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

[Sheilajeanne]

My problem is usually the opposite - the antique makes the piece too dark! I find Resolene very thick, even when mixed with water 50/50 and have never had good luck with it. The finish turns out streaky.

I prefer the Tandy resist, but am still looking for something that protects my projects better so they don't stain too dark.

Like Battlemunky said, it's an area of leatherwork that frustrates a lot of us!

Edited November 17, 2020 by Sheilajeanne

[Josh Ashman]

I use the Fiebings liquid acrylic antique for brown, black and mahogany and really like all of them. I use Fiebings Hi-Liter for a lighter brown or tan and it works well for that. I generally don't use a resist but when I do I use some Neat-Lac that I've had for years, I know they don't make it anymore and haven't tried the "new" eco-flow kind so I'm not sure if it works. 

As for process, if resisting I put on a light coat of Neat-Lac with a paper towel. I do not saturate the leather, just a 1 pass wipe over the top. Then I let that dry. Overnight is best but I've been known to shorten up the dry time. If not using a resist I go straight to the antique which I apply with a scrap of shearling and make sure to work it into the tooling. I'll let that dry for several minutes. Then I wipe it off with a slightly damp paper towel trying to not get into the tooling too much. Let that all dry. Overnight is again best but I've shortened it up without too much issue. I top coat with Mop and Glo cut 50/50 with water and generally dip it to help avoid streaks. I've also used liquid glycerin saddle soap and scraps of shearling to "pre-clean" the item prior to top coating to further reduce the possibility of streaking. 

I do not recommend double hitting your stamps when tooling. If your impressions aren't deep enough case your leather better or hit the stamp harder the first time. Also make sure you're working on a solid surface with a marble slab (or steel or whatever) under your work. I don't like "plastic" looking leather either so I try to minimize the amount of sealers and top coats that I put on. Remember it's an art so it takes some doing to get the process down.

Good luck figuring out what works best for you!

All the best, Josh

 

[Chris623]

Thanks, Josh.  I picked up several pointers in all of that I want to try.   First off is only hitting the highlights with the resist.  Makes sense that the antique would stick better to the leather than the resist.  Also never thought of using a dampened paper towel to remove the antiquing.  Thanks for the comments.

[YinTx]

FYI, when I want very little of the antique to stick, I use Pro Resist.  Usually applied deliberately with a fine paint brush to the areas I want to have no color added by the antique.  It is a very strong resist.

TanKote on the other hand, is not as strong a resist, and it allows a lot of the color of the antique to pass through.  In some cases, no resist is the way to go.  The best way is to experiment on scrap bits, so you don't ruin the piece you have just spent hours and hours working on.  I still tend to do a sample or 4 using the same piece of leather my project is made from, and with different resists and antiques (gel, paste, liquid, whatever I think might do the trick to get the look I am after on the piece I have), since every hide and even different sections of the same hide will react differently each time.  And different techniques with the same products will give different results too. IE apply Tankote in 2 coats.  Dilute the Tankote, use a paper towel to wipe the antique, use sheepswool to wipe antique, etc. You just have to really play around a lot until you like what you get.

YinTx

[Chris623]

Okay, I tried to put to use some of the suggestions you guys have made and this is what I came up with.

Just a sample piece to make sure my stamping is deep enough.  I thinned my Pro Resist  and applied one thin coat.  Let it dry.   Then I applied Antiquing full strength with Sheepswool.  Let that dry about 15 minutes.  Gently wiped the top or highlights with slightly dampened paper towel.  Then one coat of thinned Top Kote.  I'm "fairly" pleased with the results.  Color of the Antique isn't my preference, but it's the only color they had at Tandy's.  I might try thinning it with Top Kote next time.  Over all, I'm pleased with this.  Just wish I could have had more of this "look" with the sheath I just finished.  Almost tempted to turn around and make it again!!!!!

[Scootch]

That looks nice.  

Someone mentioned the DG youtube video.  His method is what I use.  Maybe its the exposure of your camera but your leather looks to be really light in overall color,  I think the antique would look better if the leather was darkened by oiling before antiquing.  On the other hand, I basket stamped a belt with intentions of antiquing but the Herman oak burnished so nicely the color contrast was great so I just died the edges and applied tan kote and left it at that.

I've never air brushed tan kote but a few weeks ago I airbrushed a holster with 5050 Resoline and water, for the first time, and was very pleased with how it turned out.  I was using a painters airbrush at 35 psi with the large needle and cone. It applied very thin and even.

Scootch

[Chris623]

You are correct, the exposure of the camera was slightly off..................but I didn't oil the sample first.  I haven't tried that yet, but will next time.

I don't own an air brushing system.  That's something I've seriously considered for my wood carving work.  My hobbies are all far too expensive.   My little wife is about to divorce me over all of them as it is.  I'll have to wait until I can sell a bunch of my larger wood working equipment (or my beautiful wooden teardrop trailer!) before I can spring for that!!!!!

Edited November 18, 2020 by Chris623

[battlemunky]

Airbrush wise, Harbor Freight with a coupon is your friend. You don't need an expensive set up for dyeing leather. I think with the compressor and the brush I spent <$100.

[Chris623]

Maybe I can come up with a hundred bucks if I win a scratch card.

[TexasJack]

Frustration - we should start a thread on that.  The number of times we worked really hard - only to discover we did it backwards.  The number of times we splashed dye somewhere we didn't want it to go. The stitch that went sideways.

It happens.