Do You Wet Leather Before Tooling? Leather Tooling Guide

Requirement for Leather Tooling:

• Leather tooling requires vegetable-tanned leather.

Wetting Leather for Tooling:

• Wet the leather before tooling.
• This step raises the grain, allowing for easier tooling.

Tools and Techniques:

• Use sharp tools for cleaner cuts.
• Experiment with leather thicknesses and stiffness to find what works best.
• Traditional tooling involves knives, punches, and mallets.
• Modern tooling uses heated tools like embossers.
• Prefab stencils can be used for detailed designs without hand drawing.

Moisture Control:

• Leather that is too wet or too dry is difficult to tool.
• Ideal moisture makes leather pliable yet firm.
• Judge moisture levels by observing how the leather responds to an indented thumbprint.

After Tooling:

• Let the leather fully dry before dyeing and finishing.