leather stamping

[fishfish]

i havent been able to get any metal stamps as i havent a debit card to order any! so if anyones putting in an order for some soon can i add to the order and split shipping and duty costs?

also some advice on stamping needed!,i carved some designs into mahogany,they looked good and were well raised/deeply carved. i soaked my leather and then clamped the wooden stamp on for 10 minuts or so,when unclamped they looked realy good but when dried hardly showed at all the leather seemed to just swell back up!
got any ideas?

[Eric_Methven]

i havent been able to get any metal stamps as i havent a debit card to order any! so if anyones putting in an order for some soon can i add to the order and split shipping and duty costs?

also some advice on stamping needed!,i carved some designs into mahogany,they looked good and were well raised/deeply carved. i soaked my leather and then clamped the wooden stamp on for 10 minuts or so,when unclamped they looked realy good but when dried hardly showed at all the leather seemed to just swell back up!
got any ideas?

Yes mate, I know exactly what happened. You tried to emboss the leather while the fibres were still soaking. They will swell back up due to the moisture content in the leather. With embossing, carving and stamping you need the leather as dry as possible but still supple. Try it again, the wooden stamps should be fine, but this time wet the leather, allow it to dry so it looks fairly dry but keep testing it by holding it against your face. It should look and feel dry, but still be cold to the touch. When it gets to this stage, the stamp will still easily sink into the surface of the leather because it is still supple, but there won't be enough moisture in the leather to make it swell back out, so it'll keep it's impression.

Hope this is clear enough.

Eric

Edit: PM sent re the metal stamps.

[fishfish]

oh i see! thanks eric! it took me 4 hours to carve the kingfisher and a paw print into the magogany! ill try again tomorrow!