NewYorkerInSydney

Hello Good People, In the next couple of weeks I would like to purchase and airbrush compressor. I would like your help in finding out what I should look for in a compressor. I will be using it to dye vegetable tanned leather with Fiebings oil dyes and Eco Flo dyes. Probably whole hides and more often than not, I will be dyeing small products. It probably won't be on more than a couple of hours a day. Now, I'm not looking for help with any particular brand, as I live in Australia and some American brands may not be easy to find here. I just would really LOVE your help with knowing what I should look for in a compressor as far as size, type, pressure, speed or whatever else you think I need to know about. I'd like to keep it under $200. I will probably be buying something from eBay, though will look elsewhere if I know what to buy. I sincerely appreciate your help. Kind regards, NYIS

Hi folks, I would like to know if you can recommend some places in which I could submit some templates digitally and have them laser cut on something thick like acrylic or whatever and have them shipped to me? Any suggestions? Thanks for your help, NYIS

Hello good people, Thanks very much for your suggestions. I am now playing around with a few, but haven't made up my mind yet which I like better. I really appreciate your help! Kindly, NYIS

Oh and Id like to mention that Illustrator is out of the question as I can't afford that, but Im not looking for free software either. Im happy to pay for something that works well and is very affordable. Thanks again.

Hello everyone, Perhaps this question has been asked before but I am not able to find it in the search. I would like to start making my patterns with software so that they are more accurate. Can you all tell me what software you all use to create designs that I can later print out for templates? I really appreciate your help. Cheers, NYIS

Hello everyone, Perhaps this question has been asked before but I am not able to find it in the search. I would like to start making my patterns with software so that they are more accurate. Can you all tell me what software you all use to create designs that I can later print out for templates? I really appreciate your help. Cheers, NYIS

Thanks so much for showing us this. Can you tell us what software you used to make these templates with? THanks much.

Hi Katsass, Thanks for that suggestion. I will look it up. Anyone else have any suggestions? Id love to hear any/all. Finding a good glue will honestly bring my stress levels down substantially. Cheers mates, Nyis

Hiya folks, Ive been having a hard time getting Tanners Bond Contact Cement to work for me and on top of that I find it extremely messy and the smell is just too much even with all my windows open. Can anyone suggest anything that is very strong to hold two pieces of leather together. I like to make camera wrist straps, double sided belts and watch straps and need for them all to be very well held together and that will not come apart? I was using Tandy Leathercraft Cement before and was told I shouldn't be using it because it is a temporary type of glue so I switched to the contact cement which I hate. I look forward to your help. I'm very desperate! Thanks, Nyis

Hello everyone, Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to me. I appreciate it so much. I have started testing the glue again on a bunch of strips with everyones advice to see if it works better for me this time. I will keep you updated. THANKS SO MUCH AGAIN. Kind regards, Brooklyn girl in Sydney

Hi guys, Thanks so much for your replies. I appreciate it. Ok. So I have tried now to glue while it is tacky as you said. I did this yesterday and let this stuff dry over night so I can make sure its dried. So I test it by trying to pull it apart. Its not easy, BUT it still slides around. I glued two surfaces together after applying the glue to both sides and letting it get tacky for a few minutes. I left it alone and cut the leather into belt width strips. When I flex it (twist it slightly the way it would if it were used over your shoulder as a bag strap) you can see from the edges that they are sliding a little bit. THere is nothing firm about it. This is bad because the edges are not aligned anymore. This is SO frustrating. I had been using the white tandy leather cement that is water based and that seemed to hold way better than this. Any ideas? I don't think its a bad batch of glue here as I purchased several bottles of this stuff from two different places. I'm two seconds from quitting this and using the white water based glue again. I look forward to hearing from you. Best, NYIS

Hi everyone, I need some help. I've recently started using Tanners Bond Contact Cement because everyone kept telling me that it is stronger and better than what I was using before which was Tanners Bond Leathercraft Cement. Ok, I've tried using this several times and I don't know what I am doing wrong, but after I glue the items and let them dry, I find that the leather slides around and even comes apart. I was told that after I apply the glue to the underside of leather that I should let it dry a few minutes until it is no longer tacky to the touch. I tried that but the leather still comes apart easily. Can someone PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me the CORRECT way to use Tanners Bond Contact Cement? I really appreciate it. Thank you, NYIS

