I'm dissapointed.........mainly in myself, I guess!

[Chris623]

Well, I'm disappointed.................mainly in me, but also this sheath I'm working on.

It's a folded sheath.  Got it all put together and nicely decorated and stitched.   I put two coats of Pro Resist on it, with 8 hours of dry time between the first and second coat.  Then an hour after the second coat I applied Fiebing's Dark Brown Antique Paste.  Let it dry for about 10 minutes and wiped it off.  And wipe it off I did!!!!!    The sheath was so shiny from the Pro Resist the Antiquing wouldn't stick...............and came right off.  Tried the process a second time and (Meh!) was able to get it to "sort of" look okay.  Not letting it dry long enough may be where I messed up.   (Also, I used a paper towel to remove the Antiquing, if that makes any difference)  This second time I let the Antique dry for about 15 minutes before wiping and then applied a coat of Tan Kote on it.  The Tan Kote dissolved the Antiquing and smeared it all over the sheath.   So then I had a muddy streaked mess!  Huge disappointment.  Thinking I needed to get all of that off the sheath, I started looking for a solvent to remove the Tan Kote.  After trying to dissolve a small bit of Tan Kote in about 5 different solvents I have, I (as a last resort) tried water.  The small puddle of Tan Kote in my cup dissolved readily in water.  So I took a wet rag and took all the muddy Tan Kote off the sheath.  What is left is the "far too shiny" Pro Resist.  So I softened the shine with some 0000 Steel Wool.   Out of frustration, I went ahead and finished the edges and inside of the sheath.  At this point, I'm not happy with it.  I wanted the stamping and lines to be darker than the rest of the sheath.  I've watched every video I can find on the subject and don't see why mine won't turn out the way "theirs" did.

I realize I'm new at this and this is only my second sheath, but I'm not used to making something that's not right.  But what upsets me is I don't know what I did wrong.  I still want to find a way to antique the stamping and pressed lines in the sheath.  Any helpful comments about what I may have done wrong would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

Edited November 17, 2020 by Chris623

[battlemunky]

First, Chris, welcome to the antiquing frustration club. We are legion!

As far as a correction for the piece, maybe when you get a chance you can try some of the gel antique? I use Tan Kote and Resolene as resists but I'd think Pro Resist would act similarly.

Let us know what you try and show some pics when you get a workable fix or sooner if you're feeling brave. As good as the last sheath turned out, it wouldn't surprise me if you aren't getting a decent result but your tolerance for imperfection may be blurring your vision. In any case, keep sharing as you go.

[Chris623]

Oh, I don't mind exposing my ignorance...............no shame in not knowing what I'm doing.  That's why I'm asking questions.

[TSes]

Try making your stamping deeper. Looks very shallow in the picture. You can see where the antique is still in the tips of your stamping. Those tips are deeper than the rest of the impression. Give the tool a couple good whacks. Same goes for your line work. Deeper is better. When possible, wipe off the antique across the lines, and not with the lines.

 

[Chris623]

Okay, thanks.  I was disappointed in how shallow the lines were, but thought the stamping was deep enough.  Oh, and I did wipe "across" the lines, but as you mentioned, they just weren't deep enough.

Edited November 17, 2020 by Chris623

[Scootch]

Also make sure your resist isn't put on too thick as to fill up the fine lines.  I haven't tried it but you can also thing your antique with tan kote. That might thin it enough to settle in the finer details.  Top coating with tan kote will always remove some antiquing.  

I've always used tan kotw as my resist but plan on trying resoline soon.

Scootch

[tsunkasapa]

I always had better luck with the older Antique stain and NO resist. All these new chemicals are just a PITA.

[Joshstrange]

I agree with using tan kote Don Gonzalez has a great video of an oil finish  tan kote for resist and then antique, its one of his multi segment videos cant remember which one for sure.  I only use the pro resist when I'm antiquing over a flower that I have painted for example.

[Chris623]

I sent a message to Fiebings last night.  I want to know the solvents or thinners used on each of their products.  My Pro Resist is so thick it reminds me of a bottle of Elmer's Glue that's almost dried up.  The Tan Kote isn't quite as bad, but still, it's thicker than I think it should be.  (so I tend to agree I may have filled the finer recesses in my stamping with the two coats of Pro Resist)  I remember seeing a video somewhere where the leather worker mentioned you could use Tan Kote in an artists air brush.  NO WAY.............unless you could thin it considerably.  And this folded sheath looks and feels more like plastic than leather now. 

I've seen leather workers use both Pro Resist and Tan Kote as interchangeable components.  One guy says he uses Pro Resist as a top coat and the other says he uses Tan Kote as a top coat. (opposite of what I did on this sheath)  Some say to use Antique paste and another says Antique Gel is what to use.............while another says "don't ever use the gel".  Driving me nuts. 

[chrisash]

With leather work there is normally a 1001 different answers to any question, just ask the right question, What sewing machine do i need, or How do i Finnish my edges