leathervan

what do leather workers think of that? I assume that I could get an even distribution of color instead of the spotty dark and light when I use dye. Is shoe polish an alternative to some leatherworkers? If it would work then it would have to be coated with a protector of some sort since shoe polish wears off quite easily.

Am I getting this right. Instead of using antiqueing paste you are going to apply shoe polish? Then I assume you would have to put on a sealer after applying it correct? Would shoe polish work instead of dyeing?

I think It would be easier to antique the belt or use neats foot oil than to dye it. Tell me if I'm wrong.

The dye is darker in some areas than others. What I am thinking is to wipe off the darker areas with a wet rag. Would that do it or is there some other way? I am using Eco Flo from Tandy. A saddle tan color.

I prepare my leather by spraying water lightly on it. Thats all. The stamps that I use are from Tandy. I don't know how to explain any more about them except they are 1/2" square.

Some of the pictures of embossing that I see have really deep impressions. My thoughts are they may be done with an embossing machine and not by hand(either a hammer or arbor press or something of that sort). I use something thats like an arbor press and I get shallow impressions. Maybe its the stamping tool that doesn't have deep impressions to begin with. I got my stamps at tandy. Maybe what I need is a link that has stamping tools with deep impressions.

was the embossing hand carved or stamped with a tool?

How do you attack the chuck to arbor steel square piece(the piece where a hole would be drilled to fit the stamp handle)

I cut a piece of leather for a belt and there is an area where the edge is uneven. In other words the width of the belt is narrower in a small section than the width of the rest of the belt. If there isn't a way to make it right then the whole belt blank can't be used. Probably time to cut a new piece.

what is resist in #4?

do you use the olive oil in place of a dye? Or I should ask if you can dye a piece of leather after using the olive oil?

Ive heard that some people use olive oil on leather but where and what for?

Bob: one more question: Is there something other than glycerin bar soap that I can use for step #3? I know some grocery and health stores have glycerin soap but maybe the Fiebings is a different kind.

Bob: Very helpful information. Thanks for posting it. A question on #7: For the final finish arew there other things besides Neat-Lac that can be used?

Is there some kind of solution to keep dye on the edge of a leather belt from rubbing off. I know beeswax helps but in time that rubs off also. I am thinking that maybe there is a liquid or paste solution of some sort that might help. Any ideas?

some of the photos I see are really nice. Wondering how some of you get such good results.

Embossing machines are really expensive from Tandy. Any cheaper ones out there? Maybe a used one. I tried ebay and there were only a couple and they were quite expensive.

Is it just applying a liquid antique solution over the leather. If so is it done after a dye is applied?