Painting Leather

[stelhrse]

Good Morning Folks. I am currently carving a rose for a birthday gift. The finish product will have a border, lettering and of course the rose. Now that the carving and stamping is done, I would like to paint the rose and related stems and leaves. After that I would like to stain the entire piece. So, I have several questions. Do I stain all of the leather including over the paint? Do I apply the paint as the last step after staining? How should this process work? I have revewed several books I have and none seen to address this, only staining. Any advise you can provide me would be great. Once I figure out how to post ictures, I'll post a few of the final piece. Thanks to all in advance for any responses.

[Spinner]

Good Morning Folks. I am currently carving a rose for a birthday gift. The finish product will have a border, lettering and of course the rose. Now that the carving and stamping is done, I would like to paint the rose and related stems and leaves. After that I would like to stain the entire piece. So, I have several questions. Do I stain all of the leather including over the paint? Do I apply the paint as the last step after staining? How should this process work? I have revewed several books I have and none seen to address this, only staining. Any advise you can provide me would be great. Once I figure out how to post ictures, I'll post a few of the final piece. Thanks to all in advance for any responses.

First off, there was recently a discussion on the different paints & finishes recently you might find useful: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=33892&st=0&p=210032&hl=+golden%20+fluid&fromsearch=1entry2100322

Second, in my experience when doing pieces like this I find that applying the stain/dye first, then applying a sealer before applying the paint works best. The apply the paint, acrylics work very well for this, and apply a second layer of topcoat/sealer.

Hope this helps.

Chris

[stelhrse]

First off, there was recently a discussion on the different paints & finishes recently you might find useful: http://leatherworker...1

Second, in my experience when doing pieces like this I find that applying the stain/dye first, then applying a sealer before applying the paint works best. The apply the paint, acrylics work very well for this, and apply a second layer of topcoat/sealer.

Hope this helps.

Chris

Great. That does help. Thanks Chirs. If I could ask another question. what would you recommend to seal the leather before I paint? Thanks again for the quick response.

[Spinner]

Great. That does help. Thanks Chirs. If I could ask another question. what would you recommend to seal the leather before I paint? Thanks again for the quick response.

If it's simply a wall hanging or a non use item, Tandy's Super Sheen in the spray can will work just fine. If it's going to be a daily use item like a notebook, Neat-Lac & Clear-Lac are great (if you can get them). For heavy use items like holsters & motorcycle gear Resolene thinned 50/50 with water is my preference. The first coat on the stain/dye can simply be wiped on but when you apply the top coat over the paint, spray it on to ensure you don't pull up and drag colors around. A cheap Harbor Freight airbrush with a can of propellant can be had for about $12-15 and will give a much better spray than say a preval sprayer.

[HellfireJack]

I've heard that you should avoid lacquers over acrylic paints as the lacquer will not bond to the acrylic and cause it to eventually flake off. Anyone know if this is true?

[Spinner]

I've heard that you should avoid lacquers over acrylic paints as the lacquer will not bond to the acrylic and cause it to eventually flake off. Anyone know if this is true?

They will work together if the acrylic is completely dry before applying the lacquer based product. Obviously the acrylic sealers work better as they are similarly formulated. if applied too early, the water content in the acrylics can cause the lacquer not to adhere and can actually cause a white haze under the top coat.