leatherwork help

[dwardo]

Hi all Quick leather question if i may :)

I am just in the process of making a sheath for my knife and was wondering what if any natural/household dye`s there are that are easily obtained ? I have looked into the wire and vinegar ones but they take for ever to get going and i wanted to crack on with this one.

Either that or somthing easily available from the shops ie not a specialist leather shop.

PS dark brown or black :rolleyes:

[Askdamice]

A few of the first sheaths I made. I used shoe polish to dye them walnut brown.(I used a hairdrier to melt it in and then seal it with beeswax) I've since used natural methods (boiled down acorns) but the shoe polish ones have held up quite nicely. ;)
Rick

[dwardo]

Nice one !

I have not wetformed the knife yet but just playing with it and needing it with my fingers or hobbit like hands and they have been called :rolleyes: seems to be making the desired shape :D

Should i bother with the wet forming or just get on with the polish wax all the rest...

Cheers ;)

[Ogri the trog]

Dwardo,
The wetforming is a different process from dyeing - to do with shaping rather than colouring.

Ogri the trog

[bent-stick]

Hi dwardo,

I tried to reply to your PM but your mailbox is full.

My suggestion was shoe polish too. With some heat. And spit.

Finish it with furniture polish.

[dwardo]

Cheers for the mailbox full pointer :o dang they fill up quick and im always moaning at customers to keep an eye on their mail box sizes :o :o :o

I will give the polish a go and apologies on the wetforming thing as i confused things a little......

I was trying to say does a sheath need to be wet formed or can i simply "need" the required shape and it will stay lke that ? ish... lol

cheers again all.

[topknot]

Hi, dissolve a teaspoon of oxalic acid crystals in some water . Dip a sponge in and clean the leather .This will remove all oily finger stains,grease etc. This will help the dye not going patchy . (veg tanned leather). shoe shop leather dye is a start. cheers topknot. :)

[Askdamice]

Personally I would wetform it prior to waxing. Dry pressure forming is okay but you'll get better results from a wetform. That's just my humble opinion. Oh, and you can get creative with wetforming too. Press a coin or an object of your choice into the wet leather to give it a personalized monograhm. Don't use anything to speed up the drying process or you're asking for cracking probs.
Rick