jasonsmith

Has anyone used Angelus's duller to reduce the shine of their acrylic sealers? I know they have a matte acrylic sealer, but it still is pretty shinny like plastic. I know some dilute Fiebing's resolene with water to reduce the shine. But Angelus says to use their duller to reduce the shine of their acrylic sealers. "The Duller is available in 4 ounce, pints and gallons and comes with an eye dropper for precise mixing. The standard mixing ratio is 1 1/2ml of duller to a 1 ounce bottle of paint. The mixing ratio of the duller can be customized to the artisan's specific requirements. Well respected shoe painters recommend as much as 4.5 ml of duller per 1 ounce of paint. By making this product available separately, and not incorporating it directly into our Leather Paint, every artist can create a unique custom look. Additional eye droppers are also available separately."

Where do you get bar stock at?

What about using something thick so you can keep the blade vertical vs. a thin ruler that would let the blade lean when cutting?

Yes, the Fiebings Pro Oil dyes are the best. It doesn't harden the leather and there is hardly anything to buff out. Does anyone spray the acrylic sealers on? I've found it is real easy to get a crappy finish putting the acrylic sealer on with a sponge. Especially when there are bubbles in the acrylic sealer that you can't get rid of before it dries. I was thinking of doing a test piece using a small mist spray bottle. That way it puts it on thin.

Maybe you could try getting it off of ebay from a seller who doesn't mention non-shipment to California in their listing. Worst case is after you win it, they say they can't ship it and refund your money if you had already paid for it. Then you could try another seller. If it is excluded from California, then it must be good stuff.

You should try the Fiebings Pro Oil Black. How are you applying the acrylic resolene? I did some test pieces with a damp sponge and noticed it can come out blotchy because of the sponge. I'm thinking of doing some test pieces by spraying the acrylic resolene. Either with my Perval sprayer, or maybe a small mist bottle.

You will want to try out the Fiebings Pro Oil Black. It is a deeper/darker black than the USMC Black. The USMC Black looks like it has a redish tint to it. And the Pro Oil black doesn't stiffen up the leather like what can happen with the USMC Black and other dyes. The best thing about the Pro Oil black is there is hardly any buffing at all.

What I'm doing is cutting slits with my chisel for spots. I've got the design of how I want them arranged and where I'm supposed to cut the slits that I printed off. Which I planned on laminating and clamping on top of the leather. But figured it would be better to put the design actually on the leather instead of trying to punch a large chisel through a piece of plastic which could move. So, the lines would mostly be covered up by the spots. Plus, I plan to dye it black which should hide the ink anyways. I'm sure I could get a deglazer to try and clean off the ink before I dye. I think the main thing is whether the transfer paper would leave behind glue residue when you rub the design on the leather.

I was looking around. And it looks like there is some rub on transfer paper you could use. Not sure how easy that would be to take off. Or if it leaves just the color, or also leaves a film when you apply it. But I'd need something clear and exact. So, that would be something like the rub on transfer paper. Or clamping down the template on top of the leather.

Does anyone know if there is a kind of transfer paper that you can print a design out on your printer. Then lay it down and transfer the design on leather kind of like a temporary tattoo. That way way can tool or whatever you need to do to the leather on the design. Then you can clean the design off and dye the leather.

I think it mostly has to do with it is hard to punch through the leather. As I could do a couple hard hits, and still not get through the leather. I like it being a single edged blade on those blades. That way, I put the flat side on the outboard edge. And use that to line up with my graph paper. I've got some double edged blades, and the tips don't line up with my graph paper on the 1/2" lines. The other problem with the double edged blades, is the slots are punched too close together as it is shy of 1/2". So, that makes it very hard to insert the spot.

I'm wanting to use that adjustable spot punch. Just looking for something that would be easier to punch through than 6 ounce Tandys shoulders. I'm sure thinner leather would work, but not sure of how thin I'd want to go with my armband as I want it to be able to hold a point. Thin leather can want to curl up if you have a 90* angle cut. I'll probably see if Tandy has some samples of their different leathers at the shop that I can do test punches on. Part of the problem may be with how the leather is cut. So, some leather may be tougher than other leather of the same ounce.

What I like to do is use the dual prong punch and use graph paper to use as a template when I punch the leather. That way I can punch out the whole design and have my rows straight. And also it will keep my slits parallel with each other. Though, it's been a while since I have done this. As before, the leather was already dyed and was easy to punch. But I find the shoulders I just bought from Tandy to be hard to punch through. I'm not sure if it is because of the weight (6 ounce), or because of the type of leather, or a combination of the two. I'm gonna look at going with a smaller weight (4 ounce), or maybe see if there is a different type of leather other than the shoulder that is easier to punch slits in with my dual prong punch. I'll probably stop by Tandy to see if they have some extra stuff laying around I can punch some test pieces to find something that will work. As I want the leather sturdy enough to hold a point after I cut the leather out, but be easy to punch without bending my tools.

