Not Happy With Dye Results When Hand Boning....

[SteelcityK9Cop]

For my first few holsters I have been using W&C 8 oz. leather.. Wet molding them with a shop press and then hand boning them with edger handles.... antlers... fingers... modeling spoons.. you name it. I will bake them for a half hour and then force air dry them at room temp before I remove the dummy gun then dry some more.

I have been dip-dying my holsters with Fiebing's Pro Oil Dye. No problem at all with the black but I have been having issue with the other colors and the consistency of the dye. Different areas would be slightly darker than others (most notable with browns).

So the past few days I have been working on a piece that has a shark reinforcement. As a result I had to dip dye the pieces first (in dark brown) and they came out beautiful. So I get everything sewn up and molded then I start to hand bone. First... hand boning dyed leather seems to be much more difficult. The leather does not seem to want to cooperate as much and hold the details as well as unfinished veg.

When I got all done and dried the holster, I noticed that the areas where a good portion of the boning and boo-boo smoothing took place has dried real dark... almost the same as the hand bone then dip dye holsters.

So where is the balance... how do you get a real nice hand bone AND get a great even dye of your leather? Is it possible or am I goofing something up? I was thinking of adding another coat of dye to see if that would "even it up" but it will just make the dark areas darker I'm sure.

[Lobo]

If you are doing your forming and boning work prior to dyeing you can expect some difficulty in getting good dye penetration. The forming and boning results in considerable stretching and compression of the leather fibers, so some areas will be more dense than others and dye penetration may be uneven.

Also, dip-dyeing after forming and drying can result in some shrinkage, sometimes enough to interfere with holster fit to the handgun. This can be overcome only by reforming the holster, or by using the "plastic bag trick" (place the pistol in a plastic bag and force it into the holster, then leave it for several hours or overnight; this usually results in just enough stretching to achieve a serviceable fit and allow for break-in use).

Suggest that you do all of your dyeing prior to forming or boning, allowing plenty of time for the dye to penetrate and set up before proceeding (several hours at least, overnight is best).

One of the easiest mistakes to make is rushing the work, not allowing sufficient time for drying, dye setting, sealant and finishes to cure, etc. In my shop we do everything in batches of 10 to 12 pieces at a time, cutting followed by assembly, followed by stitching, then dyeing, then forming, then edges, sealant, finish, hardware installation, packaging for shipment. This always allows 24 hours or more between each process.

Best regards.

[Haystacker]

Good advice by Lobo. WC has drum dyed leather. Lots of folks get good results with drum dyed. Might eliminate some of you frustration.

[Steven Kelley]

I had the same issue with Fiebing's Pro Oil dyes, regardless of whether I dyed the leather before or after molding/boning. The Pro Oil dyes penetrate much deeper into the leather than Angelus dyes, which I use now. During the molding process, especially if you are using a press, some areas of the leather are stretched, while others are compressed. These areas are where you will see the dark patches. I had lots of issues with browns, so much so that I changed to Angelus dyes. The Angelus dyes just penetrate the surface and I don't have any of the color issues with them. Applying some neatsfoot oil after dying will help even out the color, but it will also darken the entire piece a bit, which might not be what you want. The only way I found that I could use any shade of brown in Fiebing's Pro Oil is to NOT use a press to mold. If I mold lightly by hand, I MIGHT be able to dip dye without the issue. If I mold by hand then airbrush the dye, I had no issue at all, other than it taking a lot more time.

[SteelcityK9Cop]

Thanks for all of the replies! Lots of good information... all of which confirmed my beliefs... regardless of which way you go (dye before or after) , if you are working with brown, a really detailed hand boning is going to be difficult to work with if the goal is to maintain color consistency.

I will have to try another dip dye first then wet mold in the press with out the aggressive boning... just to see how much "compression damage" there is to the leather. Then I want to repeat it again with just the boning only and no press and see the difference. Experimentation is fun!