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Beautiful! That there is a top seller.

twas me...and it was a pleasure doing work with Tamara. Check her site and stuff out...gorgeous!

Welcome to the Forum, Robin! It sounds like you have a lot to share. There's plenty of people here to learn from, and plenty that want to learn. You'll be rewarded both ways. Can't wait to see your stuff.

I was hoping you'ld chime in Chuck...thanks. I know you've had a bunch of experience with this stuff. I see logwood crystals are available from suppliers of trapping equipment...just might have to try some. We have to depend on each other for this info. Google vinegaroon dye, and you find very little info, even in their Scholar searches, none of the scientists seem to have anything about it. A few other forums discuss it, but not too in depth. A search under "natural dyes on leather" has a lot more info, well worth exploring. We take a lot of heat for using leather nowadays, and have very few alternatives to "green up" our business. There is no PBS Woodright guy for leatherworkers (although that would be a great show!). Unless you become an expert tanner, silversmith, foundry buckle and hardware maker, etc, we have to rely on the usual sources. Not everyone has the location or space to do their own raising animals, skinning, then "brain tanning", to keep it natural. Me for one, I'll try and incorporate as many of these things as I can. As far as this one is concerned, maybe the old way just might be best even in this modern world. Thanx everyone for participating in this discussion. Between the other two Topic discussions, and this one, I hope there's a few adventurers, who'll report on their findings in another Topic.

For the record...this is the third day after dyeing, and the smell has gone away. It is amazingly waterproof, not weatherproof. Twin Oaks was trying to discover the chemistry of it, I can't answer to that, but I do know, that I gave it a second bath of baking soda, and the liquid just washed off the top grain, and on the flesh side just beaded up. Nothing need be applied as a protective finish. Water just runs off. It actually held water in the bag with not a drop coming out. AMAZING!. I did give it another coat of Mink oil, and it buffs out nice to a flat black. I think I will never use another method for doing black again. Nothing rubs off...even color, waterproof, and no black on my hands or bench. Seatmakers take notice! I can't wait until I can find a source for walnut shells. Homer says.."hmmmm...Brown!"

Excellent obsevations Mike. I noticed few bubbles when soaking also. I have soaked and rinsed twice so far, and more bubbles appeared the second rinse, so your observations may be correct. After two soaks/rinses, I still have a slight vinegary smell, so I'm wondering if you are correct that the center of the leather is maintaining the acidic PH. Even on the flesh side of my leather the water seems to not soak in as well. Your idea that the tallows may rise to the surface could be a good one. For some reason, I think the conditioners etc will penetrate, but will have to be rubbed in well or forced to by a blow dryer, until the tallows etc are resettled by time and use.

ROFL.."This pasture ain't big enough for the two of us"..... Freak, you did a great job with this. I can't decide who was funnier, but I know who has to be the better lookin' of you two.

Those turned out great! Real good for your first time on that fringe.

I did do the baking soda, as I said up above. I may have soaked it in the vinegar too long, and in the soda, too short. If it's not all gone tomorrow, I'll probably dip it in soda again, then re mink oil it. I really feel this is an excellent process, and I want it to work. I think seatmakers/beltmakers might have a big advantage with this. No rub off, deep penetration, the ability to make the whole thing, and dip it after...all good things.

I have a 35 year old python skin, that I use every once in awhile...hehehe about every ten years. It's gone from about 28' to 22' or so. It's dry as a bone, but I slop on some Dr Jackson's Hide Rejuvenator, and it's like a fresh skin. I just use my fingers. It does darken up a shade, but looks and works fine. That reminds me, I'll have to make something with it...hmmm.

Thanx Ian. I don't even think about edges anymore, they're just second nature...lol. By the way, everyone, the vinegar smell has gone down a lot, but still not gone. It's still outside airing out. According to all I've heard, it will. We'll have to see. That will be the final thumbs up or down.

I soaked it pretty good, and it went deep. I've already scratched the bag, and seen nothing but black.

I finished this up, so here's how it looks. I'm still working on the design of the bag, so don't expect too much.... All I did was neatsfoot it, let that dry, then a good coating of mink oil. SS spots, and buckles. I am happy with the black, it's a real nice biker black, and without a bright finish, it's a real biker flat black, that would look good with any old school piece of iron.

beeza.. i think these are the ones: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=1352 http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=2331

Try it out. I know the last thread on this had a bunch of people that were going to do this, but I haven't seen any actual stuff shown here. The more, the merrier. I'm gonna mix up a gallon next time.

No problem...just dump'em, even the latest one you have. Sometimes the misc files and such get mixed up. A brand new download of java after you delete the others wouldn't hurt...

So I started making a sample toolbag for motorcycles, and decided it would be perfect for a vinegaroon test. I had my pickle jar full of rusty nails and vinegar for a few weeks now, and had to use it. I started by sewing the bag up first, I was going to just oil it black in a dip, but decided to try this. Notice the stitching stayed white. Poured out the vinegar mixture in a big plastic tub, and started dipping it. Some spots didn't take at first...probably oil from fingers and such and especially over the glue drops (reminder to self...be neater). Next time, I'll clean the bag first. I took a little up in my fingers, and rubbed it on the spots, and soon, everything took. (Warning...don't do this inside..it stinks, and make sure you have a place to air dry it outside somewhere. It's been about 8 hrs, and the smell has gone down by 50%...probably take a few days. So no emergency jobs with this method! PS: I immersed it in a baking soda dip afterwards. Supposedly that neutralizes the vinegar action. So as you can see, the color came solid, and when I oil it, it should be a real nice black. Unbelievable easy, good color saturation, and smooth full black. I'll give it a few days, and finish it up with some ss spots and conchos. I'll post the finished pic here then, but I couldn't wait to show this...it worked real good so far.

Excellent description, and references. Thank You Kathy. You did a great job, and the info will help all of us...

Try joining this group. Their files section might have one. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/medieval-leather/messages/7081

That is really sniffty! (get it?) That should impress their friends. Nice job Yaklady. PS: I think that deserves a small tutorial....

I still think the coolest is the skulls in place of flowers in the floral design. You got a whole new genre going there....the "Western Cemetary Carving" tradition...lol

Oscar..that "paneled" wallet is cool. I like it. Sort of Pecan maybe? EJ...that story is cool too. That guy had a lot of karma stored up.

Wait until they want you to reupholster their boat seats. I got in a run of that in the 70s. It was fun going out to the boats and stuff...but time consuming. I'm glad there are people out there getting steady work..Gives us all hope. You will become the safest citizen in the berks, with all the cruisers around.

I like the "bone handled" swivel...lol

Nice job! Looks like it was originally designed that way...whodathunk it! This would be the only kind of visits I got from the Stateys, that I would enjoy...LOL