MorningStarL

FredK, thanks for this. The other day I found a quart of Ecoflow's Java Brown. I love the colour and it's always blotchy and uneven. I cut it 2:1 with alcohol and used a kitchen sponge on damp leather, and got the best dye job ever. Took two coats, then neatsfoot oil, and then I used neutral shoe polish (because my Resolene's all dried up in the jar!!!). There are problems with this -- I'm out of practice -- but I LOVE the way the colour came out.

What about dipping? Although I can see that might be hard with a belt.

Thanks, Winn!

Those are gorgeous! I have a thing about tools -- make my own when I can -- and if I'm going to use them, they should be as attractive as function permits. Thanks!

Thanks. Mine are Douglas awls, and they're very sharp (and I take aspirin for a heart condition, so sometimes keeping blood off the leather is my big focus), but I'll look at these too.

Yes, I see flaws all the time. It helps a lot to let all y’all look at them with a clean eye. Thanks. I do some story-writing, too. It’s also fun and nerve-wracking. Thanks.

I’d have liked very much to do that, but I haven’t done it before and I didn’t want this order to be my first. It already had minor calamaities, and the knifemaker kept phoning the client and saying, “You can pick them up Saturday,” or some other day, and then I’d knock over the bottle of dye and spill it all, or get stomach flu, or some other darn thing ... And, thank you.

Thanks -- it GOT stressful the night I knocked over the bottle of Saddle Tan dye, all over the basement floor. I'd ordered more cuz I knew I'd use it up -- but we had to put off the delivery date. Thank you.

It looks great -- I'd like to try one some day. Great stitching and I love the colour -- what is that?

I didn't really know what tags to use. I normally make one sheath at a time, for a man who makes one knife at a time, as he feels like making it in the moment. Then he got an order for 8 -- these six are for members of a military unit, and they're special. A friend of the client, who's not in the unit, wanted one anyway, so that made seven. And the knifemaker decided to go ahead and do another, with a different handle, just to do it -- so that was 8 sheaths. All more or less the same as this -- one left-handed and the rest right. 9-10 ounce vegtan; hand-cut; I make the stitching holes with the awl clamped in a drill press cuz my hands are weak and I have arthritis and trigger finger. Stitching by hand -- 1 mm Tiger thread in Havanna Cigar. Fiebing's Saddle Tan -- which wasn't always co-operative. And the knifemaker was nervous about the whole thing, so he wasn't always all that co-operative either. They went out to the client yesterday. After reading a lot about finishes, I melted mink oil and bee's wax together, 50-50. It's hard and a little sticky. Takes a lot of rubbing in, and a lot of buffing. I used a wheel for that. And I love that high-gloss it gave, after three coats of 50-50 Resolene and water. I was sick on the weekend and finished the buffing with little time before the client arrived. These are the knifemaker's photos -- they don't have the angles I'd have used, but I'm not gonna complain at this point. I'm kinda glad they're gone -- they were starting to weigh on me.

I've got the six knife sheaths done. Started dying them last week and knocked over the bottle of Fiebing's Saddle Tan. Had enough to do two and more was on the way. The two from the old bottle are streaky. The dye went on or took unevenly. There's mottled patches. I've been trying to even it out, without much success, and they're already darker than I'd like them to be. The knifemaker is cranky and giving me grief. I don't know what to do. I've made a test patch with more of the dye, and I'm prepared to try sanding lightly with 600-grit (I saw that on here somewhere) and I've got some Barkeeper's Friend, but haven't tried that yet. I told the knifemaker today I thought the options were (1) over-dye them black (which the client doesn't want), or (2) start over and make new ones (and he wants to get paid sooner than that). I'll take pictures tomorrow -- too dark now. Thanks in advance.

Tom, is there any way to fix them once they,'re too dark? I read this too late, and I don' t want to have to make rwo more knife sheaths. Reading about oxalic acid.

They're great to go over places that might have been masked by a little too much contact cement. Or, so I,'ve heard...

I finished a costom order last night for six matching lighter brown knife sheaths. I was dying the first Saddle Tan when I knocked the bottle over. Much cussin'. There was enought to do the second but they're both streaky and dark brown. Same bottle and (I think) same hide as two I did last week. I knew this order wuld run me out so I ordered more Wednesday night, but we had to e-mail the client to say, "Not Saturday now." i' m searching for a way to lighten what I've got. Was using a damp sponge on damp 9-10 ounce vegtan. Operation's too small for a sprayer topay off

Do you have more pictures of this? The inside and the flaps? I want to make a couple for friends, and I have some beautiful leathers for it. Thanks! I think it looks good!