Alaisiagae

If it's regular veg-tan (undyed, unfinished), you would not need a deglazer before dying. My understanding is that the deglazer is meant to strip a finish off of finished leather goods (like a handbag) so that you can re-dye them or do touch-up dying. If it was me, this is my process: tool/stamp/carve/punch -> dye -> finish -> sew/lace. I use Super Shene (equivalent to Fiebing's Resolene) or Tandy's Neat-Lac. After a few days to let everything dry 100%, I would apply a conditioner. I can't say if this is the absolutely best proper order - maybe apply the conditioner after dyeing and before the finish (especially if the finish is waxy)? I don't know the precise difference between pure neatsfoot oil (NFO) and NFO compound, other than that I have read some posts on this board that advise using pure NFO and not the NFO compound. I've used Dr Jackson's Hide Rejuvenator on some of my finished veg-tan goods, and it doesn't really darken the leather at all (it's a waxy paste). I've used a Leather Conditioner I bought of Amazon for my leather dress shoes, and for one pair of boots I used mink oil (the leather had lightened considerably due to wear-and-tear). I probably would not use the leather conditioner on my veg tan unless I read the ingredients carefully; the mink oil paste might be okay.

The Cova-Color paints are different from craft paints, they are not the same. Cova-color is formulated to be more flexible and not crack when dry. At least, that's what I was told by the Tandy employee when I asked about it. It's cool that they now carry Angelus, that seems to be the gold standard, but I'm still happy with my Cova-Colors. Before I bought cova colors, I tried to use craft acrylic paints (for outdoors items, so it was viscous), but that paint would fade when I dyed the piece and I think it didn't play nice with the finish either, from what I recall. I've used Neat-Lac on leather with painted portions, it works fine for that purpose, too. First I neat-lac the painted areas so they'll resist the dyes more, and then I apply dye to everything with my wool dauber, and use a paper towel to quickly wipe dye off the painted bits. Probably not the most effective way to do things, so I'm all ears for tips and tricks. Thing I learned: don't paint after dyeing, especially a dark dye. I put on, like, 10 layers of white over a mahogany dye and the paint just turned pink forever.

I would think the tanning process would kill most pathogens.

What kinds of leather goods are you wanting to treat?

I don't know if a wax will act sufficiently to lock in the dye. My understanding (and it may be flawed) was that the acrylic solutions chemically react with the dye pigment molecules... I wish I knew more about why certain substances work to seal the dye and others don't. You may want to go with an animal-based oil, like pure neatsfoot oil, rather than a veggie oil like castor oil. I don't know the exact science, but I know enough that different oils have different legnths of carbon chains, and different saturation of those chains. That's why some oils are "lighter" than others. I think an animal-based oil would make sense, since leather is an animal-based product, but it's up to you. In another thread, Fredk described a recipe with beeswax, carnuba wax, and neatsfoot oil:

What brand of paints are you using?

Could you provide more details about the project, specifically the type of leather? If it is undyed & unfinished ved-tan, I don't think you'd need a deglazer, since there's be nothing to remove. From what I can recall, Fiebing's Tan Kote is a type of finish, isn't it? It would seem redundant to use both Tan Kote + Resolene. If you have any scrap leather, you can test out how it looks using one, the other, and both. A good conditioner - good question! Pure Neatsfoot oil is commonly recommended, but will significantly darken the leather. Many conditioners will darken the leather, but not all of them - think the oilier the conditioner, the more of a darkening effect you might see; whereas something waxier might not darken it as much. I'm not sure, as I haven't experimented with conditioners. I would think it also possible to apply a conditioner after you've sealed it, which is what I have done in the past. Because my sealer doesn't have any wax, I don't think there's a problem with the oil being able to penetrate in there.

Fiebing's Resolene would be a good choice. Not sure how good it will work if there's wax on top of the leather, that might prevent the Resolene from getting to the leather.

