TomG

Smells like ammonia... Be sure to cut it 50/50 with water. No sub that I know of other that the standard toppings Look in the Dyes section of the forums and you'll see hundreds if not thousands of posts on various methods and type of finishes. You can get the leather balm at Tandy in Neutral which works for all colors. Other sites may still carry it in brown. black and a few other colors, but I herd Fiebings was going to discontinue most if not all of the colors ones... I could be wrong on that though. I prefer Fiebings dyes. Tom

winterbear hit it pretty well. I use Supersheen if it's gotta flex a lot. Resolene if it's flat... OR, I dilute the Res a little more and apply VERY thin coats and then constantly flex the item as it dries, then let it dry for 30 minutes before adding the second coat. remember.. you are not trying to put a plexiglas type surface on it..... just protecting the finish. I use 50/50 or full strength Resolene for blocking, which is what you are describing as a negative effect. I use the leather balm right on top of the dye after it's dried. Then I apply the antiquing after the balm dries. Then after the antiquing dries, I apply the sheen or res... The Sheens tend to smear with the antiquing paste and allow the paste to affect the dye... at least with the Fiebings that I use... the leather balm doesn't... The plastic blade is probably a plastic bone folder. See picture I'm attaching. they are pretty cheap. I've seen some of those satanbarber vids. Not bad, but he's kind of "chatty". Tandy has over 80 free videos on their site that will give you some step-by-step directions on stuff. Check them out. the only issue I have is some of them are choppy on my PC... but that's probably on my end. I get chatty to, though.... In a nutshell: 1) Block 2) Dye 3) Balm 4) Antique 5) Finish Later

I haven't used a lot of these, but decided to try some out this evening. I applied several coats, buffing lightly between coats to get a darker stain. I like the fact that the leather's texture is still visible. I used a Thistle Green, which came out like a light green. I applied my normal Neutral Leather Balm with Atom Wax and it lifted about 2 - 3 coats off. Pretty much took it back to the color of a single coat/application of the stain. So, either I'm wrong in thinking stains can be darkened by repeated coats like dyes can, or I need to use something else to finish. Any suggestions? Thanks Tom

Ohio Travel Bag sells a slot punch tool pretty cheaply. I think it was under $10, and they do have minimums. I'm attaching a picture as well. It does have a few issues: 1) The pins are pretty thick. Punches a pretty thick slot - really too thick for smaller spots. I have seen instructions somewhere on how to thin and narrow them. This should make it a lot better. 2) The pins are soft. They usually have to be repositioned every spot or 2, and you do it with finger pressure. I've also done some reading on how to harden metal. The thinning and hardening are on my "to-do" list 3) When you put the pins in the closest together slot in the center, they are a bit too wide for the smaller spots. You can put the pins together in 2 slots on either side of center for closer spacing, but then you are punching off-center. Not much you can do about that. OTB does have minimums, but they MIGHT sell you one as a "sample".. They've been good to me about lowering minimums at times, when necessary. If you'r ewilling to do these improvements, it's worth it. Especially if you have a lot to place. Until I can make the mods, I just use my dividers and a small lacing punch. Tom

Yeah, but Bobby is right. The rubber cement will leave splotchy residue. If you want to dye the flesh side, it makes for an ugly job. Of course, I've only dyed the insides once or twice after using RC,and found it looked better leaving it alone Tom

I am relatively new to leatherwork compared to a lot of folks here, but can share what I've learned. First, as you search and read through the various posts and forums, you're going to find that like most things, there are as many different ways to skin a cat as there are cats. And some products don't play well with other products. As an example, I've seen posts where people reported using EcoFlo dyes and when they applied the finish (I think it was either Satin Sheen or Resolene, not 100% sure though), it took the dye and made it muddy and smeared.. That being said, here's my general procedure, say for a belt. Cut strap... punch holes and tongue slit on buckle end....Cut grooves if I'm using them... Bevel edges if needed (I almost always edge the flesh side).... Case strap...Tool as desired... Apply Resolene to any places I want to mask from dyeing... let dry overnight Wet small piece of sponge and dilute dye if needed and test on a piece of same leather scrap. It usually lightens up a little as it dries. Use a circular motion to apply the dye to strap. Let dry for an hour or more... Apply Leather Balm with Atom Wax... let sit for a few minutes and vigorously buff to a sheen. If needed, apply antiquing with a dauber in a circular motion, getting into all cracks, grooves and crevasses. Almost immediately, I use a coarse, stiff piece of something like canvas folded into a pad to wipe it off. I use it like a block to get all the surface stain off and leave the stain in the indentations. I then let this dry for at least a few hours... usually overnight. Next, I use saddle soap on the edges and burnish... let dry for a while.Then I usually use an edge dressing on the edges and let dry. Apply a couple of very light coats of Resolene diluted 50/50 with water, drying between coats for 15 minutes or so. If you apply it too heavily, you'll pull the antiquing out and smear it on top of the leather. Plus, it will crack when flexed. An airbrush is the ideal method, but if I just have 1 item to do, I'll use an old piece of thin cotton cloth, like a dress shirt fabric, as it holds a lot less liquid than tee shirt type material. Let dry and buff it. Finally, and I get laughed at by some about this <g>.... But, I rub Mink Oil Paste into the flesh side and then run the leather through my hands, flexing it front and back. The strap usually becomes soft and limp as a dishrag after that... And.. it doesn't have the odor that you get with Neats Foot Oil. Anyway, that's basically how I do it. I'm sure there are other and better ways to do the same thing, but this is what works for me. Do a lot of reading and experiment with other techniques and see what works best for you. Tom

