Has anyone tattooed leather

[TroyS]

I am working on a project now that may interest you. I have a friend/customer that gave me a photo of his dad sitting on a Harley. The photo was taken in 1946. It's a tiny little crappy picture so it took a lot of work to restore it, but here's the picture. After lots of photo manipulation, I was able to come up with this photo. Now, I had it laser etched onto a piece of leather and plan on stitching it to the top of his Tour-Pak like this. I still have quite a bit of work to do, but you get the idea!

[DCKNIVES]

That's very cool Troy.I am very interested in seeing the finished project.Dave

[leatheroo]

i have given some leather to my tattoo artist..he is going to give it ago...he will try it various ways..sealed, not sealed etc...i will keep you posted!!!!

[cem]

i have given some leather to my tattoo artist..he is going to give it ago...he will try it various ways..sealed, not sealed etc...i will keep you posted!!!!

That sounds great the Polka site definately shows the artist tattooing the leather and it does look to be sealed with something. Alot of blogs mentioned the Polka stuff was veg tan but it's hard to tell for sure.

Cheers,

Clair

[tattoosbyjay]

yes i have , but i am a fulltime tattoo artist of 6years itis much easier tattooing people than leather

[cem]

I'm still interested in this and came across this artist recently http://electricsolos.com/home.html and thought I'd post it up as some others seemed interested in it as well. Alex seems to have figured out the process quite well.

Cheers,

Clair

[mendedbowl]

this is very interesting

thanks for the links cem, almost makes me want to buy a tattoo machine and learn something new.

Alex has done some nice work.

i know jay posted over a year ago...but i would like to know why it's harder to tattoo leather than people?

ken

[cem]

Ken I think it's because the leather is harder and the needles can get blunt quite quick and get snagged in the leather.

I'm still trying to find out what they seal the leather with so it doesn't stain as you wipe the excess ink away, Alex's and the original Polka site I mentioned are the cleanest I've seen. I've also came across someone who has tattooed rawhide (can't remember the link for that one) but that was done wet so the excess ink wiped away easier.

I'm interested in it for the possible longer term fade resistance it offers though it will probably remain an interest for the short term as I don't have the room for anymore equipment.

Cheers,

Clair

[MikeCahill]

Ken I think it's because the leather is harder and the needles can get blunt quite quick and get snagged in the leather.

I'm still trying to find out what they seal the leather with so it doesn't stain as you wipe the excess ink away, Alex's and the original Polka site I mentioned are the cleanest I've seen. I've also came across someone who has tattooed rawhide (can't remember the link for that one) but that was done wet so the excess ink wiped away easier.

I'm interested in it for the possible longer term fade resistance it offers though it will probably remain an interest for the short term as I don't have the room for anymore equipment.

Cheers,

Clair

if you rub oil or vasaline into the leather it should a) allow you to wipe away excess ink, and should stop the ink in the leather "bleeding" sideways giving a sharper image, and c) the softening of the leather would make it easier to tattoo, and reduce wear of the needles

cheers

mike

[newfiebackflip]

Maybe Vaseline?

I know tattoo artist use it all the time on clients so it probably wouldnt be that far fetched.

Ken I think it's because the leather is harder and the needles can get blunt quite quick and get snagged in the leather.

I'm still trying to find out what they seal the leather with so it doesn't stain as you wipe the excess ink away, Alex's and the original Polka site I mentioned are the cleanest I've seen. I've also came across someone who has tattooed rawhide (can't remember the link for that one) but that was done wet so the excess ink wiped away easier.

I'm interested in it for the possible longer term fade resistance it offers though it will probably remain an interest for the short term as I don't have the room for anymore equipment.

Cheers,

Clair