Jump to content

Magsley

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    5

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Magsley

  2. Posted · Report reply

    Mags, this is pretty much SOP. The neatsfoot should take care of it. Next time before you dye, clean it with rubbing alcohol to get dirt, oil from your fingers, etc. off and while it's damp from the alcohol apply the dye with a dauber, piece of shearling, or piece of soft cloth - you can spray it if you have a sprayer - an air brush.

    Don't over oil it. You'll have to learn by doing, but too little is better than too much. You can always apply more oil. Pure neatsfoot is best. I wouldn't mess with compound neatsfoot.

    As mentioned Lexol - real good stuff in my opinion. Esp. if working with natural russet as it doesn't darken it. It's easier to work with than neatsfoot, soaks in better, less residual esp. at the surface.

    After you oil, let it set at least 24 hours. Neatsfoot may take even longer than Lexol. I like to let a fan blow over it. Next step is to buff heck out it. Once it evens out and you're not getting rub-off you can apply a finish coat - or - another coat of dye if it needs it - it usually doesn't need any more dye if you cover it well. Plenty of people dip dye things like gun leather so you can daub it on heavy and not go overboard.

    From you last post you had pretty much figured it out. You on the right track. Don't be discouraged with a few splotches and uneven hues. Where ever you burnished, slicked, matted, i.e. compressed and sealed the surface you'll have to add more dye and give it a change to penetrate those less porous areas.

    You're getting there!

    Wow, thanks so much for this! All this is so helpful!! Its kind of hard to find exactly what I need since everyone's leather situation is different. I will definitely be keeping your advice in mind when finishing up my belts, the color is pretty much even now and I'm about to go apply the neatsfoot oil :)

  3. Posted · Report reply

    Thanks for all the tips, I also went back to Tandy's and bought some Neatsfoot oil to combat the stiffness. I've been applying the oil dye on dry leather and it has been working to eaven out the color, except on two stubborn pieces (the only pieces that were tooled). One of the pieces has a bit of a "crackled" look, without actually being cracked...

  4. Posted · Report reply

    What I would do: Pour the dye in a pan. Dampen the leather, not that wet, like you are going to tool it. Put on gloves and pull the belt through the dye. Pat the leather dry with a rag. Lay it flat to dry.

    Aaron

    Okay, so I don't need to clean the leather or anything before I dye it?

    If you put some conditioner like Lexol ( not a lot i rub it on using a trimmed piece of wool on sheep skin ) on the pieces you have dyed it should help limber them up.

    Would just using it on a rag work? And is Neatsfoot oil about the same thing?

    Last night I applied some more dye to the really unevenly colored pieces to try and even them out and it kind of worked, any tips on fixing the pieces besides just blotting dye where its too light? Thanks for your help so far, I'm glad I got the hide on sale so I don't feel bad wasting pieces :)

  5. Posted · Report reply

    So I am making some belts for a costume and they were cut from vegetable tanned leather from Tandy's leather. I didn't really know what I was doing and just applied the dye some pieces that were dry, some that were damp, and some that were wet. When they were dry they were all very stiff and some were very discolored- blotchy and uneven coloring. Some of the belts' edges were slightly curled up too. What are the steps I should take to dye vegtan leather and get a good result? I am using oil-based dye, Fieblings (I think I spelled that wrong). I just would like some clear steps on how to dye my leather and have everything look nice and even! I'm a complete newbie.

×
×
  • Create New...