"How to"

[honestswede]

Im starting to exsperiment with different dyes and finishes but everything i do is way dark and was wondering how these saddle makers get such a nice yellow gold finish. im still perrty green at leather work.

[Hilly]

Im starting to exsperiment with different dyes and finishes but everything i do is way dark and was wondering how these saddle makers get such a nice yellow gold finish. im still perrty green at leather work.

I had the same problem with my dyes being too dark until I began spraying my dye on instead of using a dauber. Makes for a easily controlled color and even coverage with no streaking. You can get inexpensive sprayers with a glass jar and a bottle of propellant to spray your dye like this one, or you can use a compressor and a spray gun. I use an HVLP gun or an airbrush to spray my dyes, but many people don't have that kind of luxury.

Hope this helped some.

Hilly

[D.A. Kabatoff]

That photo is kind of small to tell for sure but I don't think there is any dye on that saddle. It appears to have simply be oiled with neatsfoot oil and perhaps a top coat of Tan Kote. Usually after a few days of drying, neats foot oil will even itself out; buffing with a piece of sheepskin will give it a bit of a shine afterwards. The Tan Kote if used will mellow out the shine and give it a softer appearance. Instead of Tan Kote, I use R.M. Williams on my saddles and after applying it, buff it lightly... gives a similar appearance and conditions the leather.

Sunlight will also add a bit of color to skirting leather as well... too much sunlight and the leather will turn more "orange" than what you see in that photo.

Darc

[DaveT]

That saddle looks just like what we had at the saddle shop where I worked. We used Wickett and Craig leather and nothing but Neatsfoot oil compound to color it. Takes quite a bit of oil to get that nice color, and you have to use a good leather like W&C or Hermann Oak. The imported leather oils up a different color, more a muddy brown than a chestnut gold. You can use diluted tan or buckskin dye to get a similar color. DIlute with denatured or rubbing alcohol, saturate the leather with the dye to get an even color. Then buff the extra dye stuffs off the leather with scrap shearling or an old T Shirt when it dries.

Dave T.