Antique disaster.. what happened?

[KenE]

Hello,

I used the same technique on two different pieces and got very different results. I was wondering if anyone could enlighten me on what I'm doing wrong. The only thing different is that the bookmark piece did not have a base die added, it was left natural.

Here is my technique, each step allows drying of at least 8 hours before the next:

- Dye with Echo Flo Water based die, diluted for even application and desired color.

- Apply two medium heavy coats of Bee Natural Saddle oil.

- Apply Bee Natural RTC antique resist.

- Apply Echo Flo "Gel Antique" (Med Brown) and remove immediately.

- Apply Bee Natural RTC resist to seal in the antique.

As you can see from the pics, the Coaster is decent looking, but the bookmark is trashed. The antique somehow got under the resist or died the resist itself, I'm not sure which. I might try stripping the coating with deglazer and dying it something dark, but its probably ruined.

Should I just buy the Fiebings black antique paste and ditch the Eco Flo antique to get that "sheridan" antique look, or am I doing something wrong?

[Deno]

I've had the same problem. The resist didn't seal the top pores of the leather and the antique sucked right into the pores. Another light coat of resist would have prob did the trick. I've never tried deglazer, so I don't know if you can save it. Maybe someone else can shed some light on this. My best, Dennis.

[King's X]

You can search my threads about this. It is what Deno mentioned, but my research has identified a couple other culprits that may attribute to the issue. Just think about this.

1. What type of leather are you using? Tandy, Hermann Oak, W/C?

2. What is the location where the leather was cut, front or back, top or bottom?

3. What type of resist product did you use and how did you apply it? sponge, sheep wool, etc?

4. How may coats? How did you apply it? up and down, circular motion, etc

5. Where did you apply it? Outside, inside? What was the weather like? Windy, snowing, raining, etc?

5. How long did you let it dry? Where did you leave it to dry, Outside/inside?

6. Finally, the most important part, I believe, is what did it look like when you INITIALLY applied it to leather? Did you happen to see spots or runs of darker leather or lighter coverage? Almost like it was not adhearing to the leather?

I know this is too much information to think about when finishing, and I know that other masters on here just say that they apply it and move on, but I think for me it is about knowledge. The more you learn about the process the better you will get. Most importantly, learning about YOUR process. I ended up do some test pieces and was able to answer these question above.

Good luck and Happy Holidays!

Edited December 6, 2009 by King's X

[KenE]

Hello,

I did one heavy coat with the Bee Natural RTC on both items. I think I am going to try and give it two heavy coats next time wtih some drying time in between. It might be like polyurethane on wood, the first coat soaks right in and you need a second coat to go on top of the first to back it up and get whatever areas it might have soaked in too deeply. Thanks for the tips guys, and what to look for.

~Ken

[King's X]

I would suggest light coats, not heavy. But just my suggest.

Good luck

[Luke Hatley]

Hello,

I used the same technique on two different pieces and got very different results. I was wondering if anyone could enlighten me on what I'm doing wrong. The only thing different is that the bookmark piece did not have a base die added, it was left natural.

Here is my technique, each step allows drying of at least 8 hours before the next:

- Dye with Echo Flo Water based die, diluted for even application and desired color.

- Apply two medium heavy coats of Bee Natural Saddle oil.

- Apply Bee Natural RTC antique resist.

- Apply Echo Flo "Gel Antique" (Med Brown) and remove immediately.

- Apply Bee Natural RTC resist to seal in the antique.

As you can see from the pics, the Coaster is decent looking, but the bookmark is trashed. The antique somehow got under the resist or died the resist itself, I'm not sure which. I might try stripping the coating with deglazer and dying it something dark, but its probably ruined.

Should I just buy the Fiebings black antique paste and ditch the Eco Flo antique to get that "sheridan" antique look, or am I doing something wrong?

What i would have done. apply two coats of Tandy super sheen before i applied the antique

[Deno]

Here's what I've Been doing. After dieing I coat with a generous coat of neat-lac, let dry 6-8 hours. This lets the leather soak up the wax's and oil's. Then I put on a generous coat of Tandy super sheen let dry 2-4 hours. The plastic coating seams to seal the pore's better without having to put on 2-3 coats of neat-lac to get it sealed. Let dry. Apply antique and wipe off. Let dry for 8-16 hours. Apply one last coat of neat-lac. This has been working for me so far. Antique is something I'm learning myself, my farther never used them much so I don't remember what he did. My best, Dennis.

[Tina]

I might just give my 2 cents too as I love the Antiqing finish and use it on almost everything leather I make...

1. Due to only using spirit dye my leather needs a coat of pure neatfoot oil. I let it dry for 24-48 hours (I know it's hard but, just leave it alone *S*)

2. I apply 2 thinn coats of acryllic sealer (type satin/super sheen) and again...I leave it alone for another 24 hours.

3. Now it's time to get the antique on your work...After yet another day I seal the whole thing and Voila-Done!

4. The picture shows about how it would look...

//Tina who has massive drawbacks and need some space SOON to do some leather work

Edited December 7, 2009 by Tina

[King's X]

Cool......will have to test both of your suggestions. Thanks for sharing.

[electrathon]

Ken,

I sometimes use RTC. I think it is a good finish, for a water based. Your trouble is almost guarantied that you did not use a thick enough/wet enough coat of RTC. It does not like to be put on sparingly or slow, you have to apply it very fast.

Aaron

[King's X]

I just tried two coats of RTC on a piece and after it dried for a couple of hours, I now have dried streaks in one of directions that I used to apply it? Hummm. Back to the drawing board.

[Tina]

Patience, that's all people:-)

The streaks shows up because the top coat isn't dry enough (the antiquing finds it's way through the sealer and on to the leather=distroyed), give it time...Put it away and forget about it for the next +24 hours...

[electrathon]

Something to try:

Dampen your leather before you apply the RTC. When you apply it put it on thick and fast with a scrubbing action, applied with sheepskin patch. Let it fully dry. Not just an hour, overnight in a warm area. Then antique it. It looks like you rubbed off the RTC when looking at the pic. This is either a lack of coverage or the moisture in the antique disolved the finish when you were rubbing the antique off.

[King's X]

Tina: Sorry, I don't have that "P" word worth a damn.

Electrathron: Interesting what you said because I have notified on more than one occasion (especially) with Neat-Lac at the time of the first coat, it appears to dry out the leather. So wet it huh? Okay, I will give it a try. We have a guild meeting tomorrow and the board members usually arrive early....sound like a good time for an experiment.

I appreciate the help!

[electrathon]

I would not wet the leather when using neatlaq, as it is solvent based. RTC is water based, so wetting the leather will slow down the initial flashing of the finish. Just dampen it, do not soak it. Then let it completely dry before antiquing.

[Tina]

Tina: Sorry, I don't have that "P" word worth a damn.

No sorry needed, it's not my leather getting ruined.

[King's X]

Ah, got it. wet with RTC not neat lac.

[KenE]

These are all good suggestions. It really shows how you need to get both a process and a feel for what it needs to look like. I did some test pieces with the RTC and the tandy antique and it did show up alot better. I applied the RTC and let it dry tot he touch(<1 hour) and then applied some more to guarantee the top pores were sealed. This seemed to do the trick.

[electrathon]

These are all good suggestions. It really shows how you need to get both a process and a feel for what it needs to look like. I did some test pieces with the RTC and the tandy antique and it did show up alot better. I applied the RTC and let it dry tot he touch(<1 hour) and then applied some more to guarantee the top pores were sealed. This seemed to do the trick.

Do you have pics of the test pieces?

Aaron