Fiebings leather dye?

[airborne1]

Hello,
New member here. Some incredibly talented and knowledgeable folks participating.

I am looking to put curly maple scales on some Green River blades and want the curls to really pop! What color of Fiebings dye should I use, and should it be cut with alcohol, water, or whatever? Does it matter if the dye is oil based or whatever?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Bill

 

[JeffG]

Bring the wood finish to a OO steel wool burnish. Use the original alcohol based dye, not the "green" water based dye. Apply the dye evenly and generously. Let dry overnight. Steel wool off excess until you get your desired effect. You can check by wiping the wood with denatured alcohol or mineral spirits; while it's wet, it will give you a preview of how it will look when finished. Let dry another 24 hours before finishing. If you overdo the steel wool, re-dye and start over, before applying any finish. As for color, google Fiebings color chart and go from there. Medium brown is what you think of as light walnut. Some colors need multiple applications.My favorites have been maroon and burgundy applied over an initial coat of cordovan. USE TEST PIECES before starting on your piece. Good luck! :thumbsup:

 

[necchi]

It's a good idea to start your world of building things like this with the alcohol stains.
And yes, Fiebings can be thinned quite a lot actually. I usually put a little in a dixie cup and add alcohol to that, if I don't like it I can add more.
Irondog layed it out, put on the stain then rub it back to remove some on the soft parts of the curly grain,, it'll make it pop a bit.

 

[thecapgunkid]

Try to get your sanded wood to the point where there appears to be a slight iridescence without adding anything. You'll see it as if you are looking into the wood.

Some of the rifle makers refer to this as whiskering where the dampen the wood, 400 grit sand it, dampen it, 400 grit sand it and repeat three or four times. You run a risk if you use steel wool because sometimes fine shreds of it embed in the wood and show up as tiny spots in your finish.

Whiskering is going to take all the little fibers that stick up...whiskers...and shear them off uniformally

Don't scrub the dye on. Maybe use a wool pad or some cloth wrapped around a piece of sponge. Gentle, son, gentle. wipe the excess off with a cloth the next day.

The trick in this is not in the dye, but rather the surface of the wood and the underscore supplied by the finishing oil.

I don't have any knife blades to show you, but the sixgun on the left is strictly my Black Powder sixgun for Cowboy Action Shooting.

I use the medium brown color that I use when making shoes or English Tan

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[airborne1]

Thanks for all the replies and great information!

Still waiting for the brown truck!

Bill