I made a belt at a Tandy class, and we used a wing divider to measure and mark where to put the holes. It worked well, my belt looks great and the holes are lined up. Round drive punches, plus the slot punch for the buckle tongue, and also a strap end punch (I used an English Point, I like the look of it). I want to get some strap end punches, but they're kind of expensive to try to have some in different sizes. =/

I bought the tooling pre-cut of 6/7oz Top Grade (Grade A) and I thought it was good, but I've never used the premium/good stuff like Herman Oak and W&C, etc. so I can't compare. The piece I got was flawless, no marred surfaces, flexible. I ended up tooling some of it (just some stamps, no swivel knife) and it turned out just fine. Dyeing was a breeze, no complaints there. I haven't bought cut sides from them, but I notice the sides have two tiers of quality, so keep that in mind when selecting. If you had a problem with the pigskin, give them a call - their customer service is friendly, and I would be surprised if they didn't try to help you out somehow.

If you have the email with the download links, the links still work even for books they no longer show on the site anymore. So glad I went on a binge of the free books last year, I was able to download them all a few weeks ago.

I'm not sure, because I only just bought some neatsfoot. When I applied it, I dipped a 1x1 inch corner of paper towel and then put that on the leather. I might be doing it wrong, but I'm sure there is at least 1 person here on the forums that knows the right way to apply the oil.

Maybe try a little neatsfoot oil? Is it 100% pure neatsfoot oil, or neatsfoot oil compound?

Could you make something that covers just the blade area, not the handle? Like those axe-head covers, or the covers for head knives. That would reduce the complexity of trying to work in the angled handle piece. I use a rectangular pouch to store my 45mm rotarty cutter after I cut myself reaching for it. It's from soft pebble-grain leather, and it sure isn't fancy.

Thanks, @ScottWolf. What are your thoughts on white beeswax vs. yellow beeswax? Will the yellow color tint the leather, or not really?

@fredk Where do you get white carnuba wax flakes? I've been searching google and amazon all day, and all I can find are the yellow flakes.

I have the same problem with kiwi shoe polish on my shoes, lol. Got some on my pants when I crossed my legs when sitting. I've learned to apply it sparingly, if at all. Saddle soap and deglazer might have been more-fitting choices for your goals. Nail polish remover is pretty much acetone, that's going to strip oils from leather like crazy, so remember to apply some conditioner. Yeah, you need a finish like resolene to seal the dye. Let us know how it goes!

Outstanding! The tooling and stamping are impressive, as is the stitching.

I like it! The dimpling(?) pattern on the leather (was that done with a pear shader?) echos the ripples on the rake tine where it was beaten with the hammer during forging (or so I suppose). I want to learn how to lace, because it looks pretty cool. The yellow deerskin really stands out. On the back of the sheathe, it looks like there are a few gaps in the lacing up towards the top? Nice stitching pony, I like the two-tone wood you have there. My pony I bought from Tandy, but I'm putting a stain and varnish on it and I want to add some leather to the area that clamps the leather piece. What weight leather did you use on your pony's clamp?

This might be a stupid question, but did you call the customer care phone # on their website? It's not for the local Tandy store, it's for their main offices (I think). You could say you're really excited about the WPB location and want to have an estimated timeframe for when they expect the store to open up. Depending on whether you think it's worth bringing up, you could describe what you told us here, that you were blocked from commenting on FB.

Update: G536 and X2862 have been sold.

Yes, I notice it, too. The workers at my local Tandy store say this is absolutely normal, that the acrylic in the finish is "activating" the dye pigments sitting on the surface of the leather. After I dye, I wait at least an hour for the dye to dry before putting on the finish. I apply the finish and wait about 5 minutes between coats. Even though some of the dye pulls up, I find that it doesn't noticeably lighten/water-down the color. I don't think you need to prep the veg tan with anything. I find that Neat-Lac pulls up the dye less than Satin Sheen and Super Sheen. It also makes a great resist. It will produce a glossy finish, unlike satin sheen. There are also other types of finishes, but I don't have experience with them. I was told that, particularly with alcohol-based dyes, it's good to add a little leather conditioner (such as an oil) to the finished product a few days after all the dyeing and finishing. This gives the dye and finish enough time to thoroughly dry. I was told that the alcohol based dyes in particular will strip some of the natural oils in the leathers, which is why you'd put them back in later to make sure the leather regains its flexibility.

That's really cool, it's too bad the specific history behind it (who made it, owned it) is lost. Thank you for sharing! Also, it is so detailed, each shot case is tooled uniquely.

Those look great, I like how you're painting all those details in the 605 tag with the stripes and stars; and on the other ones, the outlining of the numbers and letters. Very cool.

Wow, nice boots! Those look so professionally done that I could mistake them for something I'd see in an up-scale store.