THIS... this is where I always worry. All that work, and if I mess this step up.... grrrr. Thanks for the additional info and demonstration of technique. I needed it.
Overwhelming is a good word for it. I just finished my first tooled knife sheath. But I cheaped out and got Kelly's medium brown shoe dye. Which I dyed a small holster with. It's very very brown, forget about medium. So I tested it out on some scrap. I tried it with/without resist and then tried diluted with acetone. With resist and no dilution it looks painted. I think the acetone in the diluted is cutting through the resist. But it has no painted effect, hehe. One test patch came out like I wanted. But I wasn't able to duplicate the dilution for the sheath. Now I'm looking at better dyes. Maybe I wanted more of a tan finish? Sure glad my sheath is still untouched. But now I'm looking at sacrificing good leather for testing. And it isn't tooled. It's a good thing I like to experiment. But I want to move onto my next knife build. Thank you for the video.
i can't use tankote without it taking off my antique, even if i let the antique dry for 24+ hours. I'm going to try again with RTC and resolene like in your other videos very soon. Materials are on their way. :)
Hi Joe! So you are using TanKote. Will that keep the natural look of the leather while hi-lighting the tooling even if you are using a black antique finish?
I make my own “Tan Kote” ..it’s nothing but gum Arabic solution. I also make my own antique gel….artist’s oil paint, alkyd gel, cobalt drier. Easy, cheap and same result.
Why would you seal the project and then antique? And what's the difference between resolene and tankote? The finishing procedures can get very confusing.
If I'm finishing a project that is going to flex & bend, will tan coat crack after it dries? Spray wax finishesseal & protect but the wax turns chalky over my antique paste detail.
I think the fiebing antique finish can crack on flex and bend easily on projects like leather keychain which I tried once. May be there's a better way or antique finish to do it.
Hi there! The Fiebing's vintage gel works a little bit more like a stain and is considered a more "vintage" look. The antique paste gives the leather a true, antiqued look. According to Fiebing's you can use any of their top coats for either the paste or the gel. They recommend the Fiebing's Premier Top Coat for the gel but you can use whichever works best for you. Hope that helps!
I'm custom wrapping some motorcycle handlebar grips in leather and plan to carve and maybe do some tool stamping in them along with oil dye and maybe acrylic paint. I plan on leaving some of the leather it's orangy tan look(I'm working with previously dyed scrap leather) and I like the look that antiquing gives but I'm not sure it's a great idea with something that my hands will be on a lot like motorcycle grips. Also, I had questions about what kind of finish to put on them and another leather crafter suggested Saddle Lac but I just read in a comment that it can crack and peel. Does anyone have any recommendations on what type of finish would be good in this situation?
this was done real time. Tan kote dries really really fast, and that is why its important to not put it on thick because the streaks will dry in it. the antique also dries quickly, but not as fast as the tan kote.
@@ShreddaDaKid Saddle lac will 100% crack and start to peel when the leather is flexed. it is not the right choice for any leather piece that is going to be flexed at all.
I don't believe one light coat of Tan Kote will keep antique paste from turning your whole project darker. At least not for me. You don't show any wait time between appliance of Tan Kote and paste? I use two coats of Tan Kote and let it dry completely before I antique and I still get darkening of my leather.
Hi Martin, We asked Joe to give a little more information on this and here is his response. "As far as the tan kote goes I did not add any extra dry time. That video was uncut purposefully to show that you can achieve that finish with those products. Tan kote is formulated to allow penetration overtime which works really well for oiling projects later. However it will not resist well if you allow it to dry." Hope that helps!
I think it might be the lighting in this video that is a bit deceptive. I just did a Project exactly like he did and yes the leather was significantly darker even with the tan coat not dry. As a matter of fact the tan coat was almost instantly tacky so it really grabbed the antique when I tried to wipe it off causing it to be quite blotchy. I’m not exactly sure what variable I’m missing but it seems like there is more to the story. I suspect the fact that I was using a budget piece of tooling leather had more to do with it than anything (maybe the top finish wasn’t as nice, was it more porous?). Not really sure and not really sure how to get answers to that question. I guess I’ll just experiment some more.
Carving = cutting Tooling = smashing Both are commonly done together. Some Carving is done on totally dry leather. Tooling is rarely done on dry leather.
Joe this is not about the subject you just covered . But I am getting some kind of chemical reaction after using pro dye on my leather sheaths it turns any brass on knife handles green does not seem to bother steel just brass. Happy trails.
Not terribly experienced... And by that, I mean they I'm RU-vid educated and just finished my first belt... That said, from my understanding, Fiebings shouldn't be the problem. I would wonder what sort of leather you're using..? I've heard you don't want to use chrome tan leathers inside sheathes because the process of chrome tanning uses chemicals that are not good for metals. Most people use veg tan if they're making it themselves, I think, but I could see someone mistakenly thinking that the supple nature of chrome tan made it a good liner.
Also... Wet and brass do not go well together, though I'm pretty sure that process takes a good amount of time to take place. Not sure if you're letting the leather dry completely before sheathing your knives..?
@@Jento Your wrong with your assumptions. There is something different with the pro dye than the oil dye. This is not a new thing I've tried using the pro dye about 4 years ago and the problem started I had all ready made 27 sheaths 11 of them had knives with brass all turned green .I replaced all of those with oil dyed leather sheaths then I played around for about a month trying to find the problem no luck. some of the leather was dyed over 4 years ago with different sealers on it . The pro dye is so nice to work with and when dying it is only in the dye for may 20 seconds to get the brown I am looking for . Happy Trails .
Brass will turn green and rot you thread after a long time. The brass Billett on my knives turned green after a year or so in a veg tan leather sheath. Keep your brass polished and don't leave it in the sheath. BTW, Pro Dye is oil based.
