Spinner

The folks at Springfield are great. I use their Kangaroo lace quite a bit and it's always been good quality. I have a business account with them and the pricing is very good. They also carry some items I had trouble finding locally like Fiebing White and Grey dyes. Only had one mistake on one order out of many (wrong color lace was sent) but one phone call to them and they had the right one shipped quickly and included a return label for the incorrect lace with no hassle.

There were hats in the picture? I better go have another look...

In the immortal words of Bob Ross, it's a happy accident...give something new a try and make lemonade out of the lemons. As other have mentioned, try distressed look or better yet, continue the technique and see if you can control the glue "masking" technique you have discovered. No sense in tossing a perfectly functional project simply because the plan changed slightly...especially when more lessons are waiting to be learned from it.

From the CanAm Spyder Forums via a post a guy made after taking a tour of the Corbin plant (you get a tour if you take your seat in to them in person to have one made at Corbin): Only Tanneries I know of in No. Cal able to supply the volume that Corbin would use is either Siegel or Hide House. I'd start with those two. Chris

Hey Dave, Taking a look around their website I did find a few things to get you closer. First off, the top of the saddle is leather but the sides are vinyl. Second, you are right about the texture being printed on, it is not a real exotic leather. As for the manufacturer, I haven't found that yet but I'm still looking. Chris

I agree. Just tell your side like it is and be truthful about the experience. I know if one of my products or service left that bad of a taste in someone's mouth I'd want to know about it so it could be fixed straightaway. Word of mouth is the best form of advertisement, but it can also cut both ways.

It definitely sounds like the edge it too damp. Aside from checking out Bob's article (which is awesome) it sounds like you're adding too much water. I let my articles dry completely then start the burnishing process. You really only want the edge fibers to be very lightly dampened, dipping your finger into the water/saddle soap and rubbing on the edge is all you need. The moistening agent is simply there to help slick the edges and prevent burn marks from the burnisher friction. Less water will also help the burnisher you are using. Being made of poplar or maple (have seen both) and not finished or burnished themselves combined with the wide grain on them allows them to soak up a portion of the moisture on the edge. This will slow down the burnishing process and break down the spring wood of the burnisher faster. Rosewood (Cocobolo), Delrin & Aluminum burnishers that are made properly don't have this problem. Whew...long story short: try it with less water and add a slicking agent like saddle soap or a drop of liquid dish soap to the water and apply lightly with your finger.

On the tank bibs I make I line the bottom with a soft felt from the fabric store. Make the bib as you normally would, lacing and all and then use 3M 90 spray glue to attach the felt to the bottom. If you cut it oversized you can then carefully cut it to size just under the outer lacing so the felt is hidden but will keep all the abrasive edges from touching the paint. I usually plan for stitching for the felt in areas that don't show like under the dash & seat. Only enough stitching to keep the felt in place should the glue fail later on down the road from age.

Same here. I get their tooling sides from time to time and haven't had an issue (aside when I didn't understand something correctly).

I'd say give them a call, they usually have pretty good answers about their product. I'm the curious type though, I'd go the route you stated and try it to see what I ended up with. That reminds me, I need to write up the review of the liquid matte this weekend. LOL

That looks freakin sweet. Just curious but what, if anything, did you do to the bottom?

Sounds about right. Model makers use a similar product for model paints when doing camouflage and there is even a pre-mixed version of it that is a no-shine clear coat called "Dullcoat". I haven't used the Angelus product you show but similar products are commonly used in other fields/hobbies so it would make sense that they offer one. Chris

Wish I could, I have tried the Pro-Oil Brown before when I was in Colorado. Unfortunately something about the pro-Oil dyes make them restricted for shipment to California.

yeah, my family is Mormon (obviously) but I'm the black sheep. My sister keeps telling me to make more of them and make them available so I might give it a shot one of these days. I used the prevail due to the coverage differences. An airbrush has a max spray pattern of 3" and only 2" with the high-end ones whereas the prevail has a 4" spray pattern and doesn't atomize the dye as much so for dark colors & deeper penetration applications it actually does a better job. The more paint and dye is atomized, the faster it dries which means - on the surface. So for items that are handled more often like book covers and bags the prevail wins out of the two for longevity of color. For control, blends & multi-color spraying the airbrush definitely wins.

