TheThiefPrince

If you're looking for more uniformity, that's what I would do. When you punch the holes before dying, you're creating more surface area for the dye to penetrate (ie: the edges of the holes you've punched) So, instead of having a flat sheet of leather where the dye will penetrate in from the top and the bottom, now you have dye penetrating around the edges inside the hole you've already punched. Hopefully that makes sense? Attached is a photo that will hopefully help explain what I'm saying. The dye would only penetrate the blue area from the top and bottom of the piece whereas the red would soak in through the top and bottom and the edges of the punched hole as well.

Denatured alcohol. Using a 2/1 mixture (2 parts alcohol, 1 part dye) doesn't dilute the oil dye enough in my opinion. I diluted at more of a 8/1 mixture to lighten the dye and gradually build up the color on the piece.

So, I passed on buying one of these a few years back when I first started leatherworking due to the extremely high price Tandy was asking at the time. Now that I am further into my hobby and really thinking about using this particular type of tool, I realize that Tandy has discontinued the production of it and from what I've seen, the stores don't have ANY in stock anymore. Does anyone have one of these that they don't use anymore that wouldn't mind selling? I'm not much into stamping and tooling, but Have had a few requests for names and words in some work recently and thought this might be a good way to do that without having to buy the letters. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks guys! (and gals!)

Well, a year later I finally got the nerve to try dip dyeing tonight and I must say, it's marvelous. Screw those damn wool daubers and such! Although I'm still learning a few things (i.e. Mixing ratios, dipping times, etc.) I'm really liking the way I'm able to actually see the colors Fiebing's color chart shows on my pieces. I've read and read about how dark they get just swabbing the Pro oil dyes on and knew there had to be a better way, and there is! Hints: Don't waste your money on Fiebing's Dye Reducer, just use denatured alcohol (A rep at Fiebing's told me this over the phone. I asked why they wouldn't ship the reducer to California [even though I live in Ohio; I was curious] and he said just use Denatured alcohol, it's the same thing!) and mix the dye and alcohol at a 5:1 ratio and you'll see that after a 10-15 second dip, that the real color (the swatch color) is shown. What a difference! And due to the volume it produces by adding the alcohol, it quintuples the amount of dye you have!

I would go full strength, but I cannot afford a gallon of dye per container. Especially considering I'm (as of right now) a hobbyist and don't have a supplier that will sell me large quantities for less than $65/gal. In addition, I feel that reducing the dye will lead to lighter more gradual dying (albeit, a longer process) which leads to more controlled color matching during the dying process. I'm slightly OCD when it comes to matching and I really like to be able to control the matching process. I could be wrong though. This all is merely an assumption and theory in my mind.

Awesome. Thank you! I didn't know if there were a particular type of plastic that had to be used to properly store the pro oil/reduced dyes or not. I didn't want the mixture degrading the container I bought and not realize it until a come home to a puddle of dye in my spare bedroom! If you don't mind me asking; what ratio do you mix the pro oil dye and reducer at? I could just give it a whirl, but prefer not to waste too much during a trial and error process. Expertise is what I'm on this forum for anyway! haha

Sorry to revive a thread from the dead guys, buy I too had a question involving dip dyeing. After thoroughly reviewing this post, what is the best vessel for storing your dye after adding the thinning agent, particularly Fiebing's Reducer? Anyone know of the best type of plastic container to use? I would prefer to keep the dipping container and the storage container the same, to reduce the risk of spillage during the act of transferring the liquid mixture from container to container. Any help would be greatly appreciated. And to the OP, sorry to highjack such an old thread, but it's been something I've been trying to find answers on for awhile now.

So, I've been able to hold out on eating lunch for the past couple weeks and was able to scrounge a little extra change as well and purchase a couple more oil dyes; English Bridle, Saddle Tan, and Golden Brown. After testing them all on a couple spare pieces of veg tan I had lying around, what I feared would happen, happened. My samples of the English Bridle and the Saddle tan came out nearly identical. My lighting is slightly off in the photo I attached, but in person, they're almost the same. Obviously, since I'm on such a tight budget trying to make Christmas gifts for everyone, this is the problem I was trying to avoid, as I could have bought more thread, or at least another dye color. honestly, the only thing that brings the variances in the two colors out, is the Fiebing's Carnauba Cream. Only then am I able to tell the difference between the two. I'm still interested in any help you can lend in terms of the other oil dye colors. I even have several more veg tan swatches I could mail you to if that would help. Trey

This is more of a sitting clamp than a pony or horse, but I just built two of these basically in my kitchen (other then using my mitre saw to cut the main pieces) Anyone skilled enough with a saw and some basic plans can design/build one. I'm proof! Trey

Thanks Tom! I really appreciate it! I wasn't really anticipating anyone replying, especially this fast! I'm more interested in the oil dyes, as I have heard that the spirit dyes are more work than they are worth, but I'll take anything I can get!Trey

I'm fairly new to the art but feel as though I am picking it up relatively quickly. One of my only gripes is that without buying every single bottle of Fiebing's Professional Oil Dye and creating my own swatch, I will never know the difference between light brown and saddle tan (which if anyone of you have looked at Fiebing's color chart will clearly see what I mean) (enclosed below) My question is, does anyone out there have all the oil dyes to create nice, evenly layered swatches (that I could obviously purchase from you) orrr, would anyone be interested in obtaining something like this? I know for some, obtaining every color isn't a big deal (considering you can pick up a 4oz bottle for $7.00 on eBay) but for me, spending $112 buying them all in order to determine which colors I would like to keep is far from reality for this poor college student. Anyways, as always, I'd love your guys' input. Or help. Whatever you can lend me! Thanks Trey

Thanks for all the replies, links, and insight guys! I apologize for not replying sooner to thank all of you, as I have been building my own pony! In fact, I figured that while I was at it, I might as well build two at the same time. To my surprise, they turned out quite well for being my first jab at it. I don't impress myself easy because I'm too critical of everything I do myself. I basically took some visual cues from certain ones that have been posted on here (and various other locales) and jumped right in. I'm in school part-time for electro-mechanical engineering and my mind quickly added a couple things that I thought would be really cool to have. The first thing, which was mentioned in a post somewhere on here, is a cam lever lock (which hasn't arrived from Rockler yet) that will help with quickly and easily help with adjusting the leather within the clamp. The second is building the base with layered pieces of 1" x 4" in order to allow for an adjustable center bolt to allow the clamp a swiveling effect. The only problem I seemed to have, was locating all completely matching brass hardware. Yes, I am THAT obsessive compulsive! Yes, I know it's a good trait, until it gets in my way ALL the time! Anyways, I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts on this. Thanks guys! Trey

Hey guys, I'm new here and looking to get into the art but am having trouble finding a decent stitching pony for what my puny finances will allow. Any knowledge or help pointing me in the right direction would be great! Thanks, Trey Ps. I apologize in advance if I posted this in the wrong section!