Leather Ink

This reply might be a little late, but I was thinking antiqued and recessed into the top of either a jewelry box or recipe box.However you use it, I'm certain it will stay beautiful.

Great to see your work up again! How exactly do you use the sand paper and water to burnish? I use gum tragacanth and a bone folder, is it much the same?

Love the fish! Keep at it, you got good start going!

Thank you very much! That gives me a lot to go on from here and I will start looking at all of them if I can. I mainly do tattoo themed carving and I am interested in figure carving, in case you have anymore suggestions. I really appreciate the quick response. Dave.

BRL, I have run into a similar problem, but I have had an unbiased person help me with this. Tandy people are salespeople first and for most, so they have to sound like experts. I went to a friend of mine for some help and to figure out way this is happening. He is a artist/painter, who works primarily in acrylics, and after a few days of having my Cova Colors he deduced: 1- In order to maintain flexibility on the leather without cracking it has some latex mixed in, which is pretty sticky. 2- They are sold in a very heavy bodied consistency and can be mixed with a fair amount of water before applying it to the leather. * Warning more water equals lower latex level, therefore less flexibility* 3- They are cheaply manufactured, so you are best off only using it with brushes and not an airbrush. Liquitex brand paints, like Basics acrylics, thinned down a little clog an airbrush less frequently. Either way I have found after applying the paint, coating it with satin shene and then using an atom wax or leather balm the only sticky feeling is the initial waxy one from the carnuba (misspelled I know) wax. I hope this was helpful, Dave.

My Tandy stamps are plated as most of you know and I am sick of them flaking. I realize it is only a matter of time before they have to be replaced. Please tell me of tool makers that I can purchase better quality stamps; ones that might last a lifetime. I have seen the Barry Kings and they look nice, but I can't find any others to compare and contrast this brand. I need your help, because I am semi-professional and am looking to become a pro at this craft, but I can't do so with inferior tools. Thank you for your time, Dave.

Fantastic! I want to do work that clean, everything looks so perfect. Can't wait to see more! Dave.

Finished the art work, all there is left to do is sew it up snap a few more pictures and I'll have the best looking composition notebook at my college; I hope.

Here is a few more for the updates, more coming soon.

I'm using an ABS swivel knife from Tandy. A lot of it was carved with a 3/8" hollow ground, some with a standard 1/4" angle blade, and the rest with an old 3/8" straight I found at a garage sale and restored.

Well, I finished carving and tooling. I dyed it using Timber Brown using Tandy's eco flow dye with an airbrush. I know the picture looks like it has splotches, but it doesn't. I'm no photographer and I had some shadows. I am very satisfied with the results so far. Next is laying down the color with cova's through an airbrush and some fine brush work. I would really like any advice on how to get a conditioner or oil in before I put down the satin shene and antique. Happy tooling all and I hope you like what I'm doing.

Thank you Timd! I would love to take credit for the spine idea but I got that from Tomswede.

I have found airbrushing to be the most consistent way to get even color with eco flow products. Cleaning up with water, since they are all acrylic's is nice too.

We've all been at the beginning before and when you're learning try not to compare your work to others too much. You said you were happy the way it turned out, then be happy and next time try to improve one or two things each time you do it. My first time I carved what was supposed to be a flower and it looked like a muttled piece of poo.