Experimenting With Leather

[Straightliner59]

I picked up a couple  of square feet of bookbinding leather. The stuff I bought is referred to as 1.5 oz. leather. The "sheet" I got averages right at .015" thick. I was looking for  something to use for  the upholstery in my Supermodified. My idea was to use basic leather-tooling techniques to create an upholstery  pattern. For the test,  I used the brass strip and ball-peen hammer in the  photo. I merely eyeballed the pattern for the test. There are several areas with a finer grain than pictured, that I can work with. I really think it has some  promise!

Edited June 10, 2021 by Straightliner59

[NOBLNG]

Neat idea. If you have a ratchet wrench with the knurled handle, maybe you could roll it over the leather to get a pattern?

[Bainford]

Interesting. Never heard of this stuff. I've been skiving thick leather to very thin dimensions for belts. This stuff could make life a little easier. How flexible or pliable is it? I'm wondering if it is too soft and stretchy for belts and straps, though I would think these are exactly the qualities you want when doing upholstery.

Edit: just did a quick google search. There is a whole world of materials and techniques out there. When I have a little more time, I'll have to do a little reading. Many different types of leathers, parchments, and papers.

Edited June 10, 2021 by Bainford

[Rick L]

Where did you get this? At .015 Does it come in brown?

[Straightliner59]

1 hour ago, Rick L said:

Where did you get this? At .015 Does it come in brown?

I found it on Ebay. There were other colors, but, I stopped looking, once I found black. It's very pliable.

Edited June 10, 2021 by Straightliner59

[Anglia105E]

Couple of years ago, Daniel, I also picked some thin crimson leather sheets on Ebay and cut out individual pieces for the seats of my 1:24 scale Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud by Revell / Minicraft....... I scored the lines in the leather, and also polished the leather with shoe polish. The result was quite pleasing.

Your brass strip and ball-peen hammer technique seems to work well for you.

David

[Rick L]

I’ve used Golf glove leather at times but the black and browns are harder to come by. Most all of them come in white now.

[Straightliner59]

On 6/10/2021 at 7:09 AM, NOBLNG said:

Neat idea. If you have a ratchet wrench with the knurled handle, maybe you could roll it over the leather to get a pattern?

I suppose, if the knurl was large enough?

23 hours ago, Anglia105E said:

Couple of years ago, Daniel, I also picked some thin crimson leather sheets on Ebay and cut out individual pieces for the seats of my 1:24 scale Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud by Revell / Minicraft....... I scored the lines in the leather, and also polished the leather with shoe polish. The result was quite pleasing.

Your brass strip and ball-peen hammer technique seems to work well for you.

David

It looks good for diamond tuck, and tuck &roll. At this time I am just using it for a basic pad with a simple pattern. It will surely work for that! This stuff is way too thin to score. Even the dull (I rounded the edges) brass strip wants to cut through. I'd bet, though, that with a bit thicker material, a combination of lightly scoring and "pressing" the material would look excellent!

 

[Anglia105E]

5 minutes ago, Straightliner59 said:

I suppose, if the knurl was large enough?

It looks good for diamond tuck, and tuck &roll. At this time I am just using it for a basic pad with a simple pattern. It will surely work for that! This stuff is way too thin to score. Even the dull (I rounded the edges) brass strip wants to cut through. I'd bet, though, that with a bit thicker material, a combination of lightly scoring and "pressing" the material would look excellent!

 

The very thin material that you are using, is probably more ' scale ' accurate than the thicker stuff that I used, which is a little on the thick side I found.

David

[David G.]

Interesting idea. I'm curious to see how it lays down in application.

David G.

[Straightliner59]

1 hour ago, David G. said:

Interesting idea. I'm curious to see how it lays down in application.

David G.

I am, too! 😃

[MeatMan]

Good stuff. I've used leather a couple of times but was thicker but I sanded the back down to thin it.

That was touch & go because you can get too aggressive and sand through it to the finished side.

[Straightliner59]

7 hours ago, MeatMan said:

Good stuff. I've used leather a couple of times but was thicker but I sanded the back down to thin it.

That was touch & go because you can get too aggressive and sand through it to the finished side.

Yes. As tough as leather can be, it's pretty dang delicate, once it's this thin!

[Straightliner59]

I used a paper pattern to cut out the  leather for the seat. Once those were dry-fitted and I was happy with them, I diluted some tacky glue with water, and soaked the leather pieces in it for a few minutes. The fit is excellent, and it's all staying in place. Next, I will peel it from the seat, and begin tapping my pattern into it. Not sure when I'll get to that step, as I am working on several other aspects of this project, as well.

[Straightliner59]

I finally got around to embossing this thing. Not bad for a first attempt!

[blunc]

in the phoenix area are material shops called SAS that sell bulk material and scraps of materials by the pound.

I have stocked up with "glove thin" leather scraps in various colors for a very reasonable cost.

There may be surplus material stores in other states or available from online sources.

