Ive tried and tried and tried..............

[phillipsimsleatherwork]

I am doing the finish on a few things right now. I am going to antique them all and im having problems!!!!! I have read many diferent ways of doing this from many different people.

The problem comes when applying the oil at the VERY FIRST!!!!!! I apply a light coat of Bee natural saddle oil and it always turns out WAAAAAYYYYYY too dark. I try to do it lighter on something else and it still doesnt work out right. I dont know if im using the wrong oil or.......I dont know.

Ive watched a video of Chan Geer do it about a million times and I dont know what im doing wrong. I RUINED the crap out of a guitar strap I tooled. Took hours to tool and blah blah blah and then "added a light coat of oil" and then adklfhoauefhouiehoqhe!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Help,suggestions,constructive criticism,destructive criticism or whatever is welcome!hahah

I want to do this right.

Thanks in advance,

Phillip Sims

[MADMAX22]

By chance do you have any pictures.

Are you letting your work sit after oiled for 24 hours or over night. When you first oil something it gets really dark usually but then lightens back up once the oil has properly soaked into the work.

I use to and still do struggle with getting the finish correct. For now I am at finishing the work and letting it dry a few hours, then I dye it. I usually let this sit for minimum of a few hours. Then I oil it and let it sit overnight. Then I do my finish and antique or whatever.

[TroyS]

First off, I'm assuming you are trying to use a dauber or something similar to apply your oil?

I use brown construction paper when I do my oiling. You may want to try using an old rag to apply your oils. Dip the rag in the oil and wipe it on some brown construction paper or a paper shopping bag. It helps because you can really see the amount of oil in your rag as you wipe it on the paper. Once the paper draws the excess oil from your rag, rub it on your leather. I'd try it on some scraps until you get the hang of it, but that should put you on the right track! Now, after you're familiar with the right amount of oil to use, you can put several light coats of oil on your projects without having them go over to the DARK SIDE!

You could also consider an inexpensive airbrush. You can get a very effective, inexpensive airbrush here... I have one and it works fantastic!

Hope this helps!

[katsass]

Hi there, I shoot my stuff with a light shot of Neatsfoot oil from an airbrush..........then get off it and go do something else untill the urge to do something too soon leaves me. I use this little rig from Harbor Freight for all kinds of stuff, and at a total of about $70 (compressor and airbrush) it works great. The brush itself is neat because you can go from oil to dye to finish without cleaning the tool......quick change system. It's not as adjustable as a better brush (which I have and use for certain tasks) but it does an awfull lot of basic tasks well. Mike

Edited October 6, 2009 by katsass

[Rawhide]

First thing is to let the piece dry completely. I usually let mine sit for 2 days before doing anything to it after it's tooled. Next I'll dye, if I am coloring the piece. let that dry for a day and buff it with an old t-shirt to remove the excess dried dye. Then I'll use clipped wool, place it on the top of the bottle of oil, turn upside down and back upright, I drag the wool over the opening to remove the excess oil, then I work it into the entire piece and let that sit for 24 hours, after that, I can't tell the difference before and after oiling. If the piece seems flexible enough with the one oiling, I leave it be and seal (let dry a couple of hours) and antique.

What weight leather are you using? Something very thin will soak up oil very quickly and it's easy to over oil thin leather.

[phillipsimsleatherwork]

Hey thanks everybody. Those airbrush rigs are pretty cool! Anyway, I oiled a few things last night that have been ready to finish for a couple of months actually, I just havent got around to it. It was a couple pair of spur straps,a couple of wallets and junk like that. I applied the oil with a piece of wool like always just to see if it would happen again and THEY ALL TURNED OUT GREAT!!!!! I have always had a problem with not taking my time and get real anxious to see what the final product will look like, so I have ruined a few things by not letting them dry properly. BUT since these were tooled about 2 months ago and have been drying ever since they were COMPLETELY dry. Im going to neat lac them today and see what happens. YES I STILL HAVE SOME NEATLAC woohoo! Thanks for all the suggestions and everything everyone!!!! I would like to try out that airbrush thing one day.Ill put some pictures up here when they are all finished!!! Thanks again!!!!!

Phillip Sims

[Rawhide]

Be sure to work that neatlac in with a scrap of clipped wool, in circular motions. Let dry and use a second coat to be sure that you don't get blotching and streaking.

Good Luck!

[kevinhopkins]

Very good advice Rawhide!

Kevin

[phillipsimsleatherwork]

Well what if I have Neatlac in a spray can??? Should I still work it in with some wool? I will wait to see what you say! Thanks Rawhide!

Phillip Sims

[Windom Leather]

Hi Phillip,

I also have a spraycan of neat lac and I feel the nozzle on the can makes it too spattery. So what I have been doing is spraying the lac out into the lid and diping it out with the wool. I only spray a little at a time so I dont waste any. Hope that helps you out some.

[hidepounder]

The NeatLac spray cans are real handy however I recommend utilizing the wool skin. It doesn't matter whether you spray directly to your leather, in the cap and dip it or directly onto the wool skin. The important thing is to get good, even and complete coverage before it dries. Work in steps if you need to.

Bobby

[phillipsimsleatherwork]

Thanks alot everybody for the advice! Im going to start the Neatlac today. Pictures up soon!!!

Thanks again!

Phillip Sims

[Rawhide]

looks like you got the answer. let us know how it turns out.

[phillipsimsleatherwork]

Will do! Thanks again!

Phillip Sims

[KenE]

I just bought some Bee Natural oil and applied it over some Eco Flo dyed test coupons today. I let the leather dry for about 4 hours (they are 1.5" round cutouts for sake of testing) and then applied the #1 saddle oil. No real discoloration noticeable.

BTW, I checked out the Harbor freight airbrush kit mentioned and it is on sale for $15. Does this thing really work well? I've got burned from them before, but then again I can't justify spending a ton of money for a pro quality airbrush at this point. I want an airbrush to apply dye mainly. I want to get that faded out look or " dark around the edges" look. I may want to do fine detail at some point to accent tooling and do some background darkening.

Thanks,

~Ken