I'm going with Feibings Pro Oil Black for my dye. Anyone spray the acrylic sealer on? That stuff is real easy to mess up when you apply it with a sponge. So, I'm gonna look at spraying it on. I've got a Preval. And have a small spray bottle that sprays a mist. I've read of people cutting the acrylic sealer 50/50 with water to cut down on the shine.

Does anyone put spots in their leather? I use the 1/2" pyramid spots. Just wondering what type and weight leather you use? I use an adjustable slot punch like this: I've got a Tandy single shoulder 6 ounce leather that I find difficult to punch. Sometimes the prongs bend. I was thinking of either going with a smaller weight like 4 ounce, or maybe looking to see if there is a different type of leather that is easier to punch? I've used some leather years ago that was thicker, but was easier to punch than the thinner Tandy leather.

How would you compare the Neatlac and the acrylic sealers? I too would like something more natural than the plastic look of the acrylic sealers. Though, I've read of some cutting the acrylic sealers 50/50 with water to cut down on the shine.

What is the difference between Neatlac (Clearlac Springfield) and the acrylic sealers from Fiebings and Angelus? I'm wanting to seal some black leather armbands. I plan on dying both sides. So, I say it would be best to spray the sealer on the flesh side. And I've read the Neatlac has a Matte finish? As I know the acrylic sealers can/will leave a shiny finish. Though, I've read of some cutting the acrylic sealer 50/50 with water to reduce the shine.

Are you saying you can grind on the Line 16 posts to let the set tighter when using thin leather like 1/2 ounce? The thing I didn't like on the Line 20 snaps is when snapped together. There is a gap between the two pieces of leather which I didn't like with regards to an armband. The line 16 look like they snap flush. And I think they are used for thinner leather compared to Line 20. Also, I found the Line 20 very hard to unsnap. Since I'm using these for armbands, I don't think them not holding as well as Line 20 would be a problem since they aren't holding any weight.

I dyed some test pieces of leather with the different Angelus blacks. They looked similar, but I decided on the Jet Black. I did some test pieces with the Fiebings USMC black. And noticed it had a deeper black than the Angelus. It almost made it look like the Angelus didn't absorb as far into the leather. The USCM black looks like it has a redish tint, and it stiffened up the leather. Then I tried Fiebings Pro Oil black, and I like it the best. It has more of a straight deep black compared to the USMC and Angelus blacks. Didn't stiffen up the leather like the USMC black did. And was the easiest to buff. Below is a pic of some test pieces that are unbuffed. You can tell the Pro Oil black doesn't look like there is alot of pigment left on top compared to the USMC and Angelus Jet Black. I started with Fiebings Dye Prep. Then put on 2 coats of dye and took the pic after they dried without buffing. From Left to Right: Fiebings Pro Oil Black, Fiebings USMC Black, Angelus Jet Black: Next I plan on testing out some different acrylic sealers. Angelus Matte and Satin looks the same, shiny. I've got some Fiebings Resolene to try. But I would like more of a Matte/Satin type sealer.

I did some test pieces. And I think the Line 20 leaves too much of a gap between the leather. I was planning on using 5/6 ounce leather for armbands. But I think that is too thick. I think I'm going to try 1/2 ounce leather for the armbands with Line 16 snaps. It looks like the line 16 snaps are more flush compared to Line 20. Only thing is I'll have to figure out if the Line 16 will work on 1/2 ounce leather.

Those aren't mine. I got the pic from this site: http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?101291-Leather-dye-colours

After you use the dye prep. Do you then still wet it down? I'm thinking of spraying the sealer with the Preval. I'd probably have to do that anyways on the flesh side as I don't think I want to do alot of rubbing on the flesh side. I learned when putting on the sealer you want to rub it on wet, and let it dry. Before I was trying to rub it on then off. And that made it look like crap.

I'm going to pick them up as they are cheap. It could be marketing hype, or it could be for real. But I don't think it is impossible for Stanley to make some blades sharper than others. They make several different types of blades: paper, dry wall, heavy duty, etc. That there must be something different between them.

Do you need to put a deglazer on the veg tan leather before you dye? I'm not sure what leather I have. But I got it at Tandy's and it was from a stack of single shoulders and is light in color.

What Satin Shene do you refer to? I tried the Angelus Matte and Satin, and it looks the same. Shiny. But I'm probably not going to worry about it. I plan on spraying the dye on both sides with a Preval. How do you buff the flesh side to remove excess dye? And what do you think of spraying the sealer on with the Preval? I figured out what I messed up on when putting the sealer on. I rubbed it on with a sponge, and kept rubbing to try and remove the excess sealer. But that made it look like crap. I did another test piece where I rubbed the sealer on, but didn't try to rub it off. And that came out fine. I noticed the Fiebings USMC black looks like it is a deeper black. Maybe it penetrated better than the Angelus. I plan on getting some Fiebings Pro Oil black to test that out. Do you use any dye prep? Was thinking of getting either Feibings dye prep or deglazer. I've got the single shoulder tooling piece of leather from tandy. On my test dye pieces. I just got the leather wet, and soaked it with dye.