That sounds right. I do know the oils seem to penetrate better and in my limited experience with them, they seem to have better out-of-the-bottle color matching than spirit.

Dustyn: Read the whole thread here and/or look up the Peter Main method of casing - I think it's outlined in this thread.- don't have time to search through 4 pages for it <g> He uses some sort of artist board. It's a bit expensive to keep replacing though. I use a sheet of acrylic that I got from Hobby Lobby for $2 and use rubber cement to attach the leather. Wet, let dry to the proper level and cover with a piece of taped up window glass. Works OK, but I think Peter's method of using a larger piece of thick plate glass would probably work better to help distribute the moisture better. Tom

Probably subliminal I've read somewhere about the differences between spirit and oil based but can't remember off the top of my head. I did know they both have alcohol. I'm OK with the spirits cause they have lots of colors, but I won't use anything BUT oil based for black. Too much rub off with USMC Black. Tom

How are you applying the dyes? Dry sponge, wet sponge, fleece scrap, dauber????? Cyber is right. EcoFlo dyes have their own issues. Fiebings are my preferred dyes. The spirit dyes work well, but my experience is that the oil dyes are better. But I'd guess 70+% of people use spirit over oil. And that's just a guess from all the reading I've done. With the spirit dyes, you can dilute them to get different shades as well. Personally, I use a damp sponge and apply the diluted dye in a circular motion, trying to keep a consistent pattern and depth as I apply it. Just remember, you can always apply more dye to darken it but it's tough to remove it and go lighter. Oh.. Pictures posted here can help people help you. Tom

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. I think I'm going to cut a decorative piece, form it and sew it in place of that bend as mlapaglia suggested.

Let's see if I can get a couple to stick here

Well, I feel the Resolene was not the cracking item. I dilute it 50/50 with water and I used a mist type spray from my airbrush. Let it dry and made a second light coat. I looked like the leather actually cracked. I've used NFO before but usually on belts that are darker shades. I have some Lexol 4-way but haven't done much with it so far. I mainly use the Leather balm applied like a block dye, as a top sealer to block the antiquing from darkening the leather. I only want it (antiquing) in the impressions. Although it does do a little softening, it's mainly on the surface from my experience. I guess I need to play with the NFO some more and see how it works first hand. I've never even heard of oiling before tooling!. How does it affect the water used for casing? As for the mink oil paste, it's mink oil in a paste form. The mink oil liquid, like the NFO, can easily be applied too heavily and change the color or shade of the leather. The paste form makes it much easier to apply the oil evenly and consistently. I mainly use it on my collar, leashes, belts, bracelets and other strap try products. It takes a stiff strip of finished leather and makes it soft and limp as a noodle.... Wh`at about wetting after all of this is done. is it recommended? How wet... won't it affect the dye/stain??

Nope. It had dried, been dyed, antiqued, waxed and oiled from the back with mink oil. I didn't know how wetting the interior would affect all of the finishing on the front. Especially since it had already had the mink oil applied.

I just finished a Tandy purse kit and the final step was to fold over the top flap. Bloody thing cracked across the top!!!! I cased (Peter Main method), carved and tooled. Then dyed using the new Tandy Professional waterstain. Applied a light coat of neutral leather balm with atom wax. Antiqued with Feibings antiquing. After dry I laid down 2 very light coats of 50/50 diluted Resolene with a airbrush. Next day, put on a couple of coatings of mink oil paste on the flesh side of everything. Then assembled. All looked and felt great until I bent that flap over. Anyone have any clues as to why this might have happened? Personally, I'm thinking old, dry leather and that I should have maybe used NFO... but I didn't want to darken it. Clues? Ideas??

