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Hello all! I'm making a costral/canteen for my wife and I'm looking at sealing it with melted beeswax (5oz veg tan) after wet-forming. Will acrylic paint adhere to waxed veg tan after it's sealed? I use Angelus leather paint. Cheers in advance Nathan Carlson Midgard Workshop

Ok i mostly am either doing wood projects or leather projects. But im wanting to start mixing and matching. Do some leather overlays onto wood boxes and maybe even try some exotic leather like snake or stingray over wood grips for my 1911. Ive read up on bonding the 2 materials together and glue selections for best most permanent bond. For the pistol grips Andrews leather in florida who makes some really nice leather over wood pistol grip panels has a great youtube video showing how he does his grips. He uses edgekote in his video to finish the edge. My question is does edgekote seal the edge up between the wood and leather? The edge where leather stops and wood starts wood be my biggest concern of starting delaminating. How to seal the edge to give best chance of it holding up over time. Could you resin coat the entire project once done to make sure everything stays one piece?

Dear All, I want to know which material and machine do factories use to seal and coat the leather edges with a thick rubbery coat? I don't think it is Giardini, or Fiebings or Stahl or United or any of these edge coats, because I compared those to the rubbery edge coat I have on many bags and they are not the same.......I also don't think in mass production of bags they will waste time applying 3 or 4 layers of these edge coats..... I think it is a synthetic material... It could be the one in the attached photo but I don't know what is it? BTW this material is damn good and sustainable. Can anyone help me please.

I am embarking on a project making bench cushions for a restaurant. I have been doing some research on sealing veg tan leather, and it seems that Resolene would be the best choice for sealing leather that will inevitably be spilled on and incur considerable wear. (This video convinced me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyTg_hfpNUM). My second question concerns upkeep: Is there a regimen I should implement every 6 months or so to re-seal or to condition the leather? Or should I leave it to the natural oils from all the skin contact it will recieve over time? Thank you for any advice you have!

Hello everyone. I am a new leather worker and I am going to be starting a big project soon. I am planning on making a leatherbound journal for a gift. With this journal, I shall have a border and details carved/pounded in. I would like the journal to be black and the details to be red, however I am not sure how I should go about coloring the details. If I dye the details first and then do the base, I'm worried the black would sink in to the details, so I'm a bit wary about that tactic. If I paint the details, first I'd need to know the type of paint but then I'd also need to know how natural it will look. I also am unsure what I should use to seal the dye for each idea. This shall be on vegetable tanned leather. If anyone has any advice, it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much for your time reading this.

I have been asked to make a set of coasters and a leather covered flask, but my concern is sealing them correctly. As they will each be exposed to water/liquids is there a special sealer I should get/use? I am concerned that paints or dyes I use will be adversely affected, any advise/guidance will be greatly appreciated.

Hello! I have never done anything with leather before, however a friend got me a very nice leather guitar strap for a graduation present. They had written a little message on the inside of the leather strap and I don't want the message to wear out. It looks like it's been drawn on with sharpie, I think. I've been looking and what I think I need to do is seal the leather. Looking for some help with that

Hello! I've only done a little bit of work here and there, mainly just some basic repair and improvement, and have always found the forums here a great resource. But I've run into a problem I haven't been able to figure out a good solution for, even searching through here! I have a good cowhide black leather jacket that's about 17-18 years old and have worn the hell out of, year in and year out. I've replaced the lining at least twice. I love it. Last year, however, I started noticing that it was leaving black smudges on my shirt collars. I mentioned it to the cobbler I take my dress shoes to here in NYC, and he asked to take a shot at it, did some "re-painting" of the collar and seams. That seemed to do the trick... for a few months. But slowly it started rubbing off on clothes again, now accompanied by smudges coming off from the cuffs and the bottom of the jacket on my pants as well as the collar! My sweat IS highly toxic to clothes, but whose isn't? And it managed to survive for a decade and a half at that point. I cleaned it once or twice a year, and re-applied some water protectant. What was going on? I tried using Resolene on the collar (sponge application), drying it thoroughly, re-applying, drying, and then applying fiebling's water & stain protector. It looked fine... But almost immediately started rubbing off again, especially near the seams. So, dear friends, is there anything I might be able to do to salvage this jacket, that won't wind up costing me as much as a brand new one (or, more likely, a brand new used one )? Or am I better off just saying it's had a good life, and bid it a fond farewell? Would be happy to post some pics later from home if there's anything that would be of help in diagnosing & finding a solution! Thanks everyone!

I'm currently gearing up for building a custom suit of veg-tan leather armor to go over another costume. However, I am new to the process of dyeing leather having previously only used paints for coloring projects. So I'm looking for advice on the what materials I should purchase and tips to use them best. The most important part is I need a dye and a sealent that will guarantee that there will be NO bleeding of the dye. The costume underneath is very expensive and difficult to clean and will likely be be rubbing against other equally expensive and difficult to clean costumes and many use white materials including faux fur. Thank you so much.

Good evening! I'm very new to this and started on my first project yesterday. I'm making a notebook cover and I used naked veg tanned shoulder. After cutting it out, I got excited and wanted to add some color to it. I realized that didn't purchase any dye with my leather, so I lathered it in Obenauf's Leather Oil; which I use to protect my leather boots. I love the way it turned out! My question is this: Will the color hold if I do nothing? Do I need to seal it somehow? Can you even seal Oil? How can I keep it like it is without sacrificing the integrity of the leather? Thanks so much!!

