Benchwayze
Established Member
Fitting Leather Skivers
Benchwayze
Anyone who likes to reproduce or repair period furniture will, sooner or later, be faced with the need to lay a leather skiver to a desk or tabletop. Skiver leather is usually sheepskin and as a natural product it will sometimes show surface defects. These blemishes won't be gross and have to be taken as they come. At least they confirm the material is genuine. Again, as it is a natural product, skiver leather comes in modest sizes and larger jobs require skivers made from joined pieces, the joints being camouflaged with tooling. Most skiver suppliers undertake tooling when you send them the sizes of skiver you need and it’s best to leave it to them.
The leathers are coloured with aniline dyes, and are usually supplied in maroon, blue, dark green, black and brown. Other shades of these colours are available to order. You could contract out the laying of the skiver, but it is more satisfying to do the job yourself. It’s not difficult, especially in the smaller sizes.
So, before you start, get into the right frame of mind and, just as in a normal glue-up, GET EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO HAND.
You will need:
1) Your skiver.
2) A soft, dry clean cloth (Muslin is fine).
3) A Stanley knife, or similar.
4) A steel straight edge, such as a 'Maun' safety rule.
5) A small paste brush.
6) Decorators' ready-mixed, heavyweight wallpaper paste.
7) Longish fingernails. (Or the help of someone who has them!)
You should measure the area to be covered and give exact sizes to the supplier. The supplier will cut your leather slightly oversize. Around the leather, there will be an accurate, plain, or 'blind' tooled border, the outer edges of which will be at the exact size you gave. This ensures that when fitted properly, this border will be square and close up to the woodwork all round. In the unlikely event the measurements are wrong then send it back. Don't try to fudge things by including some of the waste edging, as it never works.
At about a centimetre inside this border, there will be further tooling, this time, picked out in gold leaf. Ensure this is square in relation to the outer border. Again, should this be out of square, return it to the supplier. Even if the other measurements are right, you will be unable to centre the skiver, and it will never look right. Depending on what your requirements were, there may also be further blind tooling inside the gilt-lined border. This again must be square with the rest.
Fitting the skiver:
This is one job which won't stand interruption. Take the 'phone off the hook and lock yourself in the workshop. Clean up the bench, and put the paste out of harm's way, until it's needed.
In the case of a writing-slope, start by squaring off the top edge of the skiver, using the craft knife and safety rule. Get as close to the outer edge of the plain tooling as you can, but take care not to cut any of it away. Locate this squared edge in what will be its final position, against the frame. Holding the leather in position, make sure the skiver will lie square within the frame and that when trimmed its remaining edges will abut the woodwork all around.
NOTE:
1) DURING THIS DRY RUN DON'T USE STICKY TAPE OF ANY SORT TO HOLD THE SKIVER IN PLACE. Tape, when removed, will tear the dressed surface from the leather and ruin it.
2) DON'T TRIM THE OTHER EDGES YET!
Once you are happy the skiver will fit, put the leather well away from the job and apply paste TO THE PANEL. Use the paste neat, and brush it on evenly and fairly liberally.
Now you can place the leather gently in position, taking care not to get any paste on the top surface. A few gentle, downwards and outwards sweeps of the hand and the leather will almost lay itself. Now, using a clean, dry, soft cloth, smooth the squared edge into place, before working outwards to the remaining edges, pushing the tooled border into place, all around. Try to remove all bubbles, but don't use undue pressure, and don’t pull at the skiver. You could overstretch it or force paste through the leather and ruin it.
When the leather is flat, gently run your fingernail, around the un-trimmed edges, (or ask swmbo to do it) indenting an impression next to the wood surround. Using this indentation as a guide, trim off the surplus leather with the craft knife. Angle the craft-knife outwards towards the frame, so the cut edge of the leather will be undercut and won't show a white edge. When this is done, use the cloth again to smooth the skiver gently into the edges. If you have trimmed carefully, you will not stretch the leather too much, which may cause it to shrink back, after drying, and show unsightly gaps. Get rid of any remaining bubbles in the process and set the job aside to dry.
In the case of a writing-slope, which will spend most of its life folded, leave the job for at least a day and a half, before closing the box. If you neglect this, paste may be forced through the thin leather, removing the dressing. For laying larger areas, the principle is the same, but obviously more difficulty will be experienced in smoothing and positioning the leather.
So after a writing-slope, why not try a side-table, before working up to that ‘four-acre’ Partners' Desk. Finally, even with experience, sometimes another pair of hands helps. Then, of course, there is someone else to blame when things go wrong.
Tips:
1) When using a metal straight edge on leather, (especially the 'MAUN' safety rule) put something beneath the edge you aren't using as it can permanently 'tool' the leather with a glaring, straight line.
2) A length of inverted, 25mm section aluminium angle makes a good straight edge, but practice using it first.
3) Keep the leather trimmings. They come in useful for making lifting tabs and for use as gauges when working rebates for leather tops in future projects.
4) If you have very short fingernails, then used gently, a credit card will do nicely; even one that is maxed out!
Good Luck.
