[Northkeep] Bummed Out Belt

Marc Carlson marccarlson20 at hotmail.com
Wed Dec 16 11:45:46 PST 2009


You have every right to be cranky.  It's likely that the first clear just didn't understand what you were wanting to do.  Fortunately, while time has been lost, perhaps not all else is lost.  We just need to figure out how to strip the tan-kote off and then repaint over the whole mess.

I'm not sure what to suggest for stripping it chemically, although since you are going to be painting over it all anyway, I'm inclined to suggest that you just take a razor and scrape off the entire corium (the skin on the top).  Better save that as a last ditch thing, though.  Take a section at one end and seeing if you can get it to come up with alcohol.  If that doesn't work, try fingernail polish remover.  If anyone else has any other suggestions, please try those too.

If you do get it stripped, then let it rest for a few weeks in a fairly warm environment and let it stabilize.

Marc/Diarmaid

> Date: Wed, 16 Dec 2009 10:59:27 -0800
> From: catanlac at yahoo.com
> To: northkeep at lists.ansteorra.org
> CC: gdh at ki.org
> Subject: [Northkeep] Bummed Out Belt
> 
>     Well, folks, I'm pretty bummed out here and I hope someone out there can advise me.  I embarked a couple of months ago on a project--hand painting a wide leather belt in Celtic knotwork and zoomorphic figures.  I went to Tandy Leather and talked to one of their personnel who directed me to the acrylic paints and something called Tan-Kote Protective Finish.  I explained to the guy what I wanted to do and bought what he told me to buy.  The only thing he told me to do was to dilute the paint when I used it, but didn't say why.
>     Well, I planned my design and started to work.  Diluting the paint made it too difficult to get bold color and using full strength gave me what I wanted.  Even so, it took several coats on the inner design to get the coverage and strong line I needed for the design to show properly.
>     Finally, this Monday I finished it and if I do say so myself, it turned out great.  The colors were great, the design showed beautifully...then I put the sealant on.
>     To my horror, it made the colors of the paint run, especially the blue.  It bled on the yellow badly and suddenly it looked like hell.  I had to repaint another coat on the yellow to clean it up.  Then, today, having had 2 days to dry, I checked it out and wiped away dust with a damp cloth.  To my further horror, the colors still ran (which they hadn't done before I put on the Tan-Kote) and became sticky.
>     I called Tandy and the woman told me that I shouldn't have used the paint full strength and it would certainly crack when bent.  She said diluting it makes it sink into the leather and apparently bond somehow, which I was never told.  I said I told the guy what I wanted to do and this was not explained to me and how do I get bold colors watering down the paint.  She said "Use a brighter color."  Really?  What's brighter than red and blue?  She also told me the Tan-Kote was for unpainted areas and the acrylics are self-sealing.  Really?  I wasn't told that at the time, and there *are* no unpainted areas?
>     She was pretty much useless, and I pretty much feel ripped off, as well as heartsick that 2 months of work apparently have gone for naught but ruination.  I don't dare wear the thing as it is, for it surely will stain the garb I wear it with because of the Tan-Kote ruining the seal of the Cova acrylics.
>     Does anyone have any knowledge of how I can seal the thing so at least as not to ruin the garb I planned to wear it with, at least until it cracks and goes to hell?  I feel kind of sick about this since it seemed to turn out so well and I bought leather to make more belts which I now don't dare to do.  
>     I know in the greater scheme of things this is not a big deal, but it feels like a bummer to me.  I'm really ticked at Tandy and inclined never to give them my business in the future.  I hope someone can tell me how to seal this thing so at least it doesn't damage my garb at least.  Thanks for the space to vent.
> 
>                                                                                   Catrin, cranky
> 
> 
> 
>       
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