Helpful Hints: Making Decorative Cuts 

Thanks for the feedback, Theron! We're glad that you found our videos helpful.

We have a stamping video coming out tomorrow as well. Thanks for checking this out!

Thanks for watching! :)

I'm glad you found our video helpful! Thanks for watching. :) We would recommend tooling on natural vegetable tanned leather instead of thick black leather--you'll get the best results on natural veg tan! You'll need to wet the leather from the top rather than underneath. You may want to try smaller veg tan pieces to practice on, like these: springfieldleather.com/Pieces-Tooling-2-lbs-Bag Thanks for your question!

+Lisa Scott's Fitness his brilliant? what brilliant?

Hello Alan! The best option depends on the balance of abrasion resistance and the flexibility. The stiffness is certainly a result of the finish you're using, though that stiffness is what's protecting your work. There are water-based poly finishers that will give you more flexibility but will not resist abrasion as well as a water-based poly with a harder finish - so keep in mind that there's a trade off there. You can experiment with different water-based polys or give acrylic resolene a go. They are flexible while providing protection and *should* be softer than the poly you're using. Outside of that, Master's Quick Shine could be an option for sealing but it won't do much in the way of protecting your work. Everything here will apply to tooled work as well!

+Selmira1404 Tape the back of your leather with masking tape or packaging tape before you start and this will prevent most of the stretching.

+Kevin Hopkins I tried bit after removing tape it leaves sticky track and this force me to use the cover material or another layer of thin leather to cover this ugliness... may be there is another way?..

Yeah, that does happen. Finishing the back with a product called Gum Tragacanth will slick down the nap of the leather and take care of the sticky left over from the tape.

+shym0nk3y the red is just a little finer grit then the white but it will work just as well. You may need to check the moisture content of you leather if your cuts aren't coming out well.

Keith Wilsenach Yes. While tooling if the leather starts to feel like its not accepting the swivel cuts or stamping it is time to re-wet.

Thanks for watching! Glad you found it helpful. Yes, you'll be a leather student for life...there's always more to learn! That's the fun part, I think. Happy leather crafting! :)