RoseWolf Report post Posted October 31, 2013 Greetings, Been making knife sheaths for a while, but this was my first time to apply the dye using an airbrush. Heard a lot of folks talking about it being one of the best ways to get an even color and having seen the end result I agree. Sheath is for a 5" blade with 1" width near the hilt. Right hand cross draw with snap closure on flap. Brown trim with airbrushed Mahogany stain. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RoyalLeatherDesigns Report post Posted October 31, 2013 Looks good nice and even what kind of dye did you use? I am interested as how you got this finish. Did you use a sealrr after dyeing. Would you mind showing me your airbrush set up. Thank you. Ralph Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chiefjason Report post Posted October 31, 2013 Very nice. Reminds me, I need to make myself a crossdraw to carry camping. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Matt Alsaker Report post Posted October 31, 2013 I airbrush pretty regularly also. The airbrush puts on such a fine coat that the only issue I've had with using an airbrush is dye penetration. A little nick should not expose the natural leather below the dye. I use Pro Oil dyes and cut them all to varying degrees with denatured alcohol. This allows me to start with a little coat and build successive layers to get to the color I want and gets more dye penetration. When doing a single color, dip dyeing is the best way to get an even color and dye penetration - I'm just not set up yet with enough dye. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RoseWolf Report post Posted October 31, 2013 Greetings and thanks for the posts, Looks good nice and even what kind of dye did you use? I am interested as how you got this finish. Did you use a sealrr after dyeing. Would you mind showing me your airbrush set up. Thank you. Ralph I used Fiebings Dark Brown dye for the trim and Fiebings Mahogany for the overall color. To be honest, my airbrush set up is pretty basic, it's my old Testors model airbrush that hooks up to a can of compressed air that I bought at a local hobby store. I'm working to save up the money for a nicer airbrush, but for now the Testors one works pretty good. For the finish, the dye had just dried when I took the photos so I haven't put a sealer on yet. I'll be adding a coat of Resolene to seal the color. Thanks for the idea on the oil dyes Matt, I've been wanting to get some, especially the black oil dye as I have trouble getting a piece to be pure black with the regular Fiebings USMC Black dye. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
juanfartez Report post Posted October 31, 2013 Cant beat the airbrush setup from harbor freight for the price. I've used it for years. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
