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@Littlef leatherwork is a new hobby for me too - less than a year! But I noticed that Tokonole dries into a plastic layer only because I take it in a bowl and then forget about it while doing other things! Burnishing the Tokonole on the grain side might prevent peeling. After all, in the bowl, it just stays there, with the water content evaporating. When burnished, it might be different, with that change in temperature. After all, Tokonole is used for edge burnishing and I have not heard of it peeling off edges. Certainly the edges that I burnish with it, are still intact, though that is neither here nor there, since all were made in the last 9 months.

@fredk Thank you. I am rather pleased with it. I am trying to get it to the color of skin with oils. In the thread about the effects of different oils on leather, I noticed that coconut oil darkens leather even more than neatsfoot oil. I don't know whether the effect is long term or not - in the experiment, it has remained dark for over 2 weeks now. The smell disappears within a couple of days as well. The leather I have used is very pale, looks anaemic. Now with the coconut oil, it looks realistic. When I send it to m y daughter, she will only have to apply the blood and gore. A word of caution to anyone making this hand: Make the rim of leather on the outside of the punched holes as wide as you can; even cut outside the lines if possible. There are places where the thread is passed through one punched hole three or more times and sometimes, it can't take the pressure of being pulled tight and the leather edge tears. Not fun, let me tell you.

The hand is half done. This is how it looks now. There are some mistakes I allowed to remain instead of correcting.. more authentic I thought. I will probably be able to complete it tomorrow. I will put up a pic of that too.

I'm using the information I gathered from our experiment already. Seeing that coconut oil darkened leather the most and dried and hardened the leather slightly, I applied it on the 'hand' that I am making. The leather that Tandy provided was very pale and quite soft and I wanted the hand a little stiffer. Hopefully, this works. It already looks more human.. the color is much more life-life. The smell of the oil will disappear in a couple of days, leaving behind, I expect, a stiffer, darker leather.

Instead of a vague description of 'very' or 'medium', or 'slight' I am making a scale of 1-5, for all descriptions.

Tokonole is used to flatten the flesh side of leather, if the flesh side is too rough. That is done with at least 50% diluted Tokonole though. If you let Tokonole dry in a bowl, as I sometimes do inadvertently, it forms a plastic layer that I can peel off. So peeling might become an issue, if you applied a significant amount, undiluted.

I missed last Sunday and decided to move to this week-end directly. This is what I observed: Mineral oil – darkens a little, remains smooth, does not curve in any of the sites. Mink oil - Slight darkening, slightly dry, slight curvature with drying, not always smooth. Neatsfoot oil – significant darkening everywhere, maintains flat, smooth, soft texture except when exposed to continuous changing environment in the car. Coconut oil – smell disappeared within 2 days of application; darkened the leather the most everywhere; slight dryness everywhere. At this point, mineral oil has the best effect. It darkens very slightly, remains smooth, does not significantly soften or harden the leather or deform it in any way. Mink oil also does not darken very much but dries the leather slightly. Neatsfoot oil darkens as expected but the leather remains smooth and flat for the most part. Coconut oil darkens the most but also dries the leather. There is no fungus or any type of damage to the leathers at this point. That is my report for this week. I had planned on adding Vaseline but could not find it. I will look for it this week.

@fredk I did not think of that. I don't usually do any of this Halloween stuff other than pass out the sweets. Will look for this tomorrow. Thank you for the tip.

....the third is looking for them Actually, that is the first!

Me too!

LOL. That is another one like the madness thing... hair on the palm is the 2nd sign of madness...

@billybopp I should look at it. It is so long and I bought a class at Tandy... so got all the instructions there. Thank you for giving me that specific time so I don't have to go through it all!

@billybopp that's so true! But never fear, I will find it when looking for something else, then say, "Oh!. Here it is. I will remember next time I need it!" I never do. @toxo familiar. Need tea leaves for 2 weeks now and forget every time. Make do with tea bags which I dislike. Ahh. The trials and tribulations of old age.... not. Been the same as long as I can remember.

When I keep something very safely in a place that seems obvious at that time but when I want it again the next day, I can never find it. Lost a whole huge roll of drawing paper I bought for patterns. Also 6 yards of canvas; big items; still cannot find them. Had to buy new and hubby kept them away. Says he cannot trust I will keep them carelessly enough to find them, since my 'safe' means 'lost'!

@fredk The ready mixed colors sound delightfully gruesome. Just checked Citadel. Available on Amazon too. Thank you for that tip. This will make painting the hand much easier.

@Sheilajeanne I should have thought of putting up the URL. Sorry about that! You had quite a search.

@Sheilajeanne @billybopp I would love to put it up when done - both when I finish the stitching and when my daughter completes the painting. Fun project but a little complicated. Hats off to the people who designed this. I have no idea how they came up with the ideas of making the nails embedded at the base, how to make the fingers curl a little and so on. It's worth the price of the pattern. It's on Etsy, if you search for - 'The Hand'.

@GezzerI have not seen this, since this is the first time I am attempting something like this. Did not think of searching for 'fake blood'. Been busy trying to stitch that hand - complicated! Thank you. @chuck123wapati if that's so, all the better. Which brand did you use?

@Dwight I will check at the local Lowes. Good tip! My daughter says she will paint the hand once I make it for her, which is a good thing as she is very artistic while I am not so much. However, she has never done leatherwork, so I would like to provide her with everything, along with instructions.

@Wepster Thank you for that link. The matte finish should help get just the right balance of matte and gloss. I was planning on making it look like dried blood. Some bruising and cuts in blue and purple and yellow maybe. But fresh blood with the rest matte might look better. @chuck123wapati yes I have used acrylics. For a while I used them on edges and I know they become pretty glossy, more than I want for this project.

I am making that hand from The Addam's family for Halloween for my daughter. She wants it to look relatively newly chopped off, so it needs to have a color like skin and bleeding, maybe a little early putrefaction. I am making it with veg-tanned leather, so it is naturally skin colored. I plan to apply neatsfoot oil so it will darken a little. Before that I need to decide on how to color it. What type of paint should I use for this? Acrylics was suggested but they would be shiny and not look very natural, isn't it? Alcohol based Dyes? Can they be painted on? Or are there other types of paints or dyes that I could use? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The tall one looks even better.. I think the proportions make it look mor elegant.

@fredk @Frodo This is just in time for me. Saw a pattern for a key holder with a concho snap and wondered where to get one and then read this. Nice. Thank you.

LOL. Oh yes! @fredk Great idea. Good for gifts. Hand made and unusual as well. @Gezzer You have hit upon a winning idea.

@chuck123wapati If you insist on being a grumpus each time you are awake at 4.00a.m. why unload on this forum? Go outside and yell and stomp around a bit. It will decrease tensions until your coffee is ready and will not be offensive to anyone. Now back to the topic of the lovely candle-holders. @Sheilajeanne thank you for clarifying that it was someone you knew whose table was damaged by tealights, but you know about it and warned about it. That was nice. @Heartless You are perfectly right, about making different sizes as well about the care to take. Different sizes in complementary colors are going to look stunning!