Hey Bryan, Yeah, it does take quite a bit of rubbing if shot all at once I found. My best results with it were out of a prevail sprayer in 3-4 coats. Wiping on took a lot of rubbing to make it quite shedding color. Sad thing is I was really excited about it but after 4 projects I find that I get a better overall black from regular Fiebing Black but if I get the control right, USMC is a deeper black. Odd. My burnishers can be purchased here: http://www.threemutt...Burnishers.html at least until I finish the new burnisher specific website next week. The work never ends! The CTR shield was for some Christmas presents (Quad covers) that didn't end up happening for my nieces and nephews due to a miscommunication with my sister. One did get finished though so it will be a birthday present. Chris

Not sure about with leather projects but in woodturning Olive Oil is a no-no for food safe products as it can go rancid in the depths of the fibers. Walnut Oil on the other hand, doesn't spoil, has a similar color and is naturally stain resistant. I've used it on many salad bowls and it works great. I know we're not talking food safe with leather usually, just throwing some info out there.

I definitely wouldn't use it if the purpose is transferring patterns. The tracing film from Tandy is much better for that. Frisket Film has a low tack adhesive similar to blue painters tape so it will stick to the project and will leave a tiny amount of residue that will need to be cleaned off. The other problem is on wet/cased leather, tape & such pulls the pores more than it does on dry leather leaving 'fuzzy' patches where the tape was. Frisket Film is more for masking areas off when spraying color with an airbrush when you need many small or overlapping masks that can be removed/reapplied.

Yeah, sounds like you need a different thinning agent. Exactly what dye are you using (colors, etc)? Sorry, I don't recognize the term...When you say cross dye, do you mean blending/fading one color into another? Something like this? I that is the case, then I lay down the lighter color over the whole area to be colored and then start from the darkest area (the left side in this pic) and work the darker color over it, fading out as desired. By dying the whole piece with the lighter color first, it will avoid any demarcations or 'color borders' where the two colors meet. Some colors don't work well together (like Burgundy & black, don't ask me how I know) and will create a shiny line where the meet behind the blend. As for the undercoat drying question, you can go either way. The difference is that a wet undercoat will tend to blend more with the top coat so if you're trying to do fades, aging, etc dry undercoat usually works better with a top coat dry brush technique. If you're trying to get the colors to blend to a new shade/color on the piece then both wet works better.

Typically, if you're getting the big dark spot with colored edges it means that either the reducer/solvent isn't fully compatible with the dye type or the mix is too thin/not fully mixed. The brush/brushes could also be loaded with solvent from their last cleaning and are further diluting the mix. Personally, I prefer to use solvents I know already from having them in the shop instead of reducers. For acrylics & water based dyes - simple water works fine. For Spirit based I like denatured alcohol. For Oil dyes and the special colors like Fiebings white & gray, I used Specs Paint Thinner. What is the mixed dye/paint doing inside the container? Does it look evenly mixed or does the pigment look blotchy, congealed or separated (one floating on the other)?

Since there seems to be so much interest in the liquid masking techniques, I'll pick some up and give a good test with photos and everything to share with my LW buddies. They have a 2oz bottle for $7 which could well be worth the risk if it ends up being as good for leather as the online reviews say it is for delicate papers & canvas. On the airbrushes, keep in mind this guy is a detail model maker so his needs will be far more detailed than most of ours. As he mentions on the lower priced airbrushes, they do so-so on the fine detail but spray wide patterns and solid coverage applications just as well. If all you plan to do is solid color or two-color fades on larger projects like holsters, belts, etc. the HF, Badger and Paasche starter guns are a great way to get started. Radar - yep, the Badger 200 is a good workhorse airbrush, should work just fine. Just be sure to clean first it if it's been sitting awhile. Side note - I'm going to have to stay away from Coast Airbrush's website. Looking through their classes they have a airbrushing class with Noah from Noah Fine Art/Disney Vinylmation. That would be awesome (and expensive).