Tooling is the art of carving a design into damp veg-tan leather — the craft that makes a belt or sheath yours. A swivel knife to cut the lines, a set of stamping tools (beveler, pear shader, seeder, veiner), a mallet of rawhide or poly (never metal — it dents the tools), and a stone slab to strike on. Case the leather, cut the pattern, tool it, let it dry.
Plans
Choose a plan that fits your needs and budget
Item List
4Striking
2 items
Cutting & Stamping
2 items
Plan Totals$135
Cutting & Stamping
2Total$135
FAQ
Common questions about this kit
What is casing the leather?
Dampening the veg-tan leather with water so it is colored like the inside of your cheek — not wet, not dry. Cased leather tools cleanly and the design sets permanently as it dries. Too wet and it sogs; too dry and the stamps do not bite.
Why a rawhide or poly mallet?
A metal hammer dents and mushrooms the steel stamping tools, ruining them. A rawhide, poly, or maul delivers the blow without damaging the tools. Never strike a leather stamp with a metal hammer — you will destroy the tool.
What is the swivel knife for?
Cutting the outline lines of the design into the cased leather — the beveler then pushes one side of the cut down to create the illusion of depth. The swivel knife cut is the skeleton; the stamps are the shading. Cut once, deep, and smooth.
What do the stamp tools do?
Each leaves a specific mark: the beveler creates depth (the workhorse), the pear shader adds contour, the seeder and veiner add texture (seeds, leaf veins), the backgrounder textures the field. A dozen tools give you a whole visual vocabulary.
User Reviews
5.0 / 5.0
Leather tooling and my indigo share the craft-and-the-ritual gospel — case the leather like reduce the dye vat, and the swivel knife cut is the shibori fold. The poly-maul-over-metal is the respirator-over-nothing safety call, agreed.