VargS

Yes, that was supposed to be .50AE. It's a Desert Eagle. I don't know much beyond that and that shooting ones self in the leg with it is a terrible idea. I've never baked my leather before, and I don't know why I haven't. I tried drying out a pair of gloves on a radiator when I was a teen and found out the hard way why you don't do that. Thanks to both of you for the tips.

I've tried the water. Both water and the solvent (alcohol) in the dye penetrate the leather, the dye, however, will not. I haven't heard of using NFO before. I have a bottle of the pure stuff, so I'll give it a whirl and see what it does. Thanks to the both of you for the idea.

Nice! If you get a moose are you going to do anything with the hide?

Pardon me if I missed this conversation-- I did a quick search and that was it. How do you prevent the leather for folding in and becoming caught on the trigger when re-holstering the weapon? I have a friend who wants me to make him a functional holster (nothing pretty) for his handgun, and while I'm confident I can form the leather I'd rather not be the cause of a .50AC round going off unintended. Thoughts?

What voodoo do I need to do in order to get this die to penetrate? I have tried three different veg tanned hides purchased years apart from each other (all from Tandy) with both the light and dark Fiebing's spirit based dye and have had the same experience with each of them. I have tried: cleaning with Oxalic Acid, cleaning with Denatured Alcohol, and sanding the top surface off. I have been using a swab applicator, but have tried dipping as well. Pictures are below. I have omitted many since they almost all ended up the same: Die on top of the grain with very little to no penetration. I have Al Stohlman's book on coloring leather, and have followed the directions as far as I know, so I'm at a dead end. Everything but the two other combinations under it: Below is the 3-4oz I dipped (dwell 30 sec), cleaned with Oxalic acid: Below is one of the two 7-8oz hides I dipped. The other hide ended up much like the first. I know there are several threads on this already, and that the general consensus is that the leather isn't really veg tan leather, or that it is veg tan, but with something else added. Since this is three strikes against Tandy, all spread out over several years, several locations in different regions, I would think that it would be better known that Tandy veg won't take die. Am I missing something? If not, is there anything I can do to make this leather take die, or am I stuck with prototyping and practice junk? Your expertise is appreciated.