JustKate

Airbrushed dyes can stand up to mild abrasion. They do bond with the leather fibers, even if they don't penetrate as deeply, so it would take something to actually scratch or scrape into the leather grain itself to have much effect on the color, especially if you give it a durable sealing finish. I spray them on in multiple passes, and go pretty heavy on the final pass. Customers have sent photos of game boards I made them 10 years ago and the colors, though often faded slightly, have not scratched or rubbed off from being played on.

You didn't mention which grade you ordered, but the "special" grade from WC - their lowest grade of tooling leather - is pretty stiff and almost brittle in some cases, not to mention full of anomalies you have to cut around. I've had a few of them, and putting it plainly, they're just not that great. The higher grades ("utility" and "standard") have a firm hand but are smoother and more pliable than the special, and once you moisten them (at least the ones I've gotten), they become very workable, tool very crisply with a nice burnish, the best I've used for wet-molding, and I've gotten good enough yields from them to make them more economical than lower grades with lower yields. I also tried some Hermann Oak recently (in the last year), and it's different, but also very nice. So glad to still have two good tanneries in the US. Edit: Okay, now you did mention the grade. How was it after you moistened it?

They're more similar to wood stains on the "natural scale". In other words, really not natural at all. A more natural method to color and age veg-tan leather is to leave it out in the sun for a few weeks, and maybe burnish it a little (rub or strike it firmly in a few places to create brownish spots), or similar to the way Beaverslayer suggests. Veg-tan turns brown with direct sun exposure. Also an item that is handled and exposed to elements and abrasion over time (like a saddle, a chair, or a wallet), will develop a natural burnish that is very appealing. These things take time, though. As for dyes and stains, maybe a good starting point would be Fiebings products - dyes and antique paste. You can get them at Springfield Leather, Zack White, and other places. Then once dyed and/or stained, you always want to seal the color with a final finish of wax, lacquer, or acrylic. Fiebings Resolene seems to be a popular acrylic finish these days, although I mostly use a lacquer finish on my work. If you don't use any dye or stain, just a waxy conditioner will suffice as a finish.

Creating that aged look is not a very difficult thing to master, and there are numerous ways to do it, using either dye or stain ("antique"). In general, dyes are used differently than stains, where dyes are usually applied only to certain areas of your piece, and penetrate the leather fibers to color the leather. Stains or antiques are usually applied over the entire piece, and stay more on the surface of the grain and pool in any impressions or irregularities of the leather. Beav's approach is a little different than mine, but we both agree there are many ways to do it.

If I understand your question about "raw" leather, I believe you're referring to what we call vegetable tanned (or "tooling") leather that you would use if you're planning to do any stamping or tooling, such as you show in your photos of the tags. The samples you show would have been stained and finished after the tooling is done, so that type of leather normally comes unfinished. You can get it pre-dyed from some suppliers - ask about drum-dyed veg-tan - but to get that aged "vintage" look, you'd still need to stain and finish it after the stamping. For the hang tags - especially if they're going to all be identical - consider ordering a custom stamp, a clicker die, and a clicker press. They are getting more affordable all the time, and they'll save you a ton of time and money in the making of them. For the folios and bags, if you're not planning to do any tooling (or, you have major parts that won't require it), you can consider a range of chrome-tanned leathers that come completely finished - chap & upholstery leathers, for example. These are more soft and flexible, and you can just sew the pieces together and you're done. Really, there's more to it than that, but hopefully this at least answers a couple of your questions.

Okay, you're using oil dye with a brush. Good dye for very solid color and clean boundary lines. As Cyberthrasher pointed out, you'll want to experiment more with different amounts you load your brush with dye, and dab off a certain amount of it before making that first stroke with the brush on leather. How much you dab off will vary from one job to another, or even just depending on where you are in the design, and what kind of effect you're trying to achieve. Also, when you first hit the leather with your brush, it sometimes helps to make that first touch a little away from the boundary of where the dye will go, because the dye usually spreads out a bit from there. Then work gradually toward the boundary you want to define for the dyed area (in this case, the beveled line).

Sorry, gotta pelt you with a few questions about what you're doing... How big is the piece? What kind of dye are you using? What method are you using to apply the dye?

That's a very good way to explain it.

Those look great - WAY better than anything you'll find in a guitar shop.

