Dye job?

[blue duck]

Do you think this leather was dyed, or purchased like this? He calls it 'pooled oil', have looked for it online with no luck. 

Was thinking could streak on dark dye and suntan the light. Maybe? I don't know. I am not sure where the pooled oil comes in. Maybe a very thick streaky coat of oil as a resist?

Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

 

[Bolt Vanderhuge]

I can't answer your question. But I have to say I really like the way the leather looks. I really like the entire holster.

Edited August 27, 2018 by Bolt Vanderhuge

[NVLeatherWorx]

He calls it "pooled oil" because that is what he calls it. It isn't really any special technique it is just how you apply the oil.  I have been able to achieve varied outcomes with dying by applying more oil to some areas over others.  In the case of what you are talking about I would suggest that you run some tests on dyed scrap leather and create your own outcome as well.  The version that I have found I like most from my own testing was to apply a light even application of the oil before dying and let it sit for about 12 hours.  I would then dye my piece and let it set overnight.  The next day I used a small dauber and would soak it in oil and then just randomly drag it across the leather while making sure that I applied the oil to where it would pool on top of the leather.  As the oil slowly penetrates it also will leach out a bit more into the fibers but it also is darker in those areas than in those that only have the original treatment applied.  

 

[blue duck]

Thank you Richard.  I have done some testing but could not come close. Tried to put EVOO on in puddles before and on wet dye, but no luck. I  didn't try doing it a day later, but I certainly will. Did you end up with something similar to what the holster looked like?

(Just an aside; I tried your link for online to see if there might be a product done that way. It took me to a .net site that doesn't exsist. I changed the .net to .com and your site came up. Don't know how it all works, but thought you might like to know.)

 

Edited August 28, 2018 by blue duck
grammar

[YinTx]

Looks like some mis-haps I've had on leather in the past, where the dauber dumped the dye in the first pass, then didn't really dye much after that.  Could be done by applying a very diluted coat of say Fiebing's 201 Light Brown to get the light color, then streaking on the full strength dye on top of that for the dark areas.  Kinda looks like dauber swipes or wet rags (wet with dye)  wiped in an arc to me, but just a guess based on past difficulties getting an even dye job.

YinTx

[ScoobyNewbie]

See, now, I’ve been hearing about pooled oil in Tandy’s. The way I hear it, you put strips of dye in a pool of oil and drag the leather through it creating streaks. One gentleman says he is dying with koolaide. I haven’t heard back yet except that it made the leather very hard. 

[YinTx]

I saw a video where they floated yellow and black paint in a large pool of water, then dipped an electric guitar in it.  Removed the floating paint, pulled the guitar out, and voila, black and yellow swirled guitar.  Maybe same concept?  But would think dipping a piece of veg in a pool of oil is asking for a lifetime of oil soaked leather.

YinTx

[NVLeatherWorx]

On 8/28/2018 at 4:46 PM, blue duck said:

Thank you Richard.  I have done some testing but could not come close. Tried to put EVOO on in puddles before and on wet dye, but no luck. I  didn't try doing it a day later, but I certainly will. Did you end up with something similar to what the holster looked like?

(Just an aside; I tried your link for online to see if there might be a product done that way. It took me to a .net site that doesn't exsist. I changed the .net to .com and your site came up. Don't know how it all works, but thought you might like to know.)

 

Yes, I did end up with something pretty darn close to what the OP has offered up.  However, the consistency isn't always on target as the leather is going to do what it wants to do whether you agree with it or not, bossy stuff this cowhide can be.  

Regarding the link taking to a page that says it isn't there, this is a Google Chrome thing and I often experience it on my computer as well.  However, it works every time if you use Microsoft Edge/Internet Explorer.  Haven't tried the other browsers yet though.  The .com version is an older one and is about to disappear from the web (next couple of days if I remember right).

[NVLeatherWorx]

19 hours ago, YinTx said:

I saw a video where they floated yellow and black paint in a large pool of water, then dipped an electric guitar in it.  Removed the floating paint, pulled the guitar out, and voila, black and yellow swirled guitar.  Maybe same concept?  But would think dipping a piece of veg in a pool of oil is asking for a lifetime of oil soaked leather.

YinTx

There is a leather goods manufacturer in Oregon that has a multi-colored veg-tan line that was done with a process very similar to what you saw with the guitar.  You can do this with Cova Color acrylic leather paint and achieve just about the same thing you saw them do with the guitar.  I have seen it done using a few different techniques and always on a larger piece of leather that would be used later to take the various components from.  And your observations from your previous post are quite right indeed, you can try achieving a similar look by block dyeing a piece of leather with a lighter color dye and then repeating the process with a darker color that is not as saturated so that it intentionally has to streak the leather.  

Adding dye to a container of oil and then dragging or dipping it to achieve this result is definitely not my first option, especially for gun leather as it has to have some firmness in order to provide for the retention factor of the weapon that it carries.  I could just see that as a sloppy mess for sure.