Hello good people, I have purchased natural vegetable tanned leather from a few places, but haven't been terribly impressed by the quality of the leather ie. lots of scars, blemishes, dirt, you name it. Will someone please tell me once and for all where I can get some really, really beautiful clean, clear, nearly blemish free, top quality undyed vegetable tanned leather in 4 oz please? Im looking for entire sides of the really good stuff. Thanking you eternally, NYIS

Hello everyone, I would like to know where I may find 4-5 oz vegetable tanned leather that is as close to white or pale as you can get? I don't really like the pink of certain veg tanned leathers and I think the really light (white) leathers dye best for me. Any suggestions? Thank you so much, NYIS

Hi everyone, Thanks for all the good and helpful comments. Sounds like a one ton press will do the job for me then. Good, cause they are cheaper than the 2 ton. You know, I saw some nice ones on this Infinity site or something and they are really expensive. I did a quick search on ebay and found some of similar "tonnage" for much less. I will definitely go the cheaper route then. Cheers, NYIS

Hi everyone, So I have all this new hermann oak leather and other kinds of plain vegetable tanned leather. I want to make a few things with them without dyeing them. However, I really don't like the natural color of the leather now as it is a somewhat pinkish color. I have seen sooo many photos of leather goods that are vegetable tanned and have developed a patina within a year. How can I accelerate the process of creating a patina on leather? How can I make it look darker and more tan and not so pink in a short time? Thanks for your help!! NYIS

Hi everyone, I decided that I would like to purchase an arbor press. I currently use a custom stamp on my leather that I strike with a mallet. However, my logo is often crooked. I don't like that and sometimes the impression does not show evenly. I'm over it. I have been looking at arbor presses and there are many kinds and at many prices. It seems that you buy them in the amount of tons they can press or something like that. To press an imprint onto leather what tonnage do you recommend? I see them at half ton, a ton and two tons. I am pretty sure I do not need anything beyond that. How do I choose which weight? I will be stamping onto 4-6 oz leather. Thanks very much for your help. NYIS

Wow, you guys are so skiilled. Such beautiful leather goods! All those holsters are gorgeous and so is that motorcycle pouch. Wow. Thank you for posting those photos. And hey, Fordsmstack, thanks for that chart. That looks helpful. Some of the eco flo dye colors look great. I just keep hearing about how those dyes fade a lot though. Im loving looking at these photos. How about some beige colors or very pale tans like camel or something? Anyone got anything like that? To CEM: Hey, I have had my pro oil fiebings dyes imported from the US. I'm open to other brands as long as the color is nice and I can trust that it won't come off quickly. Can I see your photos? PS. Im going to Birdsall leather this week in case you want me to pick you up something and mail it to you. Cheers all, I look forward to more replies and photos. Jenna

Hello Big O, Thanks for your reply. Wow, that holster is very beautiful. It is really nicely done and I really love the color. Just linseed oil, eh? Great job. Anyone else have any photos they can share, please? Thanks very much. Jenna

G'day good people, I hope this was an ok place to post this. I am looking to dye stuff in various shades of light tans and very light browns. There are so many dyes in the market that I really just can't buy them all to experiment. Will you be so kind as to post photos of any of your leather creations that were dyed with Fiebings dyes in various light tans and very light browns and please post the name of the color you used to make it? It would make my life easier. Thank you, thank you so much. Many kind regards from Sydney, Jenna

To all of you who responded, I wanted to thank you for your assistance. It helped. I really appreciate you taking the time to post a response. Many kind regards, NYIS

Hello friends, Thank you for your replies. The pouches could have started as a variety of colors, I suppose. What I would like to know is how to recreate that color. Is there a dye that is very similar to those pouches? Thanks very much. NYIS

Hi everyone, I really would like to replicate the color that you see on these leather pouches. I have purchased Tandy dye in light brown, walnut, saddle tan and canyon tan. None of those look anything at all like what you see in the two photos, particularly the photo of the pouches. Does anyone know what sort of dye I would need to get close to that color? I really appreciate it. Thank you. NYIS

Hiya folks, would any of you fine people know where I would be able to purchase Irish linen threads and thick nylon threads in New York City? I am looking for somewhere with an extensive selection of threads and not the kind that is used in a sewing machine. I'd like to purchase them in person and not over the internet. The threads are to be used to sew holsters, belts, bags etc so they need to be on the thicker side though not necessary a rope either. Thank you in advance for any leads. Many kind regards! Nyis

Hi good folks, What effect does leaving leather (with or without oil) out in the sun have on the leather? I'm just curious. Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you. Sydney girl.