TwinOaks

Well, I thought it could be used to bleach leather. I've done some pieces that required WHITE and I don't really want to get into partially painted pieces- keeping mostly with the natural look ya' see. So, I thought it might bleach the leather whiter than just the tanned color. I also tried it to try and pull a drop of brown spirit dye out of a piece. oops. Sometimes the obvious needs to be clearly printed on the label: If you are new to coloring leather, do not dribble this stuff where you don't want it 'cause it will NEVER come out. like I said...oops. Thanks for the info on the uses of the O.A.

Well, I see Kate got to it first, but I'll also recommend medicine droppers-----or syringes. If you're only using a small amount of dye/paint they're invaluable. This is especially important if you're mixing colors. The syringe has the advantage of (usually) being graduated, so you can record and repeat fairly precise amounts of each color in a mix. That can help you make multiple batches of a color that should remain purty dang consistant.

Hey Hilly, these are kewl!! Thanks

I've heard about this modeling tool a few times on here, and his web site doesn't have one listed. Can someone post a pic of it so we can see what we're chasing after?

Post-modern-neo-classical-avante-traditionalist-conservative-goth, with a blend of light and dark moods that mixes to a nice plain gray. Sorry- I'm too new at this to have a style.

If the leather has a white-ish or a gray white center, it's probably chrome tanned. Possible that you got some Latigo for chaps-not sure on the suitableness of it for holsters. If it's CT, definitely don't use it, unless you're looking to refinish some pistols.

Johanna, they're discussing the label for the leather work.....not YOU.

Great start! For your edge bevels, overlap the strikes less. For most applications, overlap only 1/4 - 1/3 the width of the beveler, and it will smooth out a good bit as you walk it. For your backgrounding, I see a few 'open' areas where it looks like you missed a strike. You might want to try a pear shader for some of the backgrounding, and I always try to overlap the backgrounders too. I haven't done any floral work, so I don't feel qualified to critique that aspect of it. Overall, it looks very nice for your first try. Keep at it, and if you still have the template/ sketch that you worked with ( or just use the first piece as one), recarve the same image again. Compare what you've done to other Sheridan style carvings, and make the changes to your second piece. You'll surprise yourself with how much better the second is. Keep pounding the leather.

Hi all, I have some powdered oxalic acid in a Tandy bag. It is unhelpfully devoid of instructions. Will someone please provide the uses and directions for using crystallized oxalic acid?

Sorry for the delayed response...I just got home. Thanks everyone for your comments. Regis, I did just start. Infact, the very first piece I carved was back in Nov. of '07. The real issue for me is finding time to beat on the leather. The pieces I've posted are really the only pieces I've done- the posted dog pic in this thread is number 9 (number 8 is hanging out to remind me about being careful).

"other regulated materials, domestic" Basically, it's got some ingredients that airlines/shipping companies don't want on their airplanes.....just in case.

I'm still working on the printer issue....But I'm reading and learning as well as I can. I'm really interested in the embossing. I surfed a bit and found this pic for those looking for ultra realism. The angle is a little different, but I believe all the elements are present. If nothing else, free hand the pattern and pic then go from there. Say, when does this challenge expire? I might not make a Jan. deadline... Oh, and Johanna...If you decide to incorporate a .PDF version, please allow the original .jpg to be accesible. Some of like to play with aspect ratios, and do a little digital editing on the side.

Here's the remake of the piece I killed (mentioned in '..Dyes..') The body of the dog doesn't have much tooling for musculature, but it is fully embossed. The right side of the dog is higher than the left, and the head is pushed out even more. The dog is totally white, except a few blotches on her muzzle. That presents a slight hurdle since I wanted to keep a natural leather look. Interestingly enough, Eco Super Sheen and Resolene have a slightly different tone when dry. I used the SS on the dog, and the Resolene on the background. It's hard to see in the photos ('cause I don't have a lightbox or a good camera) but the head is raised about 3/16" above the background. Also included is the source pic, for comparison

Report: Oil applied over any type of sealer or dye is disasterous. Of course it could be user error on my part b/c I haven't used oils in over a decade and have forgotten all I knew. So...for me Ti White was a boo-boo. I'll stick to what I know for now, and as time and funds allow, will perhaps reinvest in some good oils. Tina, good luck with the lioness, and keep posting results.

