Tandy's Professional Waterstain + Airbrushed Fiebing's Pro Oil

[particle]

I'm no chemical engineer, but I was skeptical that you could airbrush accent coloring over top of Tandy's Professional Waterstains. I decided to pick up a bottle of Red Professional Waterstain to color my son's wallet kit he's been dying to build with me. I've been wanting to try it anyway, especially in combination with airbrushed accents.

This is the base application of Tandy's Professional Waterstain. I rushed the process a bit and didn't give it a lot of time to dry, so the center area is a little darker than the edges in this photo. In the end, the colors evened out nicely and this stuff is super easy to apply!

Here is the base coloring with nothing else applied to the leather.

Here is the same piece with Fiebing's Pro Oil Dye - Black airbrushed around the edges. I also applied two coats of Fiebing's Leather Balm with Atom Wax. It darkened a bit, but it looks very similar to the swatch on the side of the bottle. The lighting in my shop isn't stellar for photography, but hopefully you get the idea.

[GimcrackLloyd]

Cool effect!

What kind of airbrush do you use? What is the process like to airbrush leather?

[particle]

I use a Badger 150 that I've had for maybe 15+ years. There is nothing special you have to do in order to spray leather dyes. You can spray anything as thin as (or thinner than) milk. Thicker than that and you have to dilute it according to the liquid's instructions on the product packaging - usually with whatever you use to clean up the liquid. You just spray the dye over the area you want - simple as that!

[Chavez]

Hi Particle,

That's a very nice effect!

How big & loud is an airbrush compressor? I was considering getting an airbrush but decided that it would be too loud for my flat. However, looking at your piece I'm starting to reconsider my decision =)

[particle]

I have a big (not an airbrush) compressor that is very loud. I've never used an actual tiny airbrush compressor, but have debated buying one. They are MUCH quieter than a typical shop compressor. You might check out this guy's video at aroudn 2:20. He talks about them a bit.

http://youtu.be/eF3wcfa47yw

[TwinOaks]

I use the cheap airbrush from Harbor Freight and about a year ago picked up an airbrush compressor from the there as well. There is a HUGE difference between compressors. A regular sized air compressor can deliver a LOT more pressure, and do so with more consistency because of the tank. The tiny AB compressors are direct output, and have little use other than for an airbrush. Mine has a pressure cut off at about 30psi, but the constant pressure is somewhere around 18-20. I prefer a little higher pressure for spraying, and get around that by 'pulsing' the spraying instead of using a constant spray. I didn't really expect stellar performance from a $50 compressor, and I was right. If you have the budget to spend a couple of hundred on a compressor, then you can get a top notch AB compressor that WILL supply and maintain a pretty precise pressure. More $$ equals more ability. The advantage to an airbrush compressor (purpose built) is that they are VERY quiet. I can have mine running on my porch and my wife can't hear it on the other side of a sliding glass door.

Then again, I may have some adjustments to make on mine....

In any case, if you have any other reason to have a compressor, get something like a pancake compressor from Lowe's or Home Depot. You can always build a sound restrictive box to keep it in.