wizard of tragacanth

Thanks Chris and Shooter McGavin. I guess the bottom line is that I need to keep both USMC and Pro Oil on hand... for different needs. One other thing that I noticed about these dyes but did not mention earlier. The USMC appears to have brown under-tones and the Pro Oil appears to have blue under-tones. I have heard of using blue, brown and IIRC, green as a base, to make a darker black. I am thinking that since the Pro Oil already seems to have a lot of blue in it, that using green or even red may achieve the look that I am after. I think it's worth the few dollars for the experiment to find out. Nick

I am very new to this craft and so far I am only making black holsters. I used USMC Black on a couple of projects and while very satisfied with the outcome, I cannot tolerate all of the buffing necessary for this dye. I have some problems with repetitive motion stress on my arm and hand, so this doesn't help. I tried Pro Oil on a couple of scraps before using it on a finished project. After top-coating with Satin Shene (as I did with the USMC Black) the result does not seem as good as the USMC... to my eye, anyway. The color did not seem as deep, nor as even, though I used the same techniques for both. Also, the Pro Oil seemed to "raise the grain" or "open the grain". It had a rougher texture, while the USMC dyed piece was as smooth as glass. I used scraps from several different hides. One of the Pro Oil pieces came out perfect but the others did not. Now, I must say that the average person probably would never notice a difference. It takes fairly close inspection, with samples side by side but once you know the difference, you could pick it out every time. I tried deglazing one piece, dying one piece which had been wetted with water, and one piece that was completely dry, etc. The Pro Oil dye instructions say to use it while still damp after cleaning with Fiebing's #12 Deglazer. I want the most color-fast dye and the Pro Oil seems to be it. I rinsed the wool dauber from both dyes. The USMC dauber came out gray, while the Pro Oil remained Jet Black. You don't want to have any accidents with Pro Oil Black! The Pro Oil Black requires almost zero buffing, so that's a big plus. Do I just need to get a better technique to get a deeper black and smooth grain from the Pro Oil? What have your results been? Which one did you settle on and why? Thanks, Nick

Hello Everyone, I have been lurking here for a while and up to this point I have found all of the answers to my questions by using the search function, but now I have to ask... why wouldn't you get something like a Techsew GA5-1R, rather than a Tippmann? The Techsew is only $150 more than the sale price of the Tippmann, and seems to be so much more machine. I know some people like to avoid machines and do everything as close to "handmade" as they possibly can. Is that it, or is there some other reason? I know that I would want an electric machine if I had "several large holster orders" on my desk. If I ever get to the point of getting paid for my leather work, I would be jumping on a GA5-1R a.s.a.p. It was on sale a week or so ago for $1250 but I simply cannot justify the purchase for myself at this time. Nick