Making A Brass Finishing Tool - Part 1

Using only hand tools, I take a piece of scrap brass and transform it into a finishing gouge, a curved-line stamp for embossing leather.

Commercially available brass stamps, even second-hand ones, are well outside my budget, especially since I am hardly better than a novice at leather tooling and can’t justify laying out hundreds (or thousands) of dollars for a set. Instead, to dip my toe into the craft and see what I can make of it, I have set out to make my own simple stamps, using scrap brass and everyday metalworking tools.

Brass finishing tools are used in the final stages of binding a book (technically the binding is already done and the whole tooling stage is called 'finishing'), in which the leather covers are impressed with a variety of designs or text. The letters and patterns can be stamped 'blind' without any additional coloring, or embellished with carbon black, colored foils, or gold leaf. While many finishing tools are both elaborate and intricate, simple geometric shapes are frequently used as well, either to complement the more complex designs, or entirely on their own. Through repeated patterns or free-form styling, simple tools can be surprisingly effective in creating unique and striking designs. What's more, such straightforward shapes are perfectly suited to being made with only basic tools.

Tools Used

- Ruler
- Square
- Permanent Marker
- Scribe
- Hacksaw
- Fretsaw (optional)
- Flat files, various
- A washer
- Round file
- Sandpaper, medium and fine grits
- A dowel

In the next video I will turn a wooden handle for the tool on the lathe, make a simple copper ferrule and assemble the finished piece. In a future video I intend to demonstrate the use of this tool, as well as others that I have made.

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All original works of art in this video are copyrighted exclusively by Four Keys Book Arts.