Tutorial on Mug Making

[Mrs Barry Hicks]

Well I've got another question for you. Do you find that after tooling the leather and dying it, when you put the mug in the hot wax, do you lose any detail in the tooling? I could use any advise possible.

Barry

Thank you for your kind words! I'm happy to share what I know and love to see how others take my ideas and run with them. Let the imagination flow!

As far as the amount of pitch/wax you need for a mug... Since I saturate the leather with wax first, you'll need more wax than pitch overall. Roughly a pound of pitch will be enough for 15 - 20 mugs. For that number of mugs, I think I'd go through 5, maybe 6 pounds of bees wax. So I would suggest that you start with a single pound of pitch and a couple of pounds of beeswax. As you make more, you'll probably need to get more wax.

Then with the taste issue, I've not noticed any flavor from the beeswax/pitch mix. However, I think some 'flavor' may be influenced by the slight smell of a freshly sealed mug. The wax/pitch has an oddly-pleasing, faint scent of honey-flavored pine trees. But this scent seems to disappear in a day or two as the seal becomes 'seasoned'. This is about the same amount of time it takes for the seal to loose any of its remaining tackiness.

I LOVE the idea of using the plastic frosting can as an insert! That's awesome and I'll have to try it out. Loves me some frosting, too!

[Angster]

No, I haven't noticed any loss of tooling. I think it's because the leather is not in the wax long enough for it to 'soak', I guess...? And I tend to be a bit subtle when tooling (I just don't hammer as hard as others), so I'd think it would be more apparent for me. You should be fine.

[Jason Austin]

I have not been able to get rid of the tackiness of the lining. Its totally usable but a bit annoying and dust sticks to it like mad. I wonder if my mixture is wrong.

I also went down the road of using other things a liners. I have had good luck with stainless steel. You can buy stainless bottles pretty cheap and then cut the tops off. This also makes it so that you don't need to wax the leather and, therefore, you can dye/stain/finish the leather like you would any other project.

Jason

[Luke Hatley]

I have not been able to get rid of the tackiness of the lining. Its totally usable but a bit annoying and dust sticks to it like mad. I wonder if my mixture is wrong.

I also went down the road of using other things a liners. I have had good luck with stainless steel. You can buy stainless bottles pretty cheap and then cut the tops off. This also makes it so that you don't need to wax the leather and, therefore, you can dye/stain/finish the leather like you would any other project.

Jason

Jason what type of Pitch were you using and where did you get it.?

[Jason Austin]

Jason what type of Pitch were you using and where did you get it.?

Hi Luke,

I was using the pine pitch from Townsend. Its the only stuff I have found anywhere.

Jason

[Luke Hatley]

Hi Luke,

I was using the pine pitch from Townsend. Its the only stuff I have found anywhere.

Jason

Like wise.......I'll keep looking for the real Black stuff..one of these days it'll

show up.

I have 10 "Blackjack Mugs" i am wanting to line.

Edited July 11, 2011 by Luke Hatley

[Southtexas]

Like wise.......I'll keep looking for the real Black stuff..one of these days it'll

show up.

I have 10 "Blackjack Mugs" i am wanting to line.

http://www.riogrande.com/MemberArea/SearchPage.aspx?page=GRID&free_text=pitch

If the link doesn't work, go to Rio Grande Jewelery Supply, do a search for Pitch. They have black pitch

[Mrs Barry Hicks]

Angster, here's a link to the mugs I ended up making. Thanks again for this tutorial... really helped me!

my mugs

Thanks again for you help!

Barry

[Bard Skye]

Angster

Something I've been wondering about.

How do you keep the wax from darkening your artwork?

I tried to wax harden a sheath one time. Worked quite well, but the bright red dye turned a deep maroon (quite lovely, actually, but not what I wanted) and the brown dye turned nearly black.

Any pointers?

BTW, that autumn leaf mug in your other post was bloody GORGEOUS!

Skye

[Angster]

Skye,

With dyes and stains, the wax hardening is going to change the color. If I'm trying for specific colors, I'll use acrylic paints. I haven't seen the wax saturation process alter the colors any (even metallics for the most part) and the process acts like a sealer for the paint. Of course, you'll need to make sure the paint is completely dry before waxing, and I'll even thin the paint a bit to make sure the leather 'grabs' it well enough.

The skull bottle I use as my profile picture was done 6 years ago (I think, maybe 5). We've taken it with us around the country and it's been under waterfalls, bouncing in the surf, dropped off 2nd story balconies (not on purpose). Over the years it has started to develop some scuff marks that has removed some of the paint, but that's about the only way you'll get the paint to come off.

Hope this helps!