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Be sure to use natural leather. Tanned leather or other finished leather will NOT TOOL PROPERLY. Only raw natural leather tools the best. I find that the 6 to 9 ounce leather holds tooling the best, although I have tooled 3 to 4 ounce as well.
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I think you meant to say use only
vegetable tanned leather to carve on,,,
Chrome tanned garment or upholstery leathers will not tool at all.
What you said about tooling when it's almost dry is spot on correct,,,
You should keep the surface at least damp though,,,
Or the core of the leather dries out too fast.
That darkening you speak of is called the burnishing effect,,,
You are correct about the leather turning dark in the indentations only when the moisture content is "just right".
I carve and stamp heavier leathers but it does take a bit more preparation to get the moisture content correct,,,
The advantage of carving on heavier leathers is you can tool much more deeply,,,
You will be amazed at how much depth your florals will have with 8-9 or 9-10.
Nice job on those holsters my friend,,,
You got skills.
.