Dark Stamped Letters

[Jarhead84]

This is probably a very rudimentary question but I haven't had much luck with it. I was wondering the technique or type of dye/stain to get my stamped letters dark and the rest of the work a lighter tan, without painting or dyeing with a fine brush.I've tried Tandy's Hi-Lite and the results were not that great or different in color. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Mark

Edited July 24, 2012 by Jarhead84

[Mike516]

The only way I know to do this is to use a blocker like super sheen painted over the part you want lighter and it should stay the color of the leather. I know it works with stains but haven't tried it with Dye yet. Hope this helps.

Edit: actually I think I misunderstood the question, so I'm changing my answer to either a. I don't know or b. I don't understand the question.

Edited July 24, 2012 by Mike516

[Jarhead84]

The only way I know to do this is to use a blocker like super sheen painted over the part you want lighter and it should stay the color of the leather. I know it works with stains but haven't tried it with Dye yet. Hope this helps.

Edit: actually I think I misunderstood the question, so I'm changing my answer to either a. I don't know or b. I don't understand the question.

OK, I stamp my leather with 1/4" Tandy alphabet, i would like the letters themselves the flat part at the bottom of the depressions to be DARK and the rest to be a lighter color, I 'm not sure if maybe Antique would give me that effect ? To show you I would probably have to "borrow" someone elses picture though if you can't picture what I mean. Hope that explanation helps some,

[HellfireJack]

You use a resisting finish (Block) like resolene or supersheen and cover the piece with a couple of coats and let dry then you cover it with an antique paste/gel and wipe with a cloth. You want to keep the cloth as flat as possible. Wrap it around a flat edge of a board or something. Keeping it flat will wipe the antique off of the high spots and leave it in the low places.

[Mike516]

OK, I stamp my leather with 1/4" Tandy alphabet, i would like the letters themselves the flat part at the bottom of the depressions to be DARK and the rest to be a lighter color, I 'm not sure if maybe Antique would give me that effect ? To show you I would probably have to "borrow" someone elses picture though if you can't picture what I mean. Hope that explanation helps some,

That's kind of what I thought you meant. I do this all the time. You don't really have to do any blocking if I understand you right. Smear on the dye, then like HJ said, wipe with a paper towel that's folded flat so it doesn't hit the bottom of the letters. Don't push at all, just swipe over the surface. The dye should be left sort of pooled, for lack of a better word, at the bottom of the letters.

Edited July 24, 2012 by Mike516

[Jarhead84]

That's kind of what I thought you meant. I do this all the time. You don't really have to do any blocking if I understand you right. Smear on the dye, then like HJ said, wipe with a paper towel that's folded flat so it doesn't hit the bottom of the letters. Don't push at all, just swipe over the surface. The dye should be left sort of pooled, for lack of a better word, at the bottom of the letters.

That's kind of what I thought you meant. I do this all the time. You don't really have to do any blocking if I understand you right. Smear on the dye, then like HJ said, wipe with a paper towel that's folded flat so it doesn't hit the bottom of the letters. Don't push at all, just swipe over the surface. The dye should be left sort of pooled, for lack of a better word, at the bottom of the letters.

Yes, this is the effect I was looking for cept maybe just a little darker or "bolder", but yes! I will try both techniques but I will have to go out to get some Antique-ing stain/dye

[Mike516]

This is 3-4 oz leather so the stamping is shallow. The letters are darker on 6-7 oz leather.

[Jarhead84]

This is 3-4 oz leather so the stamping is shallow. The letters are darker on 6-7 oz leather.

Ok, thanks, I have a couple new ways to try now. I really appreciate the help.

[HellfireJack]

Whether or not you need a resist depends on what you're using to antique it usually. The pastes don't absorb into the leather very fast so they don't change the color much. The gels are more liquid so they will get absorbed and will change the color of unsealed leather dramatically. Use a piece of scrap from the same hide to test any finishes/techniques you're unsure of.

[UKRay]

Try using a fine point Sharpie to colour the inside of the stamped letters. Don't go into the impression - just the raised inside bit. It works for me!

Ray

[Jarhead84]

Try using a fine point Sharpie to colour the inside of the stamped letters. Don't go into the impression - just the raised inside bit. It works for me!

Ray

Thanks, Ray. That sounds like an easy approach. We will try that one too.

[Rowdy Gates]

I used to light up a candle then pass the tool/letter close over the flame so as to carbon up the deepest part of the tool/letter then emboss. You should experiment with this and see for yourself, it works well.

Cheers

Rowdy

[bruce johnson]

I have done a lot of orders that have used that letter set. I will give Ray's suggestion of Sharpies a hearty second. However, I find more control with the ultra fine point Sharpies in the tight spots and do the impressions of the letters themselves. In a pinch I use regular old find 'em at any office supply stores Pentel EnerGel 0.7 mm ball point pens and they stay pretty well. You can also outline the other type of stamped letters with them and fill with fine point Sharpies or dye and brush.

[ReneeCanady]

This is probably not the best pic to use for showing the resist on the lettering but I think you can see how dark it is in the lower part of the lettering. I use resist on the raised part of the letters. I use about 2-3 coats of resolene to get this turn out. I have a habbit of using Med Brown Antique Gel from Tandy as a dye itself because I LOVE the shade of brown. So I used the resolene on all the lighter areas on the entire mug, make sure it is completely dry (atleast 24 hours), I use a wool pad to apply the gel over the entire mug, and then a moist paper towel to wipe off areas I have resisted. Infact I use the paper towl over the entire area just to slightly lighten/even out the gel completely.

LoL my point that I forgot was.....You can resist the entire project to keep it lighter in color as are my gears and lettering and then use the med brown antique gel over the entire project. The gel will seep into any tooling/deeper spots on the leather like in my gears shown above. Most important thing is to be patient enough to let all your coats of resist dry.