Second grizzly bear

[ClayB]

This past weekend, I finished up my second grizzly bear from Robb Barr's video. The carving went really well. The coloring went pretty well too. There were some blemishes on the leather outside of the carving, so I decided to darken the area with antique to camouflage the area. My bottle of antique was almost empty and pretty dried out. I usually thin antique with Tan Kote, but had read that some people use neatsfoot oil so I tried that. Gave it a nice color and covered the blemishes. The final step should have been spraying on the acrylic sealer. I have been using Krylon Preserve It for this for the last couple years and it has worked really well. It claims it has UV protection to help against fading. Someone told me once that you should spray the can somewhere before spraying it on the leather. It can spray white spots if you don't. Well, I didn't and I did get some white spots on the leather. They where just little white specks, and they did scrape off. But then later I noticed some large white patches starting to show on the leather. I thought maybe the neatsfoot oil hadn't been done soaking in and was drying unevenly. Ok, now what? Maybe a coat of straight neatsfoot oil will even it out. Nope, that didn't work. Still white areas when it dried. Ok, found another bottle of antique, thinned it with TanKote this time, applied it, and everything looks good. Whew. When it dried, get the Preserve It again. Shook up the can really well and sprayed it into the garbage can and then onto the leather. Also sprayed the eagle picture that I had just finished. As the sealer was drying, I looked at the bear picture and noticed that it looked like it had been sitting on a shelf for a couple months and was covered with dust! What the heck is going on here? My son picked it up and where his fingers touched it, the dust rubbed off a little. Tried wiping it with a rag and some of it came off, but it still looked dusty. Looked at the eagle and it was the same, all dusty looking. I decided to wipe it with water. Looked great wet, but as it dried, still looked dusty. Then I decided to try putting straight Tan Kote in the corner. Looked good wet, and when it dried, still looked good. Whew, what a relief. Now the background was looking good, but the bear still looked like he was covered with dust. I figured the TanKote could fix him too, but how to you apply it to all that hair? Can't rub in on with a sponge. Maybe try to spray it? Finally decided to try a tooth brush. Dipped it in the bottle of TanKote, then brushed it into the hair on the bear. Worked great! Saved both pictures.

I guess the reason I wanted to share this story is to let you know that finishes can be really unpredictable sometimes, even when you have used them before. I am going to throw out the can of Preserve It, but I will get another and try it again as it always worked good before. And even if things don't work out like you planned, don't give up, there might be a way to save your project.

Clay

[Billsotx]

Clay, This probably would not have helped with the problem you experienced but I always start spraying the finish off to the side of the project and hold the nozzle down until I've moved off the project before I let it go. This works especially well when spraying a finish on wooden furniture whether it's a spray can or a spray gun. I don't have an air brush but I watch a guy use one a while back and he did the same thing. Might come in handy somewhere down the line. Good lookin' bear you got there. Thanks for sharing your experience with us. ~Bill

[abn]

And even if things don't work out like you planned, don't give up, there might be a way to save your project.

Clay, you're right about that. About half-way through your post, I was thinking, "boy, he'll never fix that" and I probably would have given up in supreme frustration, trashed the project, and given up carving altogether! :censored:

However, I'm glad you stuck with it, trying different formulas until you saved that bear. Looks great now!

-Alex

[CitizenKate]

Whew!

How right you are. I sure have some horror stories to tell, especially with Fiebings Antique Finish and acrylic sealers. Just when I think I have the technique of applying them "down", I get bit in the keyster with yet another gotcha! I've changed to using other antiques and finishes now, that have worked better for me, but even the ones I use now are not foolproof.

I always just take a deep breath before I start, and resolve to just walk away from it for at least 10 minutes if something goes wrong. I've saved quite a few projects just by not reacting too hastily when I screw up a finish. Then again, if the project is already deemed lost, a well-considered attempt at a remedy is a no-lose alternative.

Kate

:scared: