Finish Question

[joker]

Hello, I found this on another site and was wondering if anyone can tell me how to get this effect. I love the tan tone but how can it be done where the tooling is darker than the rest. I have tried antique gel, different tans dyes and mink oil. I just cant get this effect where the tooling is darker.

Any help would be great.

Thanks

Joker

[TwinOaks]

The darkening of the tooling is called the burnishing effect. To achieve it, the leather must be properly cased- consistent moisture content throughout the leather. Search "Casing Leather", for lots of topics on it. Once the leather is cased, it's carved (cut, usually with a swivel knife) and then tooled. The compression of the leather causes it darken. If your beveling doesn't get the burnishing effect, the leather is either [1] the wrong type of leather- veg tan leather is best for carving, [2] too dry - the leather is difficult to tool, or [3] too wet - this is most likely, as the leather will tool, but won't keep the burnishing.

Properly cased leather will look dry, but will feel cool to the touch. There's a lot more to it than just spraying or sponging some water on it, too. You have to wait a while for the water to penetrate into the leather's center. Some folks wet the leather, then let it sit overnight in the fridge before starting the carving/tooling on it.

[MADMAX22]

What site and reference did you take the photo from? Wondering if you asked them first at all.

[kevinhopkins]

Hi... Twin Oaks has some good tips for you.... It's difficult to actually say what was used on the pc of leather in the picture, but it sure looked to me like Fiebings antique acrylic stain just right out of the bottle! Another thing that you might want to consider is the actual leather itself. Both Hermann Oak, and Wickett and Craig leathers perform very very differently than the import leathers that are cheaper and more readily available. It's been my experience that no matter what you're trying to accomplish with a pc of leather, it's always easier, and more pleasurable to work with high quality leather. Happy staining!

[MADMAX22]

Yeah thats Christians work (xianleather). He is pretty much just amazing at his work. He uses the best herman oak that he can get.

[cem]

If you read through Christians (Xian Leathers) thread at the site where I think you got it from he explains how he does most things, It's spread out over quite a few pages though.

[joker]

I got the pic from a motorcycle site and yes I did ask him how he got that kind of finsh and he told me that he used some special oil that he had come up with. I guess I will never get that finish because I use the leather that I can get from Tandy. Nothing close to me and Tandy is 85 miles away. I hate to order leather over the phone and not know what Im getting. Thanks for the help on this, I will just keep trying different methods till I can get it close

Thanks

Joker

[particle]

I guess I will never get that finish because I use the leather that I can get from Tandy. Nothing close to me and Tandy is 85 miles away. I hate to order leather over the phone and not know what Im getting. Thanks for the help on this, I will just keep trying different methods till I can get it close

Thanks

Joker

Tandy does sell a premium line of leather - I believe it's Royal Meadow. The guy at the Tandy by my office said it comes from England (if I remember correctly?), and they don't have barbed wire so there are usually no scars on the hides.

This is a holster I did with Herman Oak. I probably am guilty of tooling with the leather way too wet, but it still burnished pretty well I think. After it was dry, I applied a light coat of neatsfoot oil, then a couple coats of Satin Sheen and then a light coat of Resolene. I work in my garage, so the leather tends to dry out pretty quickly.

You can see how the leather burnished around the belt slot, simply from forming it for a belt tunnel.

[joker]

Thats a really good looking holster. Thats kinda what Im going after, just wanting it a littler darker down in the tooling part.

Thanks

Joker

[lthrman]

I've done a couple of pieces with just neat-lac no oil or dye and have come up with the same look. Neat-lac darkens the leather slightly and brings out the tooling. You do, as the others have said, need to start with a good piece of leather.