Dying leather

Gevir Knives

Gevir Knives

Hand made knives out of Nova Scotia, Canada
Joined
Jun 11, 2015
Messages
100
Just curious if anyone out there uses other product other than leather gel/oil dyes in Leather working? I'm out and don't know when I can get to the store to get more. Mainly just curious too
 
It would probably depend on the color you wanted and what type of tanning was done on the leather. I'm not very knowledgeable in this area though.
 
I have used food coloring to get some bright colors on a floral design on leather before.......worked fine. For earth-tones I have never tried anything but leather dye.
Darcy
 
Do a search for "vinegaroon". If you desire black this is your answer. It is supposed to produce a more pure black than can be obtained with professional dyes and is achieved with readily available materials.

Otherwise, I don't have a good answer for you. The professional dyes will probably produce much better results than home brews, except for black.

Mike L.
 
Cool thanks guys! I'm looking toward more earth tones more than anything. The pro dyes are for sure the best, I'll have to drive the hour to grab some I suppose
 
For earth tones I've always used leather dye. I've heard of using walnut hulls to make your own, but have't tried it.

For black, I'd pretty much given up on it till I tried vinagroon. All the black dyes I tried would have the black rub off on you, with the sheath in another room, in another house, in another state, and still wouldn't be the deep rich black I wanted. Vinagroon on the other hand, makes the leather black as tar, sometimes a dark grey depending on the amount of tannin in the leather, but that can be adjusted with tea. Just do a test on a scrap of the leather your using. Also the black from Vinagroon goes completely through the leather and won't rub off no matter what, it's a chemical process that reacts with the tannin in the leather. Just make sure you do any tooling before using it as afterward it doesn't like to carve or stamp well.
 
I dislike dyeing leather and just about won't on a sheath. In my experience dyed leather has about 1/2 the lifespan of undyed leather, maybe less. I stopped dyeing sheaths some years back. For durability just warm neatsfoot oil really makes the difference. It has a nice warm natural glow and will last longer. There are some cmmercial tints availalbe for the oil (Weaver) and these work well without the drying out properties of dye. The last dyed sheath I made was for a friend and he had to bribe me with a bottle of Single Malt.
 
Dave,in your opinion, does this include drum dyed leather as well? All types of leather? Just thinking, some of those old harnesses can be in pretty good condition.
 
Cody, no if a guy wants colored leather drum dyed at the tannery is the way to go.
 
A pal of mine makes my sheaths and dyes all the leather. Application of a good leather balm after the dye is dry gives the leather very long life of vegetable tanned leather. I use normal leather balm treatment for my stacked leather knife handles and don't dye the leather.

One of my clients gave one of my knives and sheath to his brother for a gift. The brother lost the knife after he field dressed a deer. The sheathed knife turned up a year later when he was cleaning out the bed of his old pickup. Knife has 01 steel and showed rust but the sheath was good as new. The blade wasn't cleaned after use, was still covered with dried gut slime, blood, etc. The rig was left in the open truck bed during rough Iowa weather.
 
I've made and dyed several thousand sheaths. I have made and not dyed several thousand more using the warm neatsfoot oil. In my experience the non dyed sheaths simply out last the dyed sheaths, period, doesn't matter what you put on em. This is also true with just about any leather item used outdoors. I will dye spur straps though and I am baffled as to why it does not seem to adversely affect their longevity. Ain't got that one figured yet.
 
Horsewright said:
I've made and dyed several thousand sheaths. I have made and not dyed several thousand more using the warm neatsfoot oil. In my experience the non dyed sheaths simply out last the dyed sheaths, period, doesn't matter what you put on em. This is also true with just about any leather item used outdoors. I will dye spur straps though and I am baffled as to why it does not seem to adversely affect their longevity. Ain't got that one figured yet.
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That's interesting Dave , is the undyed leather more abrasion resistant and able to handle the rough and tumble of the real world , or are you talking construction and integrity of the sheath ( the dye having an effect on the adhesive and stitching ) ?

Ken
 
Ken, rough and tumble of the real world. All leather objects have a finite life span. Dyed leather just doesn't seem to last as long. Particularly in dryer climates like yours and ours. Making something really cool out of rough out right now. Will post it on when finished over at sheaths and such.
 
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Vinegroon worked incredibly well for me and my students. Simple, clean, easy, and effective. Dipped the sheaths in vinegar steel wool solution for a few minutes, let them darken for about an hour and then neutralized them in baking soda solution. Let them dry for a couple days and then leather conditioner. They are dead black all the way through and no mess.

Randy
 
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