strathmoredesigns

That's really helpful info, thanks guys!

@bgl500 what makes you recommend double over single action? If I'm interested in getting an even coat more so than being able to fade or anything like that. Would double action still be the right choice for me?

@byggyns what are you using to thin your Angelus paints? All of the larger sizes (above 1 oz) of their 2 thin product seem to be sold out and I'm wondering if there's another product I could use while waiting for 2 thin to come back in stock.

@GrayHallidayJr I'd love to hear about your experience with the actual laser when it arrives.

@Wedgetail and @jkittle99 have either of you used your lasers to cut and if so, are you still burnishing the edges? I just cut some 2 ounce veg tan bookmarks yesterday and the edges are so clean looking, I'm wondering if I need to burnish them.

Thanks for the tips. I left it alone yesterday after I put on the neatsfoot oil, so today I'll try buffing and the Aussie.

@rejerome thanks so much! I'm going to give these a try! And if they don't work, I'm reaching for my drill!

@rejerome any chance you can link to an example of the QuickGrip clamp you use and the type of pop rivet you're talking about? I spent all weekend trying to figure out how to attach a double groove wood slicker from Tandy with a 1/4" hole to a Black and Decker Rotary tool that can take shanks between 3/32" and 1/8". I was looking for an arbor adapter, but couldn't find one the right size.

Thanks guys. Well the good news is that I've managed to be pretty judicious in my neatsfoot oil usage so far (the stuff scares me a little - seems like a disaster waiting to happen), so I should be well placed to follow the rest of your suggestions. Aside from removing excess color, does the buffing soften the leather at all? Do you buff both grain and flesh sides? So you use Aussie to finish, are you not also using something like a Super Shene? Next time I'll apply my Aussie before my Super Shene.

I have some of their paints and a couple of their dyes. I'm pretty new, but I've tried both of my Angelus dyes out on some Tandy strips. The colors are attractive (I have chocolate and light brown), but the light brown came out a bit darker than I expected. I haven't done much more with their paints yet other than just test them on some veg tan remnants, so far so good. The range of colors is quite extensive and considerably more attractive than the Eco-Flo line. I also have a couple of their Glitterlites Paints. Given that they're effectively some sort of suspension coating and little bits of glitter, I was quite impressed by how well and evenly they coated. According to the Angelus website, the paints are acrylic based and the dyes are actually alcohol based. The smallest jars (1 oz for paint) are glass and have a little paint brush inside the top, while the smallest bottle (3 oz for dye) are plastic and come with a wool dauber. My one complaint about the packaging is that every time I try to pour a little bit of dye into another container it spills all down the side. I think it has something to do with the shape of the bottle lip. They seem to be aware of this problem as the box the dye comes in includes directions to use it to catch stray dye. Regardless, I plan to get a funnel and another type of bottle that doesn't spill as much to transfer these into as I like to pour my dyes into a medicine cup when I'm applying them. Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with them and have ordered a few more colors of both dyes and paints. I've done all of my ordering directly through Angelus' website as the prices are a little cheaper and their shipping (USPS) is pretty reasonable. Their one quirk is that the products can be damaged if they freeze and Angelus won't replace them/refund you if that happens. Probably not an issue for you in SoCal, but definitely something I need to plan for in Upstate New York in February. Also - in the event that you catch this post today, they're having a President's Day sale. 20% off on the Angelus site.

I'm having a similar problem. I bought an inch wide 4 oz. strip from Tandy to use for a camera strap. I wiped it down with Fiebing's Deglazer first, then applied about 3 coats of Angelus Light Brown Leather Dye (alcohol based). It also seemed to come out really dark (quite similar to a Chocolate Brown one I made last week). I don't know if the dark color is because I used 3 coats or just the nature of the dye. I used that many because that's what it took to get an even finish. Anyway, I let that dry (I may have helped the drying process along a little with a hair dryer set on cool and low), then applied two coats of Eco-Flo Super Shene. My strap looks a little darker than expected, but still good. My main problem is that the grain side edges are sort of curling inward and the whole thing so much stiffer than the bit of scrap I have left over from my original strip. I applied a light coating of Dr. Jackson's Neatsfoot Oil this afternoon, but haven't really noticed a difference. It's still quite stiff and the grain side edges are still curling inwards. From this feed, I've gathered that: I should get my leather from somewhere other than Tandy (I have some import strips ordered from Springfield, not Herman Oaks, I know, but I'm still pretty new and making lots of mistakes. Anyone know how Springfield's import strips compare to Tandy's strips?) I should apply neatsfoot oil before I apply my dye to help get an even coat. Should I wait for the oil to dry completely or should it still be some level of wet, and if so, how wet? A couple of things I'm still wondering: Is there anything I can do to soften/salvage the strip I've made now? I've only put the neatsfoot oil on the grain side so far, but I don't actually know if that's the correct way to apply it. Is this product grain side only or should the flesh side also get a coating? The manager at Tandy also mentioned putting the oil on between the dye and Super Shene. I haven't tried this yet, but what do you guys think of this idea? Could I be applying too many coats of dye which in turn could be drying out my strip and/or causing the color to be so dark? I also have, but haven't used, some Fiebing's Aussie Leather Conditioner. Would using that help at all? If so, grain and flesh sides? Any thoughts are appreciated!

Thanks, I've been practicing with my skiver too and getting a little bit better. I also just got a set of dremel accessories in the mail and gave it a whirl. It worked! I used a 240 grit 1/2 sanding drum on some veg tan remnants and was able to easily take off an ounce in just a couple of minutes. I started at the lowest setting and kept going up a little bit at a time. You definitely want to keep the drum moving on the leather. My results aren't perfect, but they're better than my skivving results and I've only had about 5 minutes of practice. Here are a couple of pics. Hopefully you can see that it's thinner and it didn't destroy the flesh side. .

Hmm... that's the tool I have. Maybe I'm just not practiced enough, but I cut right through a strip I was trying to skive.

Thanks, I'm eager to hear how it goes!

Yeah, I started out trying to figure out how to attach a burnisher to a dremel and discovered this by chance. Provided you have an appropriate tool and can figure out the right setting, it seems like it could be a lot easier than my super skiver.

Hi all, I'm totally new to leather working and have been having a little trouble skiving. I just made a veg tan camera strap that I inadvertently cut off a couple of inches from when I was trying to thin out an end that I wanted to wrap around a D-ring. Anyway, I came across this video on the internet and was wondering if anyone had ever tried skiving with a dremel or rotary tool, and if so, how it went, and what they recommended using in terms of tools/grit? Any thoughts or advice are appreciated. Thanks, Courtney