vinegaroon problem

[Justino Caballo]

Howdy Folks,

I have a slight problem with a holster i made. I used advice from this C. Burrows and made a good batch of vinegaroon. I have used it several times and it always works great (other than the smell). Anyway the holster i made is really plain with a some edge bevling followed up with some camo border stamping. My problem is when I put it into the vinegaroon the area of the tooling did not change color. I wear a badge holder That i made with the exact same method every day and it looks great. What gives?

[Dalton Masterson]

Can you post a pic of the pieces? The one that didnt change, and what you want it to look like?
My vinegaroon is black all the way through when I am done, with no chance of there being any other color. I assumed that everyones was that way.
DM

[Justino Caballo]

sure lemme grab a camera and i will post later. thanks for takin the time.

[Dalton Masterson]

Rereading this, are you saying the stamped portion stayed brown, while the rest turned black?
If so, maybe there was some oil or something on the tool? Long shot tho.
Will look forward to pics.

DM

[Justino Caballo]

here are the pics. nothing on the tools. the have not touched anything but leather. also are some pics of a badge holder i made with same tools same everything including vinegaroon only diff is the leather.

[Justino Caballo]

and another

[cowboy316]

JC
just a stab in the dark but it looks to me like some how when you were stamping the border
you might have had something on your hand like an oil of some kind that repeled the
vinegaroon and left it the natural leather color i had this happen with one of my test pieces
i made sure my hand were very clean when handeling the leather  and tried it again and it came
out fine but this is my opinion
     Cowboy316

[Justino Caballo]

My hands were clean as well as my tools. i made another project at the same time and it went black thru and thru. my only guess is when i bevelled it i wanged the heck outta my tools and somehow the grain was to compressed to allow the vinegaroon in. but i dunno maybe freak occurance in the leather?

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Howdy Pard

     Just an idea, is the leather you used a good quality Veg-Tan leather, the reason I ask, is some of the lesser quality leathers won't stamp /tool or dye worth a darn, I found this out years ago, before I got involved in leather work, and knew any better, some of the leather out there just won't dye very well, I guess there might be an excess of oil or some tanning chemicals still left in the leather.
     I'd try cleaning with rubbing alcohol and try dyeing again, if it still doesn't take the dye, try Fiebings black  spirit dye over just the area that that your having trouble with, that should take care of it. ( IMHO )


                                                       tEN wOLVES 

[Dalton Masterson]

Yep, looking at it, I would guess that 10Wolves may be right. Use a spirit dye and cover the oops.

Something in or on the leather made the dye not take. It could be that it is super compressed as well tho, and the fibers are not allowing the dye to get in.

Interesting... DM

[Justino Caballo]

well yall probably hit the nail on the head. 9-10 oz. tandy double shoulder on sale around dec. 08. may very well be the culprit. what would dye over vinegaroon look like though? i guess i would re do the whole thing.

thank yall tahnk yall thanks a ton. this forum has saved my bacon more than once, as well as answered tons of questions for me.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

well yall probably hit the nail on the head. 9-10 oz. tandy double shoulder on sale around dec. 08. may very well be the culprit. what would dye over vinegaroon look like though? i guess i would re do the whole thing.

thank yall tahnk yall thanks a ton. this forum has saved my bacon more than once, as well as answered tons of questions for me.

    I'd just touch up what needs to be, and see how it blends in after drying, if you're going to use oil on it and a finish coat of sort, it might not show at all.

                                        tEN wOLVES 

[Justino Caballo]

cool thanks.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

A couple times I've had to soak something a little longer in the vinegaroon to get into tight places like down in the bottom of a cut, but it always took. I agree with 10W that cleaning with alcohol and trying again may be a solution. Also, the spirit dye solution may be a good one. Either way, let us know how it goes.

[Flinch Morningwood]

You also might have compressed the leather to the point it won't absorb the vinagaroon...I had this problem a couple times and took to using vinagaroon before I stamp.  After the viagaroon, I soak in a mixture of baking soda and water to "kill" the acid in the vinager, then let it totally dry before wetting for stamping...havent had a problem yet with stamping or dying...

[Ace Lungger]

Howdy JC,
Just for my own peice of mind, I want to ask these questions. Everyone does things a little diff!!
!. you cut out your pattern
2. you cased your leather and did your stamping, and after dying completely
3. you died your leather in vinegarron
4. you didi or didn't treat the inside, just asking.
Is this the way you did your holster, if not, could you give me step by step the way you did it.
I would be so great full, for I have to solve this!
Thanks ACE

[Justino Caballo]

Ace,

           I did my holster pretty much that way indeed. I sometimes tool first then cut it out but it just depends on my mood. but yes sir i cut, tooled, stiched then vinegaroon

[ChuckBurrows]

1) As TW noted deglaze that area real good
2) reapply vinegaroon
3) make upa STRONG bathc of BLAC tea and apply immediately - this adds tannins for the iron to react with
4) Apply baking soda and water

it that doesn't work - use Fiebings Black Dye.......