TomSwede

Hey Tex! Just saw the last part on your post. I know what you mean about friggin plastic. I always been quite ambivalent about this myself but the customers specifically ask for this finish because it gives another look than the leather on their shoe, jacket or whatever their frame of preference is. I've never marketed myself so the spreading word is what have drawn new customers and apperantly this surface treatment is in high demand. I just bought a small bottle of supersheene and will have a go with that. I'm not really happy with Fiebings saddle lac because it's harder go get a god and even coat than the can I had previous and also looks a little bit more plastic aswell I think. But it's like this when I do things, I try to change only one component or procedure at the time to really see what has made an impact of the outcome. Dealing with leather is far more complex than one can imagine. BUT WE ALL LOVE IT!

Hi Regis! You read my mind! I was just thinking about making a post about this. I was sitting on the toilet (were all the good thinking are done;-) and listening to the washingmachine and there are some signs showing the leather has been bent backwards (towards to the grainside). It has those wrinkles that I think can only come from that. The girl also changed the story about what happened. This morning she said her little brother dropped into water yesterday but now she lets me know that she had it in the bathtub TWO days ago. I could feel this morning that it was not completely dry so hm, anyways that washingmachine made me wonder, it is a possibilty that maybe it took a turn there and what if you then let it take a spin in a tumbledryer, he he that is mean stuff for leather I think. Now this is just speculation but I do have a feeling I have not gotten all the info from her. I try to make the bracers ready for just about anything you do i normal day activities so I have to look inte the aspects of this anyways. Thanks for your support Regis, I appreciate it! Tom PS I have just cleaned it with spiritbased liquid (don't know any english word for it) and absolutely nothing of the remaining antiquing will get off but the sealer seem to have gone. Oiled it up now and will let it sit for two days then try with antiquing again.

Hi Tex! Now you made me blush a bit because in the desperation I have actually completely forgotten to search forum on this before posting which is my normal procedure I just blame it on that darn nightshift work, it does clog the brain activity. So, I think your info adds even more weight to the initial process of staining the leather so I keep my focus there right now. I added the antique stain with a sponge and work/rub it down into cavitys then it sat for 7-10 minutes before wiping off. I think this may have caused the oil to harden on top of the leather, wich was not completely dry, without the needed penetration allowing it to crack and come off later. About oiling the leather before staining I feel it works well with spirit dyes but been afraid it would repell antiques and cause problems like this but since you recommend this I 'm gonna try it with some fresh pieces aswell as try to restore the original one. If I have to make a new item for the girl then so be it. Now I'm beginning to feel confidence in getting this problem worked out so thanks to you guys. I'm sure glad I found my way here to all the nice information and above all, the very kind and helpful leatherworkers of this board. Hugs from Sweden!

Hi Art! Pecards I've been looking for but haven't found it in Sweden. Gum traganth I think I might get a hold of and I'll check for the others aswell with my supplier. But so many bracers produced without any backsealer and none have had problems like this I have to check for the initial error first so now I'll try to fix the original piece and have some testruns with it getting soaked and see if the stuff comes off again. I will test some with back sealer too cause it's not a bad idea at all. Thanks for your help thoughts and input, treasusered as always. Tom

Thanks for your quick reply Randy! I cleared my head a bit after the post and tried to make a more rational analysis and I also came to the conclusion that theres error in the stain application/removal part. Probably should have waited for the leather to dry completely since water and oil don't mix well (and this tan is RICH), so as you say there probably were to much stain left and if the water stopped it from sinking into the leather there will not be any bond either. That seems to be at least a first step in the wrong direction. Hope I get mening of this through cuz I'm really tired from working the nightshift. I have never applied sealer from the back and thats because I'm afraid it can cause allergy maybe? but also I feel that it might not allow enough air for the human skin to breath properly. I know guys that use my biggest bracermodels literally around the clock but anyways, no sealer on the back has (so far) not been any problem. I lik to try your method with the antique paste, Fiebings oil dyes seems to be quite nice. Using them sometimes. The previous lac I had might have been neat lac, just don't remember the name but it was a white and blue spraycan with lots of warnings about cancer on labrats and stuff. Thanks for your help and wisdom. It is treasured! PS, sorry about any typos, but my English is very rusty nowadays.