Wow.. no responses... surprising. I did see some at some Chinese wholesale site, but I would have to order 1000 of them. Not gonna happen . Oh well. Back to the web search. Tom

I am at the end of my wits looking for this. It is a double prong, roller buckle and is used on watch bands. I can find the entire band premade, but I'm doing a custom band to replace my customer's old, broken one. His original had the buckle but it's pretty worn. It is for a 1-1/2" strap, but the depth is only about 7/8". I found some 1-1/2" double prong roller buckles and ordered 5, but they just came in today and they are way too long and the prongs are huge. OK for a belt, but not usable on a wrist. Does anyone have a source for these? I have tried OTB but no luck. Thanks Tom

I've sent several PM's to what I thought was the admin but not heard anything back. Can I get access to the over 18 forum please. Thanks Tom Name: Tom Gregory UserName: TomG IP Address: 146.1.1.1 Email Address: tom@legacyleathercraft.com

OK.. Thanks. I never knew that. I know my wife's home machine never had that issue with fabric, so we assumed the commercial machine was the same. It really knocks out my confidence in our - not one - but 2 local repair places/techs that I discussed this at length with. But if that's what it take, so be it. I DO have a feeling it might be the combo of leather/ needles/ thread. When we first got this machine, we were primarily using it to sew up folding chair backs after embroidering them. I don't recall having that issue with it on those. But it's been a while, so I could be just having senior forgetfulness. I appreciate all of the help. And to all who are looking for a machine and piecing it together... Be SURE to get a GOOD servo motor with small pulley. I find that I like to sew REAL slow on smaller items or when close to an edge. My servo is a Consew 3/4 HP and the only issue I've seen is that at the very lowest end of the speed range, it doesn't have the torque to go through the leather for the first couple of stitches without help on the handwheel. Speeding up just a hair eliminates the problem. But also, at those low speeds, I don't have a lot of speed control with the foot treadle. Lessons learned on buying a used machine from all of this??? 1) take some product you want to sew when buying a machine. 2) Make sure they have the needle/thread that you will need to use. 3) If you buy it, video the seller doing a threading, top and bottom. 4) is anything has to be dismantled, take lots of pictures (learn by helping someone reassemble theirs. 5) Read.. Read... Read.. Ask questions . Thanks to everyone for all of their help on this. Tom

OK.. I do NOT have enough hair left to go much further with this. I posted a thread a while back about my machine and the J-hook issues. Well, I did bite the bullet and had a local "top notch" shop install it and adjust it. The had a sample with 20+ stitch runs without issue, under the needle when I got the head back. I got it home and loaded up some 138 and tried it on a couple of pieces of 3oz put together and it bunched up.. I figured, OK, they used 69 and maybe the top tension needed to be tweaked. No matter what I do, it bunches up UNLESS I grab the thread tag ends and pull some tension on them for the first 2-3 stitches. Then it's fine. I have adjusted the tension from sloppy loose to OMG tight and it will still not sew without bunching those first stitches. Knowing my luck it's probably something simple and stupid, but who knows? Taking it back right now is not my first choice - I was bad and have let it stay here for a few months without saying anything to them. I doubt they will do anything about it without another $100+ shop checkout charge. My fault, of course. Anyone have any clues as to where to look or what to try? The pictures with the bunching are without tension on the ends of the thread and the "normal" ones are if I pull back on the ends. Tom

I emailed them for a quote for one for a Singer 111w155 and they "were not familiar with that machine". Does anyone know which of their listed guides are for one of the Singer clones? Thanks Tom

Are any of these machines that have been discussed clones of, or similar to, the old Singer 111W155? Tom

I made up a couple of batches back in the fall. I didn't like the smell either. I was told that if you have dissolved as much metal as the vinegar will eat, there should not be any vinegar smell left. The last batch didn't have as much of the vinegar smell as the first, but it does have that musty, rusted metal odor, with a slight vinegar undercurrent. A couple of issues I had during the learning process. Now this may have just been me. Too much soda in the wash will take all the oils out of the leather, leaving it brittle and stiff. If you rinse it under plain running water and rub it, you can feel the oils in the leather coming to the surface.. You can actually wash them all out if you're not careful. So, rinse lightly. The smell can take a week+ to go away. Best results I had: Dip the item for a minute or so, then take it out. Don't over do it. Often, it come out grey but within minutes in the air, turns jet black. Different leathers came out jet black right away. Rinse lightly and wipe down lightly. Immediately put a LIGHT coat of pure Neatsfoot oil on the flesh side. Let it dry thoroughly. Sometime, I will put another LIGHT coat of NFO on the flesh side once dry and let it set overnight. Too much oil and any SuperSheen or Resolene flakes off in a short time. All of this being said, I love the depth and intensity of the black that I get.. But.... I usually don't have the time to wait for the smell to go away. If I do, then I use it. I used to use the USMC Black spirit dye for everything. Got tired of burnishing the excess dyestuffs off. Now, for the fast turnaround jobs, I use the oil-based black. It's as close to the Vinegaroon as I've found. Tom

Just remember to practice first, of course <g>