fredk

I was thunking the the same thinks Thanks, a very informative tute

As far as I've found Super Sheen is a better version of Resolene. With Res, diluted, it might take 4 or 5 coats to get a 'shiney' surface, but S/S only takes two and it doesn't seem to need diluting for application

To be honest I can not be 100% certain. It does not show up in the browns or green dye. I've used meths to thin white, red and yellow acrylic paints and it did not tint the paint

Last first; do NOT use anything like white spirit or turpentine - it will not mix with the dye and may actually make the dye colour separate out I use Methylated Spirits; it sounds like you 'spiritus'. Meths has a purple colourant in it - this has never tinted any dye or even acrylic paint I have used it in. If in doubt just dilute an egg cup full to see. I believe someone on here has pointed out that Fiebings Reducer is just a mix of alcohol and it is over priced for what it is. I take a bottle of dye and pour it into a new HDPE bottle. HDPE = High Density PolyEthylene. You can buy them cheap off ebay. I get them at £6.60 for 6 Fiebings comes in small 120ml bottles. The new bottles are 500ml. I add about the same amount of meths, ie about 120- 130 ml To dip dye I have stainless steel oven trays, they are about 35cm x 25 cm x 5cm deep. I pour the diluted dye in, dip the leather, hang the leather to dry, pour the dye back into the big bottle - easy-peasy For long items I just pull them through the dye in the tray; pulling to and fro a couple of times. I hold the the dipped leather over the tray for half a minute to let excess run off then I hang it to dry over some newspaper to get any drips >> Remember to label just what you have in the new bottle; not only colur but dilution as well No, no, no, no

Dampening the leather sure does work; it helps the dye flow through and penetrate the leather. I use Fieblings dye, its an acylic dye, I dilute it with methylated spirits - an alcohol Dilute the dye more that 1[dye] to 3 [thinners] and you can build up the density of the colour by the number of times you dip

Same treatment basically; dampen leather. This time dilute the dye. 1 dye to 1 thinners at least. Apply with a damp sponge or dip-dye. Some on here prefer to use a spray brush to apply the dye - thats ok if you have a spray brush and somewhere to use it. I prefer to dip-dye when I can as it gets both sides of the leather in one go

A most excellent tute

You did well. When I managed to get a copy it was in the US, posted to the UK. Including customs it cost me about £125. But I reckon it was worth it even tho its one of the most expensive books I've ever bought

Those look grand. Remember; antique is supposed to make the leather look used, its not really meant to give a perfectly even coloured finish as dye does

Try putting Duck/Duct/Carpet/Fabric/Gaffer ** tape on the back. Don't use plastic parcel tape ** it has so many names I'm not sure which one you would know it by

JJ Glover's needles have the edges of the triangular part sharp, they are also highly polished. I have some needles from another maker, a reputable one, the edges are dull and I can actually feel the difference in the surface of the metal - and the eye of one of those broke on me just last week, pulling 0.8mm thread thru a pre-made hole

Nice tidy work both of you Depending on your dye; keep some cotton buds and meths handy - they can be used to dab off excess drips of dye from some areas, like threads

No tricks, just slow and careful work - which no doubt you are doing I would use a ball end modelling tool to lightly mark the straight lines either side of the centre stamping; that at least eliminates one mis-alignment possibility Have you tried; instead of doing several complete lines, do the basket weave in a 'block' around the centre stamping, then working away from that towards the edge?

That looks very nice. That lacing looks just dandy Pity you spelt 'favour' wrongly To de-shiney brass or plated parts for leather work I put them on a bit of granite and roast them with a plumbers mini blow torch. Once heated up and cooled they take on interesting colours

No, the hole does not open up larger; Under the ball head is a bar stem, the leather bears against that bar thus the sides of the hole are in compression. Leather under compression does not enlarge or rip, it is quite a solid wall. If you have the access slit on that side you risk having the slit widen out and riding over the ball head thus having the closure open up when you most need it to be secure. Also a slit cut will rip though much more easily and faster than a circular hole. In many manufacturing processes the way to end a straight slit cut so that it doesn't extend when not required to do so is to end the slit with a circular hole or end Military holsters from as far back as the 1840s used this form of closure and after many years of use the hole is still a tight fit over the ball and stem

When I use 'antique' I a/ use a sponge, a damp sponge is best, to apply b/ I wet the leather; more than damp, but not as much as needed for carving/stamping c/ work fast, really fast d/ have a pad of clean kitchen paper ready for wiping off the excess

No need to apologise to me; I just put those up to clarify just what size this is. On my view of the link its coming up at $9.99 - and its the last one. At that price its worth a chance ...................and it says its Cobra skin But; be sure you are allowed to import it. The EU has very tight regulations on what skins/leather can be imported although each country interprets those regulations differently

Nicely done

24 inches = 610 mm or 61 cm 4 inches = 102 mm or 10.2 cm 100 cm = 1m = 39.4 inches

I noticed after posting that the original posting was 6 months ago; so bear that in mind 'quote' part of the original posting and it'll notify chiefjason that this is active

I would tend to agree with Chrisash that its a range finder. With it having an attachment to carry by horse it would be for field artillery

Summer, Northern Ireland, today, my area; 17 - 18 degrees C, [63 F] , 77% humidity - and this is one of our hottest days!! It takes days for leather wetted for carving to dry, it takes weeks for wet moulded items to fully dry out on the mould - both times; unless mildly warm air is circulated over and around them. Big problem keeping mold from growing on the wet leather. I've tried a de-hum machine but they just can't cope I've been varnishing some wood with acrylic water based varnish - supposed to take 1 hour to dry - taking at least 4 to get touch dry, overnight / 8 hours between coats.

Thats good; we now know you have leather. This question is ambiguous; I'll address it in two ways 1. It worries me that you can scratch the surface finish off so easily; I'm guessing it has a sprayed on finish. You can work with this or try to remove it and re-dye it. To remove the top finish try some lacquer thinners [aka cellulose thinners]. Soak a bit of clean rag cloth with the thinners and wipe it over the leather; it will remove it. After this you can re-dye it browns or black, then after re-dyeing you can put on an acrylic finish called Resolene [from Tandy] This Resolene will give the surface a tougher top surface. Usually Resolene will not do much on a commercial sprayed on finish, in fact it will not soak into the leather through some commercial finishes Or just live with the finish that it has 2. Clothing leather is always soft and supple; it can be 'hardened' up a wee bit by soaking in hot water and drying very quickly using heat; but its not a process I'd recommend a first-timer to try as you can easily end up with useless small bits of hard leather It may seem a lot of work on used leather to make it more useable again but leather is expensive, maybe as much as $5 per square foot

My son told me of a customer he had recently. No.1 son rebuilds, refurbishes, repairs and sells modern classic BMW cars. A customer came in, liked a 5 series, wanted to buy it. Went away, came back a few days later; he could not afford the insurance on that car with a big capacity engine. Would my son swop out the big engine for a smaller capacity one then sell him the car at the price of a 5 series with the smaller engine?

to follow on; a photo of 4 coloured leathers I have on-hand From left; 'raspberry crush', [which is more pink than shows in the photo], lavender, Sea Green, red [which is actually a bit on the orangey side] Big companies can order 1000's of square feet of leather in any colour of their choice. Mere me just looks out for the excess on sale at the likes of Le Prevo and I buy it up as best as I can Get friendly with a few tanneries, tell them what you are looking for and maybe, perhaps, they'll let you know when they have some, perhaps excess or 2nd quality from an order. Thats what I did with Le Prevo