Fiebing's Leather Dye - Common Colours

[throbinson]

Looking to buy a few 4oz dye's to get started. I have a couple pipes that need some sanding and a refresh of colour, and the top of the bowls taken down a bit.
I wanted to buy maybe 4 colours to start with but, not sure what colour gets used more often than others.
I am also buying some blue shades since may try making a pipe and blue stained pipes look great.
So, for those who use dyes to restore pipes... which colours do you reach for the most?

 

[stvalentine]

You will want to use a yellow quite often when a pipe has a particular nice grain. Yellow kind of highlights it instead of covering it. Should work nicely in a two tone stain as well although I haven´t tried that yet.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Made this one for the wife. Highlighted the grain with black, and did the contrast with navy blue.
http://pipesmagazine.com/members/chasingembers/album/picture/15414

 

[phred]

It took me a while to notice, but my Stanwell sandblasted pipe appears to have a red undercoat of dye, followed by a black topcoat. Now that I've handled it a little (and smoked it outside in direct sunlight), the flecks of red peeking out from under the black are stunning.

 

[xrundog]

If your working on estates, Cordovan, Dark Brown, Medium Brown and Tan are the most commonly encountered. Unless you strip a pipe completely, you are matching the patina acquired from smoking. The most common 2 colors for that are Cordovan and Dark Brown. Tan is probably number 3.

 

[zack24]

If I had to pick 4 colors, it would be chocolate, black, orange, and yellow (mainly because I do a lot of contrast stains...)

 

[throbinson]

XRUNDOG - Yup, working on estates. Not stripping down fully, but, a few need the fill replaced, some slight sanding and if leveling the tops of the rims those need dyed as well.
Been reading many of these articles on REBORN PIPES and it's what I'd like to get into more, but I don't want to jump in and buy about 30 different dye's, rather I'd like to get a few of the basic common ones, mix if needed, and go from there.
Plus, again, a few for the blue... black for sure to darken the grain, and probably turquoise and navy and do a sunburst effect... I like guitars, built a couple years back, and guitars usually use leather dye as well for stains so, kinda looking at guitar sites as well for staining methods. Maybe get this effect is I can.

 

[ssjones]

I get by with Medium Brown, Black and Oxblood. I can see adding Tan to that list.

 

[throbinson]

Oh here's a question... these are alcohol based correct? So, should be ok to ship in winter? ie. doesn't freeze easily.
Was just thinking, where I order my fountain pen ink from is on a shipping hold for inks right now because the glass bottles keep breaking. The dye is in I think a plastic container but, still could get cold during transit.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Should be fine to ship in winter. Never had an issue with them freezing. On a side note, you can also add denatured alcohol to them to thin them for different shades on a pipe.

 

[literaryworkshop]

To really bring out the grain, you can use two colors, a darker base color topped with a lighter top color. I personally like the oxblood/mahogany for deep red tones, but I think the darker browns are more traditional looking. I'd start with a dark brown and then maybe a russet or light brown, and see where you go from there.

 

[buroak]

Has anyone restained an old Kaywoodie Flame Grain? If so, which color/colors did you use to match the original stain?

 

[throbinson]

Had a nice chat with one of the guys at RebornPipes and he gave me a good link... seems that the colours he uses are pretty much what was mentioned here. Med Brown, Dark Brown, Oxblood or Cordovan, and Black... though he said mostly just Dark Brown and Black, using isopropyl alcohol to lighten the Dark Brown when needed.
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