Carving & Tooling Leather

This archer&#39 ;s bracer is made of cuir bouilli (boiled leather). Bracers were worn on the forearm to protect the it from the bowstring, and to keep any loose sleeve material out of the path of the string. Bracers are fastened around the forearm by a buckle at the end of Y-shaped leather straps rivetted to the bracer.

The embellishment of leather goods via cutting, stamping, and tooling date back into antiquity, and though these techniques have been simplified by modern tools and automation, the medieval leatherworker's craft has changed little in the intervening centuries.

Mostly secular examples in bone & ivory, enamel, leather, metal, and wood.

An outline & bibliography from a class on the typical methods of leatherworking ornamentation from the 11th-14th centuries.

Blind tooling is the most common decorative technique found on bindings up until the sixteenth century.

A collection of tips that have been edited together.

The original proposal for the research and publicatio n of the large assemblage of leather artefacts and leatherwor king evidence from four sites in Anglo-Scan dinavian and medieval York specified that the work be undertaken in two distinct stages:


Stage 1: completion of the archive and preparatio n of a detailed publicatio n synopsis.


Stage 2: analysis, research and publicatio n.

The initial data gathering and quantifica tion has been successful ly completed and this document represents the detailed publicatio n synopsis, work programme and timetable necessary for the completion of stage 2.

The technique used to tool the leather lends itself well to letters or other intricate forms, and the subsequent painting of the piece is both enhanced and enhances the incisions. Typically, incising takes only about one quarter of the time of modeling or carving, yet provides very clean and dynamic results. In this discourse, we'll go step-by-step through the process of making a belt so that you can acquire this skill.

An outline of leatherworking techniques used before the 17th century: tooling, painting & dyeing, tools, and styles.

Leather tooling; decorating leather.