What the...

Have you ever found something of yours broken, and you have no idea how or when it happened?  With my leather hobby, part of the process is dying or staining the leather to the desired color.  Most of the time this is done by hand with various types applicators and can be a big mess dependent on what you are trying to achieve.  This method can also lead to inconsistent results.  I had seen some results that others had on their leather work that I really liked.  The colors faded or graduated.  It can be a striking effect.  With a little research, I discovered these folks would use an airbrush to achieve this effect.  An airbrush and compressor kit was soon obtained as a Christmas gift, thanks to my oldest son.  What a difference that has made in the consistency of my leather colors and also being able to make that 'fade' effect.  Almost everything gets the 'fade.'

The latest leather projects were going to be stained using the airbrush method with a bit of fade thrown in.  As I began at the work bench setting up the airbrush (and spilling stain), the compressor shut off shortly after turning it on.  It does that, but this seemed shorter than usual.   As I tested the spray pattern, nothing came out.  Then just a small amount.  OK, the airbrush didn't get cleaned properly.  Took care of that and, still nothing.  Checking the compressor revealed that part of the regulator and broken off.  As I inspected further, the broken piece was internal.  It appears it may have been cracked at one point and the huge spring inside eventually made it give way.  It's all I can think of that may be what happened.  It had been quite a while, maybe a couple months or more, since I last used it.  I don't see any indication where it was damaged by an outside force.  All I can do is shake my head and say 'what the..'

So I resorted to hand application.  Not at all what I intended for this holster. 

The heat makes the stain I had to use dry faster than I wanted it to.  So it gave it a mottled effect on the skull that I thought was appropriate but messed up the webbing IMO.  Also the back side is not as even as I would prefer but it goes with the pattern OK.

A new compressor was ordered that same day.  Not what I wanted to spend money on at this point.  This last month has been an expensive month.  The timing isn't right, but I need this to meet my expectations.  At least that is what I am telling the wife.

Happy Trails.