The New SHOW US YER STUFF Thread #4 Now Closed for Reference Only

[Marshal Will Wingam]

That looks really good. Very nice work.

Do you have any acacia or juniper trees in Florida? I understand they make nice brown dyes although maybe not as dark as black walnuts.

[Johnny McCrae]

Many thanks for the kind words Gents.

Marshall, that's a good idea. I'll have to look around and see if acacia or juniper tree in my area. I would imagine one would use the same procedures that are used for home brewed Walnut Dye.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I would expect you're right to use the same method of making it. Wikipedia mentioned the use of the wood to get brown dye.

Here's a site that lists a bunch of things to make dyes for textiles. Scroll down to brown. Some of them may be useful. There are a few interesting options.

I bought some dried walnut hulls online one time but they didn't make a very dark dye. Either the dried hulls weren't up to the job or I made a bad batch somehow.

In its own right, it is a nice color but just not a dark one.

[Johnny McCrae]

Many thanks Marshall for posting the website about textile dyes. Very interesting and there are some useful ideas there.

As I mentioned a while back, I did not have as good of results with Walnut Powder as I had with actual Walnut Hulls. Don't know why.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

It would seem that drying the hulls must diminish their effectiveness. That would imply that something other than just moisture (water) is lost in the drying process. I wonder if there's something that could be added to the boiling process to make them release more pigment.

This is what my batch did after three days of boiling.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

I talked to Chuck Burrows about getting a little darker shade from my natural walnut dye when the green hulls were not available  or when the powder was the only thing available, he told me to add a little iron, and that did it, but you have to start with just a little until you get the darkness you want when the leather has dried, this can take a few days or longer until you're happy with the results...Johnny your dye always looks good..and over time just gets better..

tEN wOLVES 

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I tried that but the dye turned grey as it darkened rather than being a nice rich brown. I would guess that if it was a nice brown already, that would work.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Will, you have to be careful when adding iron, as I was pointing out, add some and then wait to see what you get, too much iron will turn your leather/ dye gray when making walnut dye...easy does it here, and clean iron helps also...

tEN wOLVES 

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Yeah, but this stuff is just too light to be made darker. It's a fine color but just not what I was after. The slightest hint of iron turns it grey.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

For that matter, my pecan dye is light as can be, too. I think my dye-making technique needs an overhaul.

[Capt Quirk]

I have played with raw leather holsters, and given time, they darken to a beautiful color on their own. Try Neatsfoot oil and Sun.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

The Frazier holster was cured in the sun after dyeing it. Otherwise it would have really been light. The sun does help things along.

[Cliff Fendley]

I no longer boil walnuts to make my stain. Rather I just gather them when they are green and leave them outside the shop in buckets to gather rain water. This past year we had so much rain the buckets were running over so I would sit them under the porch so they didn't overflow losing the stained water.

I let them sit all winter freezing and thawing in the Kentucky temperature swings and have had the best stain come from this method. I got the idea because its the same principle that gives bourbon it's characteristics from the charred oak barrels.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

That sounds like the ideal way to do it. I'd think that even in an area that doesn't snow it would work fine anyway.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Cliff, great idea, and green hulls are the way to go, no cooking for days , I think I LIKE THIS METHOD 

Ten Wolves

[Cliff Fendley]

It's been a while since I've posted any pics, lets see if photobucket will let me post some of my recent work.

[Cliff Fendley]

This 1890ish Cheyenne holster lined with vegetable tanned pigskin with 4 inch wide money belt carries 35 44wcf cartridges. It's done in my walnut home brew stain and neatsfoot oil followed up with Skidmores. I hand stitched this entire rig with Bourbors Red hand linen. There are about 1140 stitches total.

I did a bit of aging on this one and I actually made this for myself for a new persona I'm going to be playing in NCOWS. Powder River Clifton Daily who finds himself in the middle of the Johnson County range war in 1890. I've been trying to treat myself to a new rig for quite some time but you know the old saying, the cobbler's children are the worst shod, sometimes that goes for the cobbler himself.

[Johnny McCrae]

Beautiful work Cliff. Love the carving design and the color of the Holster Rig. Did you use your "nature brewed outside" dye on the Holster Rig?

Many thanks for sharing.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Beautiful work, Cliff. I really like the rig you made for yourself. It has a beautiful color with that dye, too.

[Cliff Fendley]

Thanks fellas

Johnny, yes that is my homebrew walnut batch from last year, made during the winter 2017-18. I've just been gathering walnuts and leaving them in buckets outside the shop throughout the winter and pour it off in the spring. I've got two five gallon buckets I need to pour off now that I gathered last fall. I pour them off through a screen and cheese cloth.