Hello! I'm a new-ish leatherworker. I'm making leather wristbands as a fundraiser. I've gotten the hang of the process and am happy with my results so far. However, I'm having problems with the wristband leaving a mark on my skin in high humidity, on sweaty skin. Here is my process (I wait 12 hours between each step): 1. Tool onto 6/7 oz. leather 2. Dye with Fiebings alcohol-based dye 3. Neatsfoot oil on both sides (since the alcohol dries out my leather a lot, but I prefer the deeper dying of the alcohol-based dyes) 4. Seal with Fiebings Acrylic Resolene (for a long-lasting protection) 5. Attach snaps Since I'm doing this as a fundraiser, I can't afford to spend any more on other materials. Can anyone offer advice on how to prevent color transfer onto skin, possibly just by adjusting my process? Thanks in advance- this community is a wealth of information!

Hello leatherworkers! This is my first post, thank you in advance for everything! I make a folding "camping" stool. I was originally buying oil tanned cow hides (5/6-7/8) and then strap cutting any which way to get as many straps as possible. I soon realized that some straps would be more stretchy than others, and some would be really way too stretchy. This I learned was a result of cutting the hide the wrong way at times, but also from using different parts of the hide that are maybe not suited for straps or belting. newbie realization! So.... This is where I am now. I am using a 7-8 oz italian shoulder in cognac purchased from Napa Hide House. I believe this is basically a veg-tan shoulder with a a thin burgundy wax finish. The leather is very stiff and lacks the character of the oil tanned leather I was using previously. So in an effort to add some character and some suppleness I asked the people at my local Tandy store in Hayward, Ca what might be the way to go. I thought some lexol or some nice conditioner would do it but they said this wouldn't really do much and recommended soaking in pure neatsfoot oil. So I did! I purchases a gallon of neatsfoot oil, prepared an oil bath and soaked my straps. After the first batch I did learn that for even penetration I would need to orbital sand the back of the leather with 60 grit to remove whatever was keeping the oil from penetrating. Ok! the leather looks good, nice and rich and dark, some nice character, supple.....but not ready to go. The leather is now quite oilly. After drying in the sun, even baking in the oven at 150 degrees, doing whatever I could think of to dry or remove excess oil, the leather is still "bleeding". It is my understanding that it is not good to be selling furniture with oily leather that will be touching clothing. Here is the Question! After soaking the shoulder in neatsfoot oil, how can I remove excess oil as well as seal the leather so that the oil does no stain clothing? Also, please let me know if you have any ideas concerning any part my process as I am a complete leather newbie just trying to figure things out Thank You!

There is a soft, pliable and draping undyed vegtan leather available: milled leather, with pronounced pebble grain, coming in thicknesses 3-4 oz and 5-6 oz. How the techniques of work with it are different from normal tooling vegtan? 1. Will it strech and change shape with use? 2. Does it have to be lined (not so smooth flesh side) or just be smoothed by Leather Balm or Resolene (or will it stretch and this seal be broken)? 3. Dyeing - Fiebing's spirit and Pro-Oil dyes in the usual way? 4. Sealing (moisture and rub-off resistance): on non-stretching tooling leather Resolene works well, but when leather changes its shape this seal may be broken. Any personal experience, please? 5. Finishiing to preserve pliability of this leather? Super Shene, Resolene and Eco-Flo Professional wax finishes seem to stiffen leather significantly, and Leather Balm, Aussie Conditioner and Montana Pitch Blend seems to be less protective for keeping dye from rub-off on clothes and less protective from rain or sweating (for small personal carry items or car seats, not as handbags). 6. Edging techniques? This is a thick soft leather, too soft for waxing and burnishing, unless edge was hardened soaked by SuperShene, and too soft and too thick for skiving edge, turning over and stitching along the edge. Roll over using the same leather seems to be out of question because of leather thickness (for small personal items, not handbags). Placing milled leather grain to grain side with thin 2-3 oz tooling leather, sewing along the edge, rolling over the thin tooling leather (as Paul Long lining works) should do the thick, but stiff tooling leather lining will limit pliability of milled leather. Making a thin strip of thin tooling leather/calf and roll it over the edge of milled leather will add stiff perimeter to otherwise pliable leather. Chrome tan suede, while being softer, is not suiable where only vegtan should be used. Tooling pigskin and goat are stiff too and have incompatible, IMHO, texture with pebbled milled leather. 7. For belt loops or handles: Because this leather doesn't hold the shape good, maybe less stretchable tooling leather should be used? 8. Using snaps at a flap: will this leather hold well with repeated pulling and closing at snap, or snaps should be used only if stiffener and lining were added?

I recently got a request for a can koosie. I've been thinking of some way to seal it to prevent the condensation from seeping into the leather. It will be dyed black using Fiebing Pro oil dye. after that i thought about seeing if I could get beeswax to soak in before a topcoat of Resolene (inside and out). Looking for any suggestions or ideas. Thanks!

Hey everyone, I've done some searching but come up with mixed results. Just wondering if anyone has suggestions for the best combo for painting and sealing on top of Fiebings Pro Oil Dye? I'm cutting, tooling, punching holes and then dying my pieces black — passing them off to a friend to do some painting on them (using a full range of color), and then she's giving them back so I can seal the paint and stitch them up. I haven't done any painting, acrylic or otherwise, on leather yet so I'm wondering if anyone had and product or combo recommendations given that I'm using the pro oil dye... Thanks in advance!