CitizenKate

That sounds like just what I need for my wallet zippers. I have a terrible time keeping them in place while I'm sewing them with the adhesive I use now. Thanks for the tip! Kate

You can also mix the oxblood with some brown to get more of a deep crimson color. All dye colors can be mixed to obtain the colors you want. However, I've never tried mixing a spirit-based dye with a water-based dye, but that seems to be essentially what you're doing with the Rit mixture that twinklestarchild describes above. (I'll have to put that on my list of things to try.) Kate

Yeah, I noticed that, too. Me sad. I should have grabbed them when I could. Kate

That is too cool! Nice bit of reproduction, there. (I'm also a SW fan!) Kate

Nice... leather patches for a letterman's jacket. Those haven't changed much since I was in high school. Kate

Oh! They've re-done it since my last visit. I'll have to explore around and let you know what I think... Kate

I have a single-action sprayer I use to spray on finish. With this finish, I just keep the sprayer loaded with it pretty much all the time; it doesn't seem to require much cleaning, since the wax finish doesn't clog up the nozzle the way the acrylic finishes do. But when I do clean it, I just rinse it out with warm water. Kate

Maybe try re-loading the page? The page you're seeing may have been saved by your web browser from a previous load. Kate

What finish are you using (Satin Shene, I presume?) and are you wiping, or spraying it on? Kate

I think that must have been a typo, because the price I'm seeing now is on the order of $90. Still, that's pretty steep, considering no more than it is. I still sometimes wonder if I'm in the wrong business... Kate

I've used Future Glue Gel from Super Glue, and if you put it on right (i.e., follow the directions on the package) that stuff really holds!!! I had one stone I glued to a piece of leather, then tried to pull off. I broke the stone trying to get it off (to give you an idea of how much force I used), and it never did come off. Kate

Hi Scott, Glad you found us! That looks like beautiful work as best I can tell. Looking forward to seeing more of your work. Kate

There are going to be a lot of different opinions on this, which is perfectly okay, but here's my experience... When I use spirit dyes, I always follow the dye job with a Lexol conditioner treatment. There are lots of different conditioners out there that I'm sure are all fine to use. But I condition the leather after the dye job because the alcohol really dries out the leather, which I believe could shorten the life of the article if something is not done to replace the moisture that was lost during dying. But Lexol alone will not seal the piece, or protect the dye job from fading or bleeding. For that you need a sealing finish. I have not tried the Aussie Wax, but wax in general typically does a very good job of sealing leather. As an alternative, you may consider other finishes instead of the wax, such as Tan Kote, Satin or Super Shene, or even lacquer... it just depends on the results you want, and how you prefer to work. They all have different trade-offs to consider, how easy they are to apply, how well they protect the leather, what they look like once they're applied, etc. Kate

Yes, acrylic finishes can be used with spirit dyes. (The Eco-Flo satin sheen and super sheen products are still acrylic finishes, by the way. Acrylic finishes have always been water-based. Tandy just re-labeled it.) I wouldn't recommend putting highlighter on top of it, though. It should go on before the finish. If you want something to resist the highlighter, lacquer, wax, or latex-based Block-out will not break down as easily as the acrylic. If you're new to using acrylic finishes, be careful not to rub it around too much when applying it. Just wipe over the area to be finished once. Or better yet, spray it on. Kate

Most of the time I spray on Bee Natural leather finish. I've also used Kiwi neutral shoe polish, and even Trewax floor wax, and gotten great results from all of them. Kate

Ian, I got a similar lesson a couple of years back. I floated the down payment and ended up getting stiffed for half the selling price. I agree with the point Horsehairbraider makes: deal consistently and ask everyone to make a payment up-front to cover the expenses. But that being said, your work is phenomenal and worth every penny. Kate

If you do any woodworking (i.e. can use a router and a drill) you can make one of these yourself at just about any length. Here's a thread I posted on how to... http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=4923 If you're not into woodworking, PM me, and I'll gladly make you one. Kate

I take it you have a leather strop, then? Kate

I have a single-action sprayer I got for around $10 that I use for liquid finishes. They do work great for wide coverage, and are very easy to maintain. I have thought of that (I used to shoot skeet pretty regularly), but I don't frequent the local shooting supply store as often as I used to. So I just use paper towels and cotton swabs, then rinse and spray-through with denatured alcohol, water, or acrylic brush cleaner, depending on the type of dye or paint I'm using. The swabs probably do a great job of sopping up the traces of leftover dye. Kate

Which type you go with just depends on the results you want, and how you like to work. Here are some tradeoffs to consider: Siphon feed airbrushes are more convenient to use when changing colors a lot, because instead of having to empty the cup and clean out the remaining drops of dye in the cup, you can just switch cups. You can usually hold more dye or paint in the cup with siphon feed, which means you wouldn't have to re-load as often. Gravity feed airbrushes are usually better for very fine detail work, because they don't require as much pressure to operate, and are a little easier to control physically because of the size and shape of the instrument. If you're going to do mostly color washes and shading relatively large areas, either type of airbrush will work fine. If you want to do very fine lines, or coloring very small, finite areas of your project, you may want to consider gravity feed a little more strongly. In my case, I chose a gravity feed airbrush, which can spray anything from a 3-inch spray down to a line the width of a pencil line without setting the brush down to change tips, settings, etc. I do spend considerable time cleaning dye out of the brush when changing colors, which is sometimes inconvenient to the point of being annoying. But I've used it for years now, and really love all the things I can do with it! Kate

Yeah, why didn't I think of that? LOL I guess that's why it helps to ask around. Kate

Mike, go ahead and mark me down for international shipping. Kate

I see. I have to agree with you, I don't know any way you could just re-do the background and the finishing for just that part of it. At least, not without the risk of ruining part of it. I suppose if it were up to me, since it doesn't appear to have been personalized with a name or initials, and assuming I was willing to accommodate the customer that far, I would offer this piece to the open market and just make another. (This also reminds me to add a clause to my "custom work agreement" which states the customer agrees to pay additional charges if they change their mind after the work has begun.) Very nice item, by the way! Kate

I would not try to undo/redo part of it, but rather take off the entire finish and redo it. It would be difficult to get the redone parts to blend with the original work. Just my opinion. Kate

Anyone have a good pattern to build a spray booth?! Kate