Dye-Then-Cut Or Cut-Then-Dye?

[Tae]

Hello,

I guess I've always cut my veg tan pieces before applying dye on it. I usually buy small shoulders, so I've always done it this way. This time, I've got a rather large piece of veg tan because I'm going to try to "mass produce" some bags for my friends (about 5-6 because I like the one I made for myself). I'm thinking about dying the large piece with Fiebings saddle tan dye then applying super sheen before cutting out the pieces. I guess if I dye first, there is no danger of making the back side dirty. I'm going to line it with pig skin, but I'm guessing it might be better to be clean about it.

What are people's opinions about this? Does it matter? Am I forgetting something?

Sincerely,

Tae

[Ferg]

Hello,

I guess I've always cut my veg tan pieces before applying dye on it. I usually buy small shoulders, so I've always done it this way. This time, I've got a rather large piece of veg tan because I'm going to try to "mass produce" some bags for my friends (about 5-6 because I like the one I made for myself). I'm thinking about dying the large piece with Fiebings saddle tan dye then applying super sheen before cutting out the pieces. I guess if I dye first, there is no danger of making the back side dirty. I'm going to line it with pig skin, but I'm guessing it might be better to be clean about it.

What are people's opinions about this? Does it matter? Am I forgetting something?

Sincerely,

Tae

Different strokes for different folks but I think you are going at it backwards. I can think of ways why dyeing and finishing first would be a bad idea.

Try it with a small piece, see what you think when that is finished

ferg

[bex DK]

Your edges won't be colored. at least not evenly. Maybe if you soak the entire hide in dye... but then you'll spend hours buffing to eliminate rub-off...

do you plan to tool? Unless you want the weird effects of uncolored cuts (something i want to experiment with sometime just for fun), you want to dye after you tool.

once you dye, you can't undo it. so any extra and all the scraps will also be dyed, limiting their potential uses in the future.

i never dye more than absolutely necessary and as one of the later steps so everything is covered. It is also easier to get an even color working on a smaller area. At least for someone wiht my level of experience.