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Two thumbs up!

Beautiful work. Your sheath complements the knife well.

Welcome, Dennis, and good luck with your project. Lots of knowledgeable folks hang out on this site, so feel free to fire away with questions as they come to mind. Best, -Alex

I think there's a lot of wisdom in Mike's advice. Kind of a "middle-of-the-road" approach.

Meg, Satin Shene should be cut with water. Spraying will give you fairly flawless coverage, though using a damp sponge isn't too bad either. Regarding ruboff, there is none using Eco-Flo dyes. The reason ruboff happens with spirit dyes is that the pigment particles are suspended in liquid, so excess pigment becomes ruboff. With Eco-Flo dyes, the pigment is actually liquid -- in fact, the entire concoction is liquid and, if not overapplied, will entirely absorb into the leather. I'm a big believer in Eco-Flo dyes and have been using them since their introduction in June of 2007, but I'm sure there's lots I still don't know. Tandy Leather stocks a new book called Coloring with Eco-Flo, by Tony and Kay Laier. I'd highly recommend it for learning how to get the best out of the Eco-Flo line. Good luck!

Meg, your wall hanging is a beautiful piece of work, no matter what the color. In regards to your questions, you don't need to re-oil the leather to "seal" the color. A light coat of oil lubricates the leather fibers, but does very little to color (other than darken it). You might consider switching from oil to Lexol, which conditions as well or better than oil but darkens less. Regarding cutting alcohol-based dyes with denatured alcohol, I believe you can mix it any way you want. It's all alcohol one way or the other -- the liquid is simply the suspension mechanism for the dye pigment. As for another resist with a matte finish, you might want to take another look at the acrylic-based Satin Shene. Put several very light coats on with a sponge or cut 50% and apply with an airbrush. Either way should give you a nice satin finish. Although you didn't ask this question, I'd take a look at Tandy's Eco-Flo line of dyes. They're water-based, which means they're not the best choice for outdoor gear that's exposed to lots of moisture, but they're plenty durable and color-fast. And I've found the right custom color is easier to achieve, maintain, and reproduce time and time again. I gave up on spirit-based dyes because every color I tried to create ultimately ended up black or very dark brown. (Which seems to be your experience, as well.) One more tip -- don't experiment with dyes, conditioners and finishes on a finished product. That's what scrap's for! Good luck, and I hope the above information helps a bit! -Alex

Bravo! Very unique!

I love it when leatherworkers are able to establish their own style and identity... Noah, you've certainly done that in your work. Really nice.

(quietly enjoying this thread before it gets banished to the Adult section...)

Looks great! Please continue to post pictures of your work -- it's fantastic.

Whew! That's mighty nice for a first try. Congrats!

Lloyd, since the whole point of applying oil to leather is to penetrate and lubricate the fibers, I have a hard time believing there's any difference in doing it before or after dyeing -- at least from the leather's perspective. However, you may get different results from your dye depending on whether it's applied before or after oiling. Personally, I use Eco-Flo dyes and I like the fact that a light coat of neatsfoot oil evens out the color and darkens it a bit, so I always oil after dyeing and before applying the acrylic finish. My recommendation is to experiment on scrap to see if you notice any difference. Good luck!

Interesting concept and superb execution and workmanship. Still, in my neck of the woods, this would be better admired indoors than shown out in public!

Mighty fine work, Josh! Keep it up!

Nice work, S.T. Keep it up!

Wow. Great work!

Bravo!

Sparks, welcome to Leatherworker.net. It sounds like you have an interesting hobby in Colonial reenacting. Living here in Virginia, I get exposed to a little of that at Colonial Williamsburg and other historic sites. It's nice to step back in time at these places, though it's best to do so in the winter so you can actually imagine life at that time -- without being surrounded by large groups of loud school children!

That's some of the best figure carving I've seen on this site. It's incredible how much detail you were able to achieve. Really nice.

What a masterpiece! I love the color, and the carved pattern complements the case well. Congrats!

I read in a home improvement magazine that the best way to remedy spiders in the basement is to run a dehumidifier at 40% or less. Spiders apparently absorb moisture through the air, and humid climates in the southeast are very favorable. I do this at home with good results. Good luck!

Very nice! I especially like the carving of the prospector.

Beautiful job! Congrats!

Obviously I'm a latecomer to this thread, but I couldn't miss the opportunity to give congrats on a fantastic seat.

Wow. Looks like Chuck Burrows has some competition! Super job!