This is something new to me. Never seen anything like it. After tooling I stained richly with Tandys antique leather stain saddletan, let it sit for about 7-10 minutes (the leather was a bit moist when antiquing was applied) and then wiped access off with a soft cloth from a bedsheet wrapped around a creditcard. Funny thing is that it felt like it's been sitting for too long because i had to work quite hard to get it off in some areas. After this I formed the shape and let it dry over night. Following day I applied 3 coats of Fiebings saddle lac (acrylic spray) to the dryformed leather and let it sit til next day and look now on the pics what it looks like. It's ruined badly. The girl I gave to told me that her little brother dropped it into water and it layed there for approx 5 mins and then the wiped it with a towel. This was yesterday and it's morning now and the leather still has that cold feeling of moisture to it. The kids went with school to the bathhouse yesterday so I think it might actually been in that chlorine water for a couple of hours but that doesnt matter. One of my pilot bracers (test bench that's been worn almost every day for two years) has suffered all things thinkable and has only lost the gloss of sealer but the sealer is still noticeable. Some sort of cracking effect is showing from being bending back and forth many times but closer inspection doesn't present any signs of real cracks. It has been in swimmingpools aswell. Pilot bracer was made from new fresh leather, this bad one from scraps that's been laying about for 3-4 years. Pilotbracers sealer was another kind of acrylic spray (dont remember the brand) and Tandys dark brown antique stain. Apart from that the making process is similar. That's why I have a pilot, it's supposed to be bombproof. Could there be a huge difference between the two stains?, saddletan for sure is a lot richer and oilier to the feel of it, thus preventing the sealer bond properly with the leather? Bah, I'm so disapponted right now. Made some 45-55 bracers for others and never a complaint so far and this one was handed over 6 days ago. It looks though upon closer inspection that the sealer may have been coming of in flakes and pulled the antique off with it. Any ideas as to why this has occured is very welcome. I will make a testpiece in a replicated process and use as testbench aswell further improving my knowledge and hopefully getting that bombproof technique that sometimes is needed (like items for children for example;-) I also have a newly bought bottle of Tandys super shene and wonder if that could have any advantages over the acrylic spray in a situation like this? So drop your thoughts and ideas over this please cuz it feels really bad when you try to make the kids happy and then it becomes just a mess out of it. This link shows the bracer during making and finished with sealer: http://www.leatherworker.net/forum/index.p...amp;#entry18524 Thanks!

The outcome of that looks really nice. The straps will need a little wear to suit a project like this. Wish they were mine!

Thanks Matt D!

I have not felt the need to harden any of my bracers yet but been interrested in trying and one solution I have thought off is using just glue. We used to have really great glue at work that look like plastic when dried and mix well with water that I like to try, but we don't carry that glue anymore so it has just been forgotten about. It's some sort of wooden glue so I probably I would find something like it at any woodstore. The upside I thought of there is that the grainside could be cleaned up with a wet sponge after drying some but before it's completely hardened thus leaving the surface clear for dyeing and sealer/finish (I use acryclic spray). Decorating leather like we do seem to go a long way back. I know theres a knifesheath found in Sweden from the period of the vikings and some decoration on it still shows.

There has been 2 (I think) threads recently about using liquid latex as a blocker. Apperently it's quite easy to peel off and doesn't bleed through and you could just mask as before and seal the tape edges with this stuff. Anyway here's a link to one of the threads so you can determine for yourself. Very much like a tutorial this one. http://www.leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=2819

Just found this laying on my drive, completely forgotten about it. Made it for a friends son - from one Ozzy fan to another- a few weeks ago. It's half past midnight now and no fullmoon, phew!

Hey, those look real nice! Never had the opportunity to work one bigger than covering the forearm muscle myself so I am in envy. The scales makes it look really cool and a bit intimidating too. Is the scales your own idea or was that someting that also were common on the original bazubands and what about hardening do you apply some advanced technique there? Never heard of them before so I'm very delighted with the stuff you show here. Hope I get to see the finished result aswell. PS, do you know how old the original bazubands are?