Thanks for all the replies, and yes, I just recarved it today. The old Architect's addage "If you can't hide it, make it obvious" just doesn't seem to have taken spirit dye into account. The whole problem with any fix was that the dog I carved was s'posed to be white. I did dye the whole original piece to match..then tried a few other things....and well...now I have a med. brown carving reverse highlighted with titanium white artists' oil paint. That's when I reached for the clean leather. I'll post pics over in Figure Carving this afternoon.

If all else fails and the bag still smells, you can try to find a product called "OdorNix". The manufacturer (when I knew him) was in Madison, Alabama. Odornix is an enzymatic odor eliminator. One of my regular customers in the WallyWorld garden center showed up one day with her ever present yellow lab who'd just been sprayed by a skunk. It took two bottles- one for dog, one for car- but it completely killed the skunk spray. Good stuff, and it will even pull VOC smells from clothing. Infact, here's the first hit that I got on Google: http://www.denniscastro.tv/websites/odornix/maincatalog.html It specifies Urine as an eliminatable smell. Hope all goes well. P.S. I'm in no way affiliated w/ the Odornix products or company, and will not profit from posting the link.

Okay, I'm ready for the heckling.. I've used a woodworking tool for that before. Sureform, I think is one name for it. It performs suprisingly well, and I've used it to uniformly reduce the thickness of some scrap before. It certainly isn't on par with a splitter, but, it'll do a good job of smoothing out the flesh side.

I'm seeing an embossing wheel, some 2" strap, machine stitching, and some exceptionally shiny brass rivets...and yes, I'd sell a 'regular' leather knockoff of that for 7500.

There's lots of this on any one of the gun forums- My favorite: "Why do you carry a gun?" "'Cause a cop is too heavy."

AAAAAHHHH!! Homework!!!!!! Run!!!!!! Actually, it's an excellent idea. It gives us opportunity to develop new skills, and we don't have to worry about the copyright on the pic, as permission is implied when it's submitted. Or is this just a clever ruse to identify your competition....? LOL! Looking forward to this carving....as soon as I can get a printer that works.....and I recarve the piece I destroyed with a drop of Feibings' med. brown.

Well, Tina, I'm about to find out.... I gotta do something, or else I'm out a piece of leather, and a coupla hours...see my post for more....

Well, folks, I finally joined the "I dripped dye where ?!?" crowd. I just finished a 4 hour carving and embossing project and dripped med. brown dye right in the middle of what's supposed to be WHITE (natural). So, is there any way to remove the dye? (of course not, it's da good stuff) Now, will paint cover stain? Stay tuned, we'll find out after these messages. While I'm destroying this piece...Any suggestions other that painting it?

Congrats on being the proud parent of a leatherworker.junior!!! just like anything that's massed produced, I'm sure the kit was an accident. In the future, just open the package in the store. If it's off, you can remedy things in just a few moments. If there's more than one that's out of tune, then the manager needs to know so that others don't have the experience you did. Thanks for sharing this, as I'm gonna put my words to practice.

Hi Eric, the following is my opinion only, and I'm still pretty new to this, but it's based on things I've made and observations of things other have made. Belt- 5-6 oz should be a plenty, even for a work belt, and allows lots of tooling. Dress belts can be thinner. Wallets- 3-4 oz for them, just be careful tooling them. 2-3 oz if there won't be too much heavy tooling watch bands- 3-4 cell phone cases- Really depends on the style. A simple pouch can be more substantial, but if you've got a lot of creasing, folding, and sewing, lighter is better. Tandy's little one piece kit with the clip and 4 rivets looks about like 2-3 oz. I made one for my wife out of 6-7, and that joker was murder to get the small creases lined up for sewing. Then again, it should out last both of us. Thicker leather will allow deeper tooling, thinner is better if there's folding involved. One thing to remember about wallets, is that they'll most likely have a liner of sorts, and the pockets/ slots.

Uhhh, yeah....How does one get guacamole out of leather...?