[Straightliner59]

24 minutes ago, blunc said:

in the phoenix area are material shops called SAS that sell bulk material and scraps of materials by the pound.

I have stocked up with "glove thin" leather scraps in various colors for a very reasonable cost.

There may be surplus material stores in other states or available from online sources.

Yes. I got this on Ebay. It's called "bookbinding leather". This is 1.5 oz. weight (which I guess is the weight, per square foot?). It's .015" thick, roughly--obviously, its thickness varies.

[Bainford]

4 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

I finally got around to embossing this thing. Not bad for a first attempt!

Yes sir, I’d say you’re on to something. Nice work. This shows real promise. There’s a lot of possibilities with this stuff; door cards, convertible boots, tonneau covers, to name a few. 
 

I’m intrigued buy your method of soaking the leather in the glue solution. Did this have an effect on the final appearance of of the ‘pretty side’ when all was dry? How well did the leather pieces stay together when prying it away from the seat frame?

[Straightliner59]

1 hour ago, Bainford said:

Yes sir, I’d say you’re on to something. Nice work. This shows real promise. There’s a lot of possibilities with this stuff; door cards, convertible boots, tonneau covers, to name a few. 
 

I’m intrigued buy your method of soaking the leather in the glue solution. Did this have an effect on the final appearance of of the ‘pretty side’ when all was dry? How well did the leather pieces stay together when prying it away from the seat frame?

Trevor,  thanks for your comments. I used Alene's Tacky Glue, diluted with water. While it was still damp, I conformed it to the seat pan.

When I got back around to it, it peeled right out. I laid the pattern out on the same paper I used to cut the leather, marked it, dampenedit, again and tapped the pattern in!

The leather needed no cleanup, as the glue dries clear, and semigloss.

[Beans]

Just stumbled across this post..   I have been doing leatherwork for years now.  Love what you did there.  Bookbinding leather is a good choice.  Also thin "lining" leathers(so named because it is what you would use to line wallets and such) usually come in 1 to 2 oz weights (.04mm-.08mm thick).  They are usually pig, goat or calf.  Some will have a pebble grain finish that might make them look out of scale, but there are lots of different colors and finishes available and it being leather, you can always dye it.  There are even specific leather paints available.

Wetting leather and pushing it into shape then allowing it to dry in that shape will keep it formed.  That is called wet forming.  Additionally (depending on the type of leather) wetting the surface before imprinting or embossing it will keep the impression longer.  

Here is a link that shows some of what is out there.  I wouldn't expect someone would need 22 square feet of purple but it can be found a lot of different places in smaller quantities.  Lots of leather workers will sell off their scrap pieces that would work great for model size pieces.

https://tandyleather.com/products/cowhide-lining-sides?_pos=2&_sid=3fd69d4e4&_ss=r

I have found that leather can be picky about glues but in thin amounts E6000 works very well.  Just don't get any on the front of the leather as it will stain.

There are also various leather finishes that can be applied to create more of gloss.   

And to think, I gave away my entire bin of scrap leather last time I moved.  You have me inspired to experiment though.  

 

Here's some of my stuff, just because I haven't shown it off in a long while and so you don't think I am talking out my rear......Ha!

[Straightliner59]

On 7/27/2021 at 2:56 PM, Beans said:

Just stumbled across this post..   I have been doing leatherwork for years now.  Love what you did there.  Bookbinding leather is a good choice.  Also thin "lining" leathers(so named because it is what you would use to line wallets and such) usually come in 1 to 2 oz weights (.04mm-.08mm thick).  They are usually pig, goat or calf.  Some will have a pebble grain finish that might make them look out of scale, but there are lots of different colors and finishes available and it being leather, you can always dye it.  There are even specific leather paints available.

Wetting leather and pushing it into shape then allowing it to dry in that shape will keep it formed.  That is called wet forming.  Additionally (depending on the type of leather) wetting the surface before imprinting or embossing it will keep the impression longer.  

Here is a link that shows some of what is out there.  I wouldn't expect someone would need 22 square feet of purple but it can be found a lot of different places in smaller quantities.  Lots of leather workers will sell off their scrap pieces that would work great for model size pieces.

https://tandyleather.com/products/cowhide-lining-sides?_pos=2&_sid=3fd69d4e4&_ss=r

I have found that leather can be picky about glues but in thin amounts E6000 works very well.  Just don't get any on the front of the leather as it will stain.

There are also various leather finishes that can be applied to create more of gloss.   

And to think, I gave away my entire bin of scrap leather last time I moved.  You have me inspired to experiment though.  

 

Here's some of my stuff, just because I haven't shown it off in a long while and so you don't think I am talking out my rear......Ha!

That is beautiful work! I was drawing on my memories of learning rudimentary leather work in seventh grade! That was a little while back!

[Beans]

14 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

That is beautiful work! I was drawing on my memories of learning rudimentary leather work in seventh grade! That was a little while back!

Thank you.  

I still do some work from time to time.   You did a great job on the seats and have definitely inspired me to try some new things.