I think what usually drives me to upgrade to a better quality tool is when I reach a point where I'm frustrated that I can't get the results I want with the tools I have. That was certainly the case with my bevelers. I was frustrated with how difficult it was to get rid of the track marks I was getting from the bevelers I got from Tandy. So I got some better ones (from Hidecrafter), and my beveling immediately became much better. But then, after using the new ones for a couple of years... one day I picked up my old Tandy bevelers, and did some work with them, and much to my astonishment, the results were much better than I remember from the last time I had used them. Wha...? Here's my theory. The new bevelers did indeed improve my beveling. They made it easier to do better work. But what they also did was raise my expectations of the results I get from the beveling. Over time, my skills continued to improve - though maybe not so noticeably, and by the time I tried the old bevelers again, my skills were much better, and also my expectation of the results. So, is it your skill that improves your work, or the tools? Answer: yes. [edit: grammar correction.]

Good thing you planned ahead, because it's going to outlast that laptop by at least a decade or two. Love the leather you chose for it, and it looks like it's going to do an excellent job of protecting that computer.

Here's one I designed a few years ago that's really easy to make.

Sorry this is redundant, but... very nice work, Tanya. Look forward to seeing more.

We should stage protests in the feedlots to force meat producers to spray the cows with bug spray to protect our leather. Oops, that might get us in trouble with the organic food crowd. Comment withdrawn.

I like the design you chose for that. I've done a few chair seats similar to this. The foam I used, which worked out nicely, was the cushion foam you can get at fabric or craft supply stores. I found a few photos I shot while putting one on a stool that you may find helpful... This shows how I mark the foam for cutting. Basically, I make a line about 1-inch inside the outer edge of the leather seat. This way, there is room for the leather to just come down over the edge of the foam all around, and make contact with the wood. With a square-shaped seat, I cut off just a little more at the corners. After cutting the foam to size, I insert my tacks in the leather. That stands them up to be tapped into the wood seat easily while holding the leather and foam with one hand and the hammer with the other. I just tap the tacks in part-way on the first pass, so that if anything goes wrong while I'm getting them all started, it's easy to remove them and redo any part of it you might need to. Once all the tacks are tapped about halfway in, and you're happy with where everything ended up, you can go around a second time and confidently tap the tacks the rest of the way down. Finished.

Here are some things that have helped me: I only use a chisel to mark where the holes go, and the awl to actually make the holes. This is because I like the holes to hold the thread very tightly once it's stitched, and when I make the holes with a punch, the holes are too big. If your awl is not sliding easily through the entire thickness of leather without much resistance, then you need to spend some time getting the awl really, really sharp. Most awls you buy do not come ready to use, and they require some work getting them adequately sharp to be usable. From what you've said here, I think this is your main problem. I had problems getting my awl sharp enough, until I discovered the wonders of wet/dry sandpaper in really fine grits. The needle of a stitching awl should have a diamond shape to it, and you need to maintain that shape as you sharpen the tip and edges of it. Also, if you struggle with making holes with your awl while it's in the stitching clamp, try laying the leather down on a piece of 1/2" foam core, and pre-cutting the holes before placing them in the clamp. If you do it this way, you will need to do the stitching immediately after making the holes, because they will close up over time, and become difficult to get the needle through.

Eric, you never cease to amaze me with your talent and creativity. Very glad I caught this, it's beautiful work.

Do you use anything to guide your groover?

Beautiful work, Nigel.

I like the idea - in fact, I've used them for years. Here's a leather business card I made from a delrin stamp I had made for me by Grey Ghost Graphics years ago. For this design, I added some tooling around the border. Each one is a couple minutes of work, so obviously I can't use them everywhere, but a typical reaction I get when I hand one out is, "Wow, now THAT is a business card." Don't know if I want to keep doing the added stamping or not, even though it is a nice touch, but I do plan to continue using them. (This one's out of date, by the way. I changed my domain name, so don't try to email me there.)

I think someone (maybe Peter Main?) posted a photo demo somewhere around here that shows that. I'll see if I can find it and post a link.

I'm not sure how the maker would feel if they knew their work was being publicly critiqued, but I have to agree with Mike and Jeff... to me, it looks kind of mucky, and is not a look I would be looking to reproduce. But if they are getting that kind of money for that kind of work, and the buyers are happy with it, more power to them. The way I see it, it only improves my prospects of finding good markets for my own work. But... you could get that kind of rough, dirty effect by applying some kind of resistive finish over the entire piece. (I wouldn't use BO for an application like this... more likely some kind of lacquer finish.) Then, smearing antique paste liberally over it, allowing it to dry slightly, then rubbing it almost completely off in some places, while leaving it heavily pooled in most of the depressions.

Hi judgesig, If you haven't already done so, I would suggest having a look at the holster making video tutorials on Eric Adams' (particle) web site. http://www.adamsleatherworks.com/hows-it-made/