Another one with same problem. Tried Covacolour white over Fiebings red oil dye and it wasn't a pretty sight. Same problems as described above. Rubbed it off with alcohol and painted over that Fiebings oil dye with ROC gold (spiritbased) instead. Worked like a charm, results can be seen in my AP bracer post in Show off threads.

That's a fantastic looking seat and what a nice colour/tone. Looks black and red at the same time and matches the theme very good. Just love to look at those seats you and the guys put out. Gotta try itmyself. Tom

Thank you guys! Your input is highly valued! I had some small test pieces before starting this one but no rigorous testing really so, YES Mike it was a sweat getting that antique on. Glad you like the backgroundin Wolven 'cuz that's also where alot of time is put into. All my bracers that are laced together are molded to form so the lacing is not so hard, I have one end in my mouth when tightening it up and making the knot. I have the routine from my fishingexperience;-) Have a nice day guys!

Thank you Mike! It's golddye from ROC company, Denmark. I'ts hard to get the gold to look like really gold but I had two coats of sealer on and then when I applied saddletan antique stain for the black outlining, wow the gold turned to gold allright. Thats why I now refer to this project as Midas touch Also after sealer (fiebings acrylic spray Saddle lac) i went on with yellow spirit dye on the checkered areas wich brings out a more reddish tone, BUT, after antiquing there some of the red tone was lost. The sealer was probably to much dissolved after the spirit dyeing. Thanks alot for your nice comment. Now I can have good short nights sleep!

A few pics along the way making this one. Alot of steps taken to complete it wich I wont try explaining now. My head is spinning after to much work now. I'll post another pic when it has been formed and dried and a finish coat shall go on aswell. About the design, the golden side plates has a personal touch. If you look closely you might see the contours of a landing eagle aswell as alot of fishheads rather than screwed plates. Two big interests of mine. PS: I know theres some crooked lines on the pentagram, I always have problems lining stuff like that up, any advice on this would be much appreciated but I think the transfer might have slipped a little bit and I probably missed checking before carving it up.

Hey man, youre not alone! This is what we all scandinavian extreme metal blokes do when we are alone!! That purse would shurely go nice with my outfit!! Enjoy the show!

That's a really nice design and what I like to do for my folding fishing knife. Once again the term "less is more" has proven itself I think. I'm just curious as to how you proceed with the molding. Plug or using thumbs and modelling tools or? Also leatherthickness would be interesting but if you care please just tell me if it is thick/heavy or not. I only know the metric scale. Nice work!

If I ever wanted a wallet, that's THE ONE! Terrific work!!

Thank you Wildrose! I like the red/black one best overall but for not so well lit areas like nightclubs for example the gold one stands out alot more. Hopefully it's true what they say -practice makes perfect! Take care!

The first one smeared out the black parts (when applying red dye) making a real mess out of it. Look closely to black edges bordering to the gold background you see discolouration there aswell. The supposedly red background was totally unacceptable with alot of black smudge on it so I just covered the background with gold and got an acceptable dyejob with some funky black/reddish borders. I did this dyejob prior to joining here so I had to take advice on this from my supplier...hm!

Posting theese pics with a doubt! The bracer actually looks better than in the photos. Theres way much reflection glares, but I didn't have the time to conduct proper photography since it was going to customer straight away, as usual. This one was actually a reject from the scrapbin (due to failure in dyeing) that I restored with another look. First picture is prior to cleaning up and finish. Last picture is the red and black original design as I layed it out for him so now he has two kinds at a resonable price. Right now I'm working on a bracer with the same shape that is based on an idea spun off from this restoration gold/champagne project. Someone here has in his/hers quotes "that's not a failure, just unscheduled practice" so this post might come in handy as a reference to that qoute. Just have to make it NOT unscheduled practice first, already flaws in the carving department so so....

Congratulations to your new camera! I think that model will be a good aid in getting the most out of your pictures. I didn't read all replies in the thread but many of them and I didn't see anyone mention the photographers best friend No.1 - the tripod. An undisputible friend when taking pictures in poor lighting conditions and there are some cheap ones that will do just fine if your not going bushwacking with big telelenses. Tommy

A very nice design with that snake inlay and that bronze hardware on the strap retainer is also a nice eyecatcher! Nice to see another Swede here MVH/ Tommy (från Gävle)