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Old May 10, 2010, 12:00 PM   #21
aarondhgraham
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 1, 2009
Location: Stillwater, OKlahoma
Posts: 8,638
Hey MWM,,,

Nice job re-lacing that holster,,,
'twasn't anywhere near as hard as you imagined.

I do a lot of dye work on my rigs,,,
Mostly, I prefer using the Fiebings Oil Dyes.

Saddle Tan is my favorite color by far,,,
Black is a good contrast for dying background areas.

I use Light Brown as well,,,
Dark brown as the background contrast color.

Medium Brown is just,,,
Well, too medium.

I really miss the "Buckskin" color they used to make,,,
That was the richest "yellow without being yellow" there ever was.

That Laura Croft rig was given an overall coat of Saddle Tan,,,
Then I used a fine brush and dyed the silhouette carving with Black oil dye.

The main thing to remember is this,,,
You must give the lighter color oil dye at least a day (48 hours is better) to dry.
If you apply the black dye before the lighter dye has had time to "travel" through the leather grain and settle completely,,,
You will get a lot of bleed into the lighter dye color area.

Tandy makes a water-based stain in several colors,,,
It provides a good light to dark contrast,,,
But it must be coated with a finish,,,
I hate this for holsters,,,
Doesn't oil well.

This isn't so much of a problem with alcohol or water based dyes,,,
They literally dry in a matter of hours,,,
But their colors aren't as strong.

The EPA is killing all the good penetrating leather dyes,,,
Seems the best stuff for the leather working craft,,,
Is a real nightmare for the environment.

About that strap,,,
You really can't "carve" leather after it's been dyed,,,
The most you can do to it is try and stamp it,,,
But it won't stamp very deep or crisp.
__________________
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Caje: The coward dies a thousand times, the brave only once.
Kirby: That's about all it takes, ain't it?
Aarond is good,,, Aarond is wise,,, Always trust Aarond! (most of the time)
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