Andres Report post Posted January 24, 2017 Hello: I'm interesting in wofk with bracelets, cuff, and leather for watches and i want to know what is the best workflow to do this. I mean this: -cutting leather -clean leather -casing leather -drawing and carving it (I have a Swivel Knife buy from china. Which one you can recomend?) -tooling leather Till this part of the process i have it clear. But from now, how do i have to proceed?: -to conditioner leather first -then to dye leather -or burnishing edges first and then dye -and what about slicking? -do i use alcohol first previous dying? And after that, how do i avoid it to loose color? Thank you very much. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silverwingit Report post Posted January 24, 2017 Barry King makes excellent swivel knives at very reasonable prices. His blades are equally excellent. Here's a better workflow. - tool - round edges with edger (Barry King also makes excellent edgers) - sand edges smooth - dye leather (you can use alcohol to dilute many dyes; I prefer Feibing's Professional Oil Dye. I dilute it 1:1 or 1:2, dye:alcohol) - condition leather (I use neatsfoot oil and then carnauba cream -- don't condition before dyeing as it will foul the leather for absorbing the dye) - moisten edges, slick with gelatin saddle soap - burnish moist edges with burnishing tool, allow to dry - dye edges, allow to dry - apply beeswax to edges - polish edges with duck canvas (I sometimes re-burnish first to help shape the edges) - finish leather (I like Bag Kote on the grain side and Tan Kote on the flesh side; some refer acrylic resolene) Works for me. Michelle Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites