I was working on a batch of black belts the other night and I thought I might share a little leather shop insight for those interested...
Black leather dye is weird stuff. I know some leathersmiths who just won't touch the stuff. For starters, black dye is BLACK. Period. There is none of the unique variations seen with some of the lighter dyes, Every piece of leather dyes a little different, but black is just black. And that's OK. Black leather dye also "bleeds" worse than any other dyes... so it takes the longest to set and dry and finally... it has to be buffed. In the picture above you can see the belt on top is pre-buffed and the belt below is post-buffed. I hand buff each belt with a soft cloth.
There's a lot of details and labor that goes in to hand made leather goods that most people have no idea about. These details make the difference. Let me know if you have any questions!
-RPK
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