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Phalanx

When do you dye?

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Quick question from a newbie:

When in your workflow do you dye?

So far I dyed after the last possible step of cutting/tooling to prevent the undyed inner layer from showing if the dyed leather is cut or pricked.
I experienced the Problem of me staining the undyed leather with my hands which led to a rather uneven result after application of the dye. Would you recommend any sort of pretreatment or cleaning before dying? I used the fiebing's non-pro-leather-dye if that is of any relevance.

Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge with me.

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Dye is not severely expensive, . . . but it DOES ADD to the total price of the project.

For that reason, . . . all cutting, fitting, sewing, sanding, buffing, etc. is done before I dye a project.

When I dye, . . . project has passed the construction and assembly parts, . . . needs only finish, polish, and send.

May God bless,

Dwight

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Everyone asks this question. There is no pat answer... sorry.

You dye it when it works best for you. There are pros and cons to each way. Experiment and learn what works for you. 

 

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I have seen this question before and there are a wide range of answers. For example, I am the complete opposite of Dwight. My first step is to arrange the pattern pieces on the leather and cut one piece large enough to contain all the pieces of each color. I then dye this one piece before cutting out the individual pieces. I do this for two reasons. First, I do not have to worry about getting any dye on the back of the leather as there is always a buffer around what will become the final piece. The second reason is that I dilute my dyes and dying all at once ensures that all pieces come out the same color and I do not have some lighter than others.

Of course, there is a drawback for doing this and that is when I sew with a light colored thread. By the time I get to the end of a long stitch the thread has picked up some of the dye and is darker than when I started. This is not a problem when I use darker threads.

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Thank yo for your input. I knew there would not bei ONE right way to do it...

What are your opinions on pre-treating the leather before dying? I read recommendations of dampening and/or applying Neat's Foot Oil before dying.

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G'Day,  Heres what I do  from start to finish.

Cut the project / job out  , for  eg,  a belt, cut it out, holes etc.  Bevel it , tool it, or carve it oil it  etc. Then  I do all the dying after, apply sealers  and then fit hardware etc.  

With a plain belt, once again, cut it out, bevel it  etc. apply oils, ...and then dye it.  I dye at the end. But everyone is different . You do whatever suits you.  Whats important is the end result. 

HS  :) 

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I find that thin leathers, up to about 2.3mm, will shrink upon drying after being dyed and lacquered. With a general bag or belt the shrinkage is hardly noticeable but on something which is made to fit tightly round something this shrinkage can hurt or aid ~ eg, I have fit quite tightly some leather over a knife sheath then dyed it, it then shrank to make it so tight it was impossible to remove, on t'other hand I dyed two halves of a case, let them dry and then they would not fit around the object they were for, now for that case I form and sew up in situ and then dye, as the leather dries it tightens up, I can then cut the case open

4 hours ago, Phalanx said:

What are your opinions on pre-treating the leather before dying? I read recommendations of dampening and/or applying Neat's Foot Oil before dying.

I always dampen my leather before dyeing. NFO goes on at the end

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For a knife sheath or holster, I cut out the parts, do my stamping, let dry, do my wet forming, let dry, Tan kote the inside, let dry, glue together, let dry, lay out and prick/chisel my stitch holes, NFO, let dry a couple days. Then I apply my stain, dye and/or antiquing, let dry.  Buff really good.  Then I stitch, unless I'm using a dark thread, then I stitch after I glue.  Once I have dyed and stitched, I finish my edges.  Then I cover with 50/50 resolene and water.  When I'm stitching with light thread, I will take a long piece of thread and run it through all my stitching holes to clean up the residue that collects inside my holes to try and keep my thread from discoloring. 

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sense of logic - carving/tooling (if those required) comes before dying and before attachment to other parts (interiors, etc)

why? if you mess up with the coloring, while for example exterior(outer) part is glued/sewn to interior/body/piece,  then you waste time, materials etc

On 8/19/2019 at 5:16 PM, fredk said:

I find that thin leathers, up to about 2.3mm, will shrink upon drying after being dyed and lacquered. With a general bag or belt the shrinkage is hardly noticeable ..

not exactly - depends on dyes, leather type - vegetable leather will always change it's structure when dyed, even if it is 1" thick

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dougfergy, I'm trying to follow you, but how do you form or wet mold a sheath or holster before you stitch, or even glue?

 

On 8/20/2019 at 9:06 AM, dougfergy said:

For a knife sheath or holster, I cut out the parts, do my stamping, let dry, do my wet forming, let dry, Tan kote the inside, let dry, glue together, let dry, lay out and prick/chisel my stitch holes, NFO, let dry a couple days. Then I apply my stain, dye and/or antiquing, let dry.  Buff really good.  Then I stitch, 

 

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On 8/24/2019 at 5:08 PM, JSage said:

dougfergy, I'm trying to follow you, but how do you form or wet mold a sheath or holster before you stitch, or even glue?

If it is a wrapped sheath or holster, I wet form with a vacuum sealer and then after that is dry I start the assembly, gluing in the sheath welt or the outside edges of a gun holster and once the glue is dry I'll trim the edges and sand them on a belt sander.  Then I'll mark my holes for stitching, punch in the holes for the screws etc.  I don't stitch until I have the leather stained unless I'm using dark thread, and even then I usually stitch after staining or dyeing. 

That's how I've been doing it, but I'm sure I'm doing a bunch of it wrong so definitely read how everyone else is doing it!  I'm a hack at this to say the least.

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Ohhh, OK I gotcha now! Makes sense. I woulda never thought of that, might have ta try it myself. I've been wondering about the ways to make a dyed item thats stitched with various colored thread, (ie, black or dark brown holster with bright red or light blue thread).

Thank you sir!

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Before I started hand stitching with an awl a few months ago, I always had marked and drilled my holes, always used dark thread and typically, well, always used dark brown dye and dip dyed.  I figured out the hard way that the waxed dk brown thread made the dye miss some of the raw leather from drilling the holes so I started stitching after dyeing.  Finally branched out and bought some different colored dyes, some antiques, different finishes, and some white thread that was waxed.  Knowing the waxed thread needed to go in last I'd still do everything before stitching.  I started using the awl method after I discovered that I discolored the thread as I stitched through the pre-drilled holes that were full of dye and antique finish.  I started developing many bad habits back before youtube existed.  I'm always learning something new (old)!

Still learning the awl method but I'm figuring out that I can make better stitches with the awl method instead of drilling.  I hate drilling!  It's like using a dremel to file my nails.  I can mess it up real bad.

Edited by dougfergy

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HaHaHa, I understand, but I can mess up real bad too, and I dont need a drill to do it!

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