YinTx

Richard, Thanks for the info. I've tried the following, it is in final drying: Dye, neatsfoot, saddle lac, Angelus acrylic antique. It is holding nicely, wondering if I need to put another layer of saddle lac on top of the acrylic antique? I had two pieces, one has it one does not. Both seem ok so far, but not 100% dry yet on the last saddle lac coating. I tried putting water on the antique by itself, nothing came off, seems pretty set. I have another test run going using 2 very heavy coats of Angelus High Gloss acrylic finisher. I'll put the Angelus acrylic antique over that, then more acrylic finisher and see how that works out. I must say these are all super shiny finishes, not my favorite look for leather - makes it look like plastic instead of leather. I much prefer the Aussie look but that does nothing for resist! I do appreciate your suggestions, as I don't have the luxury of apprenticeship, and have to glean what I can from whatever sources I can. As many of us these days are, I am self taught, and as such have to go through the trial phases to relearn/discover what others may have figured out 100 years ago. The plethora of misinformation and products available makes this process even more painful. Not to mention expensive. I have tried to acquire books etc. to assist, but even those are lacking what you would learn in an operating shop. It seems everyday I see someone doing something that might appear mundane to them and I wonder why the $$%@$ didn't I think of that before, because it would have saved me so much time and frustration! Folks like Gmace and RockyAussie and yourself sharing videos and photos of work in progress etc is infinitely useful, in spite of the negative backlash others may give for "all those YouTube Videos" out there. I even took some negative responses just for posting a really short video showing me stitching for someone that had requested it. The requestor was happy, others seemed perturbed that there would be a video made by someone other than Nigel or Ian showing hand stitching. Anyhow, off of the soap box, and many thanks. YinTx

I bought one of those thread zap tools. Absolutely worthless. Tip heated up once and that was the end of it. Never worked again. Don't know if it was a lemon or standard issue, but for me, a waste of $$. Had such high hopes for it too. YinTx

Some odd thing on my end? Screen capture just FYI. YinTx

Wondering if the search function issues are mine alone or if it is global. When searching a term like "leather" I get 108,000+ responses. Search for "Others" or "Others May" or "a" and I get 0 responses found. YinTx

Indeed, I have some and they are really pretty nice. I'd get more if I thought I could use more! At the price, these are definitely worth it. YinTx

It does appear to be pulled a bit tight. Give it a tap with a hammer to flatten it out and the wrinkles may go away. Stitching looks really good tho! Many struggle to get the back to have a nice slant like that. YinTx

Haha you could be right Richard. I'm feeling a bit of an idiot here, because I could swear I saw an instructional from one of our respected experienced leatherworkers talking about putting resolene on as a final finish to seal in the antique paste, even after using Saddle Lac. It seemed odd to me at the moment to mix the two products, but I watched it twice to be sure, and that's what it said, so I did it. It even mentioned that the resolene would pull up some of the antique, but not to worry! Now for the life of me I can't find the reference I used so I could put it here, so I'm going to go with - I didn't hear right, and that is not what they said to do. So if I am using Saddle Lac as the resist, then antique paste, should I be spraying Saddle Lac on top of the resist, or using something else like Tan Kote, which is resin based? I have a learning piece all tooled screwed up, antiqued and ready for a final finish, so I'm prepped to experiment with suggestions! Thanks for your help, YinTx

I just had this happen to me, on leather that was not dyed, and had dried for several days after stamping. I sprayed on a very light coating, let it dry for a couple of days, put on some Fiebeng's antique, wiped it off, let it dry for a few days, put resolene over the top to seal it. Two days later, I came back to them so I could burnish edges, and it just peeled off in really thin sheets as I was working the edges. Really disappointing. Add it to the list of items that fail miserably as a resist: Resolene, Tan Kote, Bag Kote, Saddle Lac, Angelus Acrylic finish, Eco Flow Matte Finish, etc. And I really had my hopes up as it actually worked as a resist to the antique, allowing it to fill in low spots and tool marks, but wiping fairly well off of high spots and smooth areas. If I can't find anything that works, I'm going to have to throw all of my antiques into the garbage bin along with all of my stamping and carving tools. YinTx

This one took a mere 6 weeks.. but probably one of my nicer pieces. Hermann Oak handles, white Fil Au Chinois thread. Matching long wallet. Enjoy. YinTx

Are these all sold? YinTx

That came out really well. Cool design! YinTx

I typically use Fil Au Chinois Lin Cable, Campbell's Satin Laid Linen, and Coats Barbour Linen thread. On occasion I use Tiger thread. All of these threads stitch very nicely, my preference is in the order listed. YinTx

I felt like a chemist on the last "brown" belt I made... a few drops of spanish brown.. drop of british tan.. drop of light brown... many drops of alchohol...nope... drop of dark brown.. nope... drop of..... It looks like the kudu oil tanned leather popular with shoes etc. on the shoe you showed...good luck, let us know what you come up with! YinTx

Just thought I'd chime in here as I had to make some straight stitching for a repair I did to a Louis Vuitton purse. Here is an image to show the progress. As you can see, I used the holes already present in the binding leather, as the client wanted to retain the original piece. They are oriented in line with the stitch, - - - - - -. I used a standard saddle stitch, without casting. Make sure not to pull up or down when tensioning the stitch. I hope this helps. YinTx

I haven't liked the plastic like looks from the resolene, clear-lac, etc. Resolene 50/50 water seems ok. But I did find something that makes a fantastic shine, however it is a lot of work, unless you have a power polisher. I think I saw a shoe maker apply carnuba wax to the bottom of a shoe sole, then use a power buffer to bring out the glory. By hand, its a whole lotta work, but by George, it looks great. YMMV. Let us know what you come up with! YinTx

Well, I suppose until I figure it out for sure, I'll use veg tan split for the lining. I'd hate to sell one, and have someone come back on me saying they had stored their precious for the season, and bad news when they pulled it out again next season. I had debated using sheep wool, or hair on hide sheep. Anyone have thoughts on that? I suppose could be cost prohibitive on a rifle case, but maybe ok for a pistol case? YinTx

Do you put any padding in there with the suede? Most rifle scabbards I see are nylon with a pad and a nylon liner.... been wanting to do a leather version myself, but had no idea what to put on the inside... YinTx

Welcome! Sometimes it's just the leather that makes doing the dye work difficult. Hopefully you've done a few more since this one, using other leathers. Also, check out the forums for info on how to dye leather, how to improve your stitching, etc. and you will find with each piece you do it gets better and better! Look forward to seeing more of you works... YinTx

This topic really piqued my curiosity. I have never heard of leather honey. Anybody know what is in it? Has anyone else used it and had the same results as Richard? Anyone used it on new leather before making something with it, after dye etc? I would presume this would be used in place of neatsfoot oil? How about use on chrome tanned leather? YinTx

PM sent. YinTx

Not sure about using Fiebings on suede, but you might look into Angelus Suede dyes, made just for that I think. YinTx

<----- *puts tools away. puts out the lights. closes the door.* Well, I'm going to bed. Can't beat that, and I've been trying for a couple of years now. Nicely done by the way. YinTx

I traded a few cordial emails with JW, and they requested I return the tools for them to do some hardness testing. No indication they would replace, just that they would get to the bottom of it. For me, if I have to send it back, I wont have a tool in the shop, so I'll have to purchase something else. I replied as such, but have not heard back for a few weeks. We'll see. YinTx

There is a significant thread on these bevelers here: Seems there have been mixed results, including in the responses received from JW to customers. YinTx

Cool, thanks for letting us know! YinTx