The design is carefully traced with dividers, folder, and rule, and the heated tools run along the rule. Before applying the tool, which should be only moderately heated, the line previously marked out should be damped with a suitable brush. The instant the moisture has been absorbed by the leather, the tool should be applied. There should be no hissing, as the tool should be only lukewarm for the first application. The roll must touch the leather at the beginning without any uncertainty and the line made at once and without stopping, as otherwise a darker shade would appear in places.

Each time before using the roll it is passed over a well greased piece of leather.

The impression should appear uniformly brown; if it is lighter at any part, it has not been sufficiently damped; if darker at another place from the beginning, then that part was too damp. Success depends before everything else upon uniform damping of the leather and correct heating of the tool.

With ordinary cleanliness and care, complete success is assured in this method of finishing.

After the surface of the leather has again become dry in all places, the whole design is again gone over, but this time with the roll a little hotter at the same time rubbing the roll well with the greased cloth. If there had been unevenness in the depth of color before, it will hardly be possible to remedy it now, for the light places remain so and the dark ones become even darker.

Where blind filleting is done it is usual to do die tooling at the same time. It is advisable-especially for novices to apply the die without heat to the damp leather, then to damp specially and apply the die lukewarm as in filleting. Tooling with dies is essentially different from filleting in the method of execution. The fillet polishes whilst running on, the die remains on the 'one place, and yet every part must receive an equally good impression. In order to secure a good impression from a die it is necessary to apply it promptly, and press without hesitating as to where to begin. To ensure all parts of the tool being well impressed, its surface is slightly curved lengthwise, and according to this curve the die must be rocked to and fro whilst impressing. If too much time is wasted before the die is applied the impression will turn out lighter. By allowing the heated die to remain long on the surface of the leather, the latter loses its moisture at that place and the die could not produce any further deepening of the color. Such places must be again damped and tooled until a uniform tone is attained. Care must be taken that this repetition does not produce "doubling," that is, a blurred appearance of the design, and also that it does not lead to indistinctness of outline.

Blind tooling upon light leathers is today called upon to satisfy the needs of the less wealthy just as it was 300 years ago, for in such a style of decoration the utmost durability and moderate cost are combined, and its very simplicity enhances its beauty.

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