Press for leather stamping question

Ahh, sorry, I never heard the word used like that.

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They’re for tightening too. I only used the front ones and it slowly slipped out of place, so I had to use all four.

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Great…thank you!

I spent a decade as a Iaser operator in a leathercraft store here… my 2 cents…

Delrin is a perfect material for making stamps, and yes, they should be embossed onto the leather with some kind of press. Tandy’s is good but expensive. Harbor Freight’s manual arbor press will work fine. I usually use a scrap piece of steel under and over the project to make sure the force is distributed evenly.

Now… about embossing and soaking…

  1. Only use tooling leather (vegetable tanned). It’s designed to take in water, receive the shape and hold it after it dries. Chrome tanned (upholstery type) won’t do the job.

  2. DON’T SOAK THE LEATHER!!! The more you do the more it will swell and lose the impression you tried so hard to make.

  3. I use a spray bottle with water in it. You can add a little conditioner or “Pro Carve” to the water if you want but you don’t have to. Spray the leather just until it changes color, kind of a nice caramel. Should only take a couple squirts. Let it sit for a minute or two.

  4. Line it up in your press, pull down firmly for a couple seconds and lift.

  5. That’s it! No clamping, soaking overnight, locking down for hours. The right kind of leather, just enough water and firm, even pressure. All it takes.

  6. Troubleshooting… if the leather is old, hard, dried out then it’ll help to add pro-carve, spray a little more (both sides) and let it sit for 5-10 min before you emboss. If the leather is finished, sealed, oiled, painted, dyed… forget embossing. Anything that protects from moisture limits the ability to tool it.

  7. OR… try etching it in your GF! Veg tanned usually works great. Others take experimenting.

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