placement of the leather on the form. It is hard to see it but the edge of the leather is right at the line marked on the form. You can also see one of the screws that I used to fasten the form down to the board. As a side note, this allows for the easy removal of the form and re-application at another time.

Dry leather positioned on the form

As previously mentioned, I found that getting leather shaped just the way I wanted it was oftentimes a challenge that got the better of me. Not knowing some of the simplification tricks that others used left me wanting a better way to do this. One of the biggest mistakes that I made was to attempt to shape leather that was too heavy for the task. I would overestimate both my abilities and the “willingness” of the leather to be molded.

I had some projects, which came with built in challenges. When I worked in the saddle shop, a customer ordered a few tool carriers for his employees to help perform their work. I got the carriers done in good time, but I was not happy with the way they turned out though. It was suggested that I make the molded tool pockets from red latigo leather. I love the look and feel of this leather but I was not ready for the outcome of wetting the leather. The outcome of getting the latigo leather wet was that it seemed to get a little stiffer. The red dye also came out of it and my hands were red for over a week.

Now when I shape leather I do my best not to hint to a customer that I might be able to use red latigo to make something for them to wear. Latigo is the leather used to make saddle strings and the cinch straps for the saddles. This leather is strong and it is very resilient if treated well. It has to have many good qualities, it holds a saddle on a horse, it is exposed to everything in the environment of the horse, plus the sweat produced by the horse itself. Latigo will last for many years if proper care is practiced. Anyway, that is enough about latigo leather.

The next step in making this carrier is to get the leather wet for shaping and molding. Please do not run to your faucet too quickly to get your leather wet but if you must, you must. I would actually like you to hold tight for a moment while I describe the ‘recipe’ to you. The recipe will work on most leathers when you need to mold and shape it. It will even allow you to stretch out those shoes that are too tight for you. The recipe consists of equal parts water and rubbing alcohol. I mix mine in a spray bottle, which allows me to mix enough to complete the project at hand or to make enough to last a while. By the way, in all of the years that I have used this recipe I have never had any problems with it staining the leather.

As for stretching shoes, I do not remember ever needing to use it on any of mine but I was told that it works very well. The only drawback with using it is that you either need to spray the shoes and wear them until they dry completely, otherwise, stuff them with enough old rags, paper, or whatever you might have on hand to hold the shape until they dry. Be sure to let them dry completely before you quit wearing them for the day or before removing the stuffing.

Please keep in mind that when using rubbing alcohol that it is important to have a well-ventilated work area and/or an exhaust fan of some kind to move the air around the room. Rubbing alcohol can have a rather nasty effect on your body if too much is inhaled. Chances are that you may never have a problem with this but it is better to err on the side of safety than to find yourself overdosed on rubbing alcohol fumes. You might get very sick if it happened.

The photo below shows the piece of leather for the pocket after having been sprayed with the mixture of water and rubbing alcohol. I placed the leather on top of the form and applied no pressure to it at all. The photo does not show how it had already begun sag a little around form. Please do not get the idea that it is something that automatically happens after using the recipe. You will need to use your fingers to shape the leather around the form. One last thing before continuing with the process, I like to make sure that my leather is pretty wet before I begin shaping it. I have found that for my purposes it is a good idea to have it wet enough that it is somewhat limp in my hand.

Wet leather on form

The leather should not be wet enough to squeeze the mixture from it but it should be soft and pliable when placed on the form. It will take some trial and error to get the amount of moisture just right. The other thing you might find is that two different pieces of leather will not act or react in to moisture in the same manner. I have used leather from the same tannery, the same weight of leather; even the same side of leather but the personality of one part of the side was very different from the other. You might also find that a tannery tans leather by a different process and that of another tannery. It not unusual for one tannery’s leather to be more challenging to shape and mold than another’s. By no means does this mean that it is not a good quality leather.

I just realized that I forgot to tell you about in the previous post. It is important to know that it is not necessary to use wood for making your complete form. The photo shown below demonstrates what I mean by this. I needed to make a carrier for a tool that was thicker than the piece of wood that I had. I did not want to spend the time or money to drive thirty miles to the lumberyard for one board. I would then need to use a table saw to cut the board to get the right thickness to add to the form to make it work.

Top view of thickness added to a form

As you can see from the photo, I simply added a piece of leather to increase the thickness. Yes, those are stables going through the leather and into the board. If I remember correctly, I did not want to attach the leather permanently to this form. It was because the carrier was for a thicker multi-tool. The photo below shows a side view of this form with the leather attached.

Side view of thickness added to a form

As you can see, I did not glue the leather down to the form. It was and is my belief that my methods were good enough that there would be no problems with the fit. Remember, when you get leather wet there is a good chance that it can shrink. I have had this happen a few times and that is why I like to leave a lot of excess around the edges. I can always trim off the excess but it would be very difficult to add more width.

Do not be shy about making comments or asking questions. I am glad to hear from you.

Have fun!