Jump to content

Recommended Posts

I recently, painstakingly, burned a design into a stool seat I was making. It was my first project using my wood burner on leather and the results were fantastic..... At first that is.

When it was complete I cased it then attempted to dye it. I used feiblings leather dye (the kind available at Michaels) and it was splotchy and streaky. I tried to fix but it was a lost cause. What's worse is the design almost DISAPPEARED and although the lines of the design can be seen, the dark burn marks now look like scratches and are lighter than the dye. What did I do wrong?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

maybe try dying a scrap piece and then burn it and see if that gives a better result.... i love burned designs and dont see many examples on here so i would love to see a pic of what it looks like.... also there is a video on youtube by ian atkinson where he burns lettering in a notebook cover and then he uses either stain or antiquing over the piece and the burned portion remained intact .

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have a question, you say you are casing your leather before dying. Are you just dampening the surface a little or are you actually casing? Casing is where you get the leather wet not just damp then let it dry to almost natural color. Or if you are doing the Parks method you are getting the leather wet putting it in a ziploc in the fridge over night. If you are actually casing the leather getting it wet after burning that may be a big part of your problem. When you get theleather wet the fibers of the leather expand. If you actually tool a piece of leather the get it wet you will loose alot of the defentition in the design. Since you say all you have left is what looks like scratches I am guessing your are getting it to wet after burning. Try onn apiece of scrap doing a little burning and then dye the dry leather see if your results are different.

Edited by camano ridge

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I actually just dampened the piece first and mistakenly referred to that as casing. After reading many board posts, I think I probably should have thinned the dye a bit and perhaps dampened the leather with alcohol rather than water. What's interesting is as it dried, much of the detail of the pyrography came back, not all, but enough. After totally dry I was able to go over the parts that were really faded with my burner and it worked fine. I still am unhappy with the finish and have already completed a seat for my tripod stool (not burned or embellished, just functional) so I won't be using it for the original project, but will use it for something else down the road, perhaps after figuring out how to improve the look of the dye job. Thanks everyone for your help!!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I made a lot of pyografics on leather...and fine lines will disapear, when your tool tip is not clean enough. (I often clean it with a brush, while I´m working!)

The next important thing is the temperature! When fine lines dissapear after dying - your tool was not hot enough, the tip only burns surficial and the particles are loose. So you wash them away.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for your reply! Both of your suggestions seemed to be what I was doing wrong, but after some trial and error, and some touching up, I finished with a moderate degree of satisfaction.post-52323-0-69354600-1410777487_thumb.j

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...