leather sheath

[kevin1]

Hi can anyone tell me what i can use to harden up a leather sheath please.

 

[Macaroon]

Dip it in hot beeswax, that'll do it nicely; a bit of a performance to melt it and dip the sheath if you don't have a cave/ workshop, and you need to be very careful heating the wax to melt it (only do it outside and by the bain-marie method).

The alternative is to rub it over with a stick of wax and get the heatgun/hairdrier on it to melt it into the leather, being careful not to burn the sheath......a good quality candle will be easy to get hold of and will have a good mix of waxes for the job, but will be mainly beeswax. I hope this helps and let us know how you get on, eh?

 

[kevin1]

I haven't actually made the sheath yet so would you recommend soaking the leather as a sheet or make the item up and submerging it.what are your thoughts.

 

[Macaroon]

Make the item up, wet form it and leave to dry into the finished shape and then do the wax treatment; if you waxed the sheet it'd become soft again during the making.

 

[bobnewboy]

If you make the sheath out of veg tan leather an alternative is to finish the sheath, including any stains or dyes, then burnish it all over with something hard, rounded and shiny. For example a shiny piece of steel, the neck of a bottle, a bone folder tool even. Burnishing is just rubbing firmly all over the surface with a firm even pressure. The effect on the leather is to compress it slighty, and make it shiny, and stiffer than it was.

 

[kevin1]

Hi made the sheath and dipped it as you instructed
It turned out really well so thankyou.

 

[Macaroon]

Hi made the sheath and dipped it as you instructed
It turned out really well so thankyou.

That's good to hear, and thanks for the feedback...............How about a couple of pics?

 

[kevin1]

Some pictures a the waxed sheath and knife i made.

Sent from my LG-D722 using Tapatalk

 

[Macaroon]

Cool Beenz! They look great to me, well done

 

[kevin1]

What items have you made and waxed