Benchwayze
ccasion5:
Benchwayze
Anyone who likes to reproduce or repair period furniture will, sooner or later, be faced with the need to lay a leather skiver to a desk or tabletop. Skiver leather is usually sheepskin and as a natural product it will sometimes show surface defects. These blemishes won't be gross and have to be taken as they come. At least they confirm the material is genuine. Again, as it is a natural product, skiver leather comes in modest sizes and larger jobs require skivers made from joined pieces, the joints being camouflaged with tooling. Most skiver suppliers undertake tooling when you send them the sizes of skiver you need and it’s best to leave it to them.
The leathers are coloured with aniline dyes, and are usually supplied in maroon, blue, dark green, black and brown. Other shades of these colours are available to order. You could contract out the laying of the skiver, but it is more satisfying to do the job yourself. It’s not difficult, especially in the smaller sizes.
So, before you start, get into the right frame of mind and, just as in a normal glue-up, GET EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO HAND.
You will need:
1) Your skiver.
2) A soft, dry clean cloth (Muslin is fine).
3) A Stanley knife, or similar.
4) A steel straight edge, such as a 'Maun' safety rule.
5) A small paste brush.
6) Decorators' ready-mixed, heavyweight wallpaper paste.
7) Longish fingernails. (Or the help of someone who has them!)
You should measure the area to be covered and give exact sizes to the supplier. The supplier will cut your leather slightly oversize. Around the leather, there will be an accurate, plain, or 'blind' tooled border, the outer edges of which will be at the exact size you gave. This ensures that when fitted properly, this border will be square and close up to the woodwork all round. In the unlikely event the measurements are wrong then send it back. Don't try to fudge things by including some of the waste edging, as it never works.
At about a centimetre inside this border, there will be further tooling, this time, picked out in gold leaf. Ensure this is square in relation to the outer border. Again, should this be out of square, return it to the supplier. Even if the other measurements are right, you will be unable to centre the skiver, and it will never look right. Depending on what your requirements were, there may also be further blind tooling inside the gilt-lined border. This again must be square with the rest.
Fitting the skiver:
This is one job which won't stand interruption. Take the 'phone off the hook and lock yourself in the workshop. Clean up the bench, and put the paste out of harm's way, until it's needed.
In the case of a writing-slope, start by squaring off the top edge of the skiver, using the craft knife and safety rule. Get as close to the outer edge of the plain tooling as you can, but take care not to cut any of it away. Locate this squared edge in what will be its final position, against the frame. Holding the leather in position, make sure the skiver will lie square within the frame and that when trimmed its remaining edges will abut the woodwork all around.
NOTE:
1) DURING THIS DRY RUN DON'T USE STICKY TAPE OF ANY SORT TO HOLD THE SKIVER IN PLACE. Tape, when removed, will tear the dressed surface from the leather and ruin it.
2) DON'T TRIM THE OTHER EDGES YET!
Once you are happy the skiver will fit, put the leather well away from the job and apply paste TO THE PANEL. Use the paste neat, and brush it on evenly and fairly liberally.
Now you can place the leather gently in position, taking care not to get any paste on the top surface. A few gentle, downwards and outwards sweeps of the hand and the leather will almost lay itself. Now, using a clean, dry, soft cloth, smooth the squared edge into place, before working outwards to the remaining edges, pushing the tooled border into place, all around. Try to remove all bubbles, but don't use undue pressure, and don’t pull at the skiver. You could overstretch it or force paste through the leather and ruin it.
When the leather is flat, gently run your fingernail, around the un-trimmed edges, (or ask swmbo to do it) indenting an impression next to the wood surround. Using this indentation as a guide, trim off the surplus leather with the craft knife. Angle the craft-knife outwards towards the frame, so the cut edge of the leather will be undercut and won't show a white edge. When this is done, use the cloth again to smooth the skiver gently into the edges. If you have trimmed carefully, you will not stretch the leather too much, which may cause it to shrink back, after drying, and show unsightly gaps. Get rid of any remaining bubbles in the process and set the job aside to dry.
In the case of a writing-slope, which will spend most of its life folded, leave the job for at least a day and a half, before closing the box. If you neglect this, paste may be forced through the thin leather, removing the dressing. For laying larger areas, the principle is the same, but obviously more difficulty will be experienced in smoothing and positioning the leather.
So after a writing-slope, why not try a side-table, before working up to that ‘four-acre’ Partners' Desk. Finally, even with experience, sometimes another pair of hands helps. Then, of course, there is someone else to blame when things go wrong.
Tips:
1) When using a metal straight edge on leather, (especially the 'MAUN' safety rule) put something beneath the edge you aren't using as it can permanently 'tool' the leather with a glaring, straight line.
2) A length of inverted, 25mm section aluminium angle makes a good straight edge, but practice using it first.
3) Keep the leather trimmings. They come in useful for making lifting tabs and for use as gauges when working rebates for leather tops in future projects.
4) If you have very short fingernails, then used gently, a credit card will do nicely; even one that is maxed out!
Good Luck.
Benchwayze
ccasion5:
