Bob Blea

Hello and welcome! I've seen some of your work in other postings, you've got some great color in those carvings! Nice work. Bob

I'm looking forward to taking some classes there. I think I'll even have an entry for the contest. Bob

That looks great!

Good morning, How big of a piece is it? I'm guessing you want to burnish something the size of a motorcycle seat? I've seen saddle makers use a tool (I believe it's usually called a bouncer) that is a round knob on the end of a stick. They use it like a bone folder to work the seat of a saddle down into the tree and into the shape they need. When I've seen it done the leather is very wet, just like wet forming, and it doesn't seem to burnish much. However, I think if the leather was very dry, like for tooling, I think it mightburnish it. The key will be applying a lot of pressure when you do it. When tooling I can burnish a small area with the rounded end of my stylus though it's not a really dark burnish like you get when tooling. I don't think it will be easy to do a large area that way. If you can find a small smooth round knob and rub that over the leather with a lot of pressure it might work. Or, do you have a press? A smooth flat plate might work if the leather was cased but pretty dry. for what its worth, Bob

Hi Dave, welcome to the forum! You're off to a good start. Just keep trying things on scraps and decide what you like and don't like. Trying things is the best way to learn this stuff! And as you have questions feel free to post them here. Someone will help you out. Bob

Hi Robert, I do put the Neatsfoot on before anything else, and then I let it set for at least 8 hours, usually overnight. I just oiled a couple of notebooks and they will probably sit for a couple of days before I do anything else with them. As you let the oil set it spreads out through the leather. When you first put it on it will look blotchy but it evens out over time. You only put on a light coat and once things even out the leather doesn't feel oily at all and it doesn't seem to effect dye or antique penetration at all that I've seen. In my experience the finish coat has always been the last thing you put on. The super sheen or any other sheen products will resist the oil or other product too. Bob

Hi Robert, I use Tandy Eco-Flo antiques and I haven't (yet) had a problem with them rubbing off even when I didn't put a sealing top coat on them. I tried using Satin Sheen as a resist before and never got consistent resisting, so I was never happy with it. I'm suspicious the Satin Sheen isn't keeping your dye in place. Once thing I can recommend that you didn't mention in your process is adding Neatsfoot oil. I normally oil after tooling before doing any finishes, and if I dye the background I go back and add a little more oil to those areas. I've been told the solvents in the dye can destroy the natural oils in leather so going back and restoring them with Neatsfoot not only helps with that, it also helps to better set the dye. Maybe that additional step can help make sure you don't get rub off? Just a thought, Bob

I can understand your problem. I too don't have the close up eyesight I used to, and black leather would make it that much harder. I found that just to be able to do a good job sewing, I needed really good lighting and I had to buy my first pair of reading glasses. It was the only way I could make sure I had everything lined up right. Bob

Love the artwork!

Those look great! Bob

Love it Mike! That border that goes around the stool is great, and the lacing looks fantastic too. Great work!

Stunning work, just stunning! Your work is definitely an inspiration. Bob

Congratulations Aaron! And that is a good idea too about entering our local fairs. I'll try for next year. Bob

I use Wyosheen from Sheridan Leather Outfitters as a resist when antiquing, but I do but it on thick enough that it waterproofs the leather but isn't particularly shiny. If you apply a thicker layer it does get shiny. But as Benlilly said it doesnt' last forever and will wear off eventually. Bob

Wow, thanks mrdabeetle, I had never heard of that before. That's really good info to know. Hope I never run into it either. Bob

If you are looking for a dark impression over a lighter surface, you probably want to use Antique, not a dye. In most cases the dye will darken everything and you probably won't be able to see any of the burnishing you make on properly cased leather. With an antique, you (probably) want to add an additional step of applying a resist. Typically in Sheridan style floral carvings you first coat the item with something that is going to prevent or 'resist' allowing the antique to penetrate the leather and thus keep it lighter. It will also make the higher points in the carving come out lighter and have a greater contrast to the lower points (your stamp). I have an example of the difference this makes. This first picture is of a geometric stamp with Tandy Eco-Flow tan antique applied and then wiped off, but no resist was used. The antique darkened the leather overall, and the stamp impressions are pretty dark: Now here is the exact same stamps on a different notebook, but this time I've applied Wyosheen, a product that resists the antique. I applied the same antique and then wiped it off. Notice how their is greater contrast in the resisted notebook: Does that make sense? Bob

Ski, Tree Reaper hit it on the head when he said your leather is too wet. Try reading through Bob Park's tutorial on casing: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=19121 You will want to let the leather dry a lot longer than 15 minutes. It needs to return to almost natural color which will take many hours after which the leather will burnish (get darker) when you stamp it.. Also, some of the darkening you might be seeing on projects could be coming from antiqing, which applies dark colors into the low lying areas on stamping or carving in leather. You will get much greater contrast when using an antique than you can just from burnishing alone. Bob

I like JLS and Dwighs answers better, use the grain side of the leather. As I think about it more, I would worry that the atom wax surface would collect grits too. Better to go with the grain side of a lining leather. Bob

LeatherHead, I would be concerned that a suede surface would trap grit next to the glass and cause scratches. It wouldn't be much better than having the unfinished flesh side of the cover against it. I would either use a thin leather liner with the grain side towards the glass, or use pigskin, or I might just seal the existing flesh side with something like Fiebings leather balm/w atom wax. I have used the leather balm on the flesh side on occasion with a slicker and got a fairly smooth surface, and the was seals it somewhat. Just my suggestions, Bob

Cool idea. I really admire your work, it's first class! Bob

Very nice, I like the simple design.

I've done that with Leather Balm w/Atom Wax, but that product doesn't look like a gel so I'm pretty sure that's not what they are using in the book. Bob

Thanks Frank, this is good info. I appreciate your posting this tutorial. Makes me want to try this tool out. Bob

Looks great Mike!