I REALLY HATE CHEAP LEATHER

[cowboy316]

ok ok ive got to rant  bout cheap low grade leather my mouse pad that is so well carved and but 2 coats of neat lac on then wanted to antique mahogny and when i rubbed off all the excess i had streaks all over like it had been sanded so im kinda upset bout it will post pics tomorrow   
Cowboy316

[MontanaSlick]

What a bummer 316,
Neatlac seals it up and anything over it turns to yukk. Just dunt know what to tell ya, but good luck and tell us later wid a pik of what ya did.

MS

[GunClick Rick]

Dibs on the throw aways

[Marshal Will Wingam]

How about blotching dye on it to make the finish intentionally uneven? I've done just that at times for a different effect. Here's an example.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

  That's beautiful Will, the carving looks great, and your use of the back grounder really looks nice too, this is a neat look, the different shades of color make this holster stand out, I like everything about it, well done pard.

          tEN wOLVES 

[GunClick Rick]

Nice carving design Marshall :)Nice look

[Wiley Desperado]

316, what I have found is that cheap leather is not all that cheap... very profound don't ya think!  
Marshall, that looks great your leatherworking skills are top shelf.
Wiley

[cowboy316]

ok pards here are before and after pics of the mouse pad any advise and help is needed so this doesnt happen again
Thanks and enjoy
Cowboy316

[amin ledbetter]

How about blotching dye on it to make the finish intentionally uneven? I've done just that at times for a different effect. Here's an example.

That looks awesome Marshal!! I always wandered how that effect was done.! I like that look Cowboy! It's worth a shot to see if it will work to fix the problem with your mouse pad. Worst case you lose it any way!

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Thanks, pards. It was fun to do.

Cowboy, if you want to try that uneven look, I used a cotton dauber with light brown and just kept touching it around, overlapping the spots to make darker areas until I had the effect I wanted. Some of those spots were touched 4 or 5 times to get them dark enough. Your tooling looks fine so you could just do the background like that and it would help the floral design pop. The other thing you may want to entertain is to use black or dark brown and make the background a solid contrast. You can surely do something to ressurrect that one. It's a nice piece. Don't give up on it yet.

[GunClick Rick]

Ah just throw it away

[MontanaSlick]

Hey Cowboy, whata way to go Pard, that has a lot of potentional, if ya dunt want it We'll take it.

Nice leather Will, and the dauber effect is a neat process..yer giving me some ideas for my next project, tooling and all.

I use Eco-Flo Timber Brown veg dye and a large dauber and a circular application and back and forth.
I use as many coats of dye till I get the look I want.
Before sealing the leather I use a wool sock with a horse hair brush  inside for the polish and burnish.

Just gotta remember how many coats ya put on, kin make for a bad hair day.

Again Will, thanks for those ideas.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Thanks, Slick. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

[MontanaSlick]

Will, I'll know more after I take te carving class on Saturday, never too old ta learn eh.

Working on an old Civil War pattern right now, just practicing.
Slcik

[Dalton Masterson]

Tim,
I wonder if you can use deglazer to remove the neatlac in the center. Put another coat of neatlac on the floral part to leave it the same color, then go back in with a slightly darker color to cover up the streaks. Then your carving would be a nice two tone mousepad.
DM

[cowboy316]

Dalton
just might have to try that thaks for the idea
Cowboy316

[Farmer]

Cowboy316,...I hear ya about the cheap leather,..I had bought a few of them Imported Saddle Skirt sides from tandy awhile back,.......TOTAL garbage,.........

never again,....glued together backs,..not sanded,.....horrible to try and dye,,...had spots where the dye wouldnt go into the leather.


waste of money.

[MontanaSlick]

Bad is bad Farmer and no way to recover yer losses.

Recon I'm lucky, I've used Tandy leather fer many years and have a LF just down the street.


I hand pik my leather, and if I call ahead Ms. Sherry Darlin' sets the best aside for me for inspection.

Nancy cuts my strips of what ever size I need and has it ready for me when I arrive.

Their picky and so am I, too picky sometimes.

MS

[Dalton Masterson]

I have only had 1 bad hide come from Tandy, and it came with a note to return it if it wasnt good enough. I have gone thru the store stocks tho when I do go, and there is some bad leather laying around. I think my Tandy guy is picky too.
DM

[MontanaSlick]

DM, does yer Tandyman serve Cawffee and doughnuts at the store?

Ms. Sherry Darlin' does every 2nd Sat of the month at class time.
The instructor owns a doughnut shop

Did I mention the class is Free?