Sheath treatment

stuart f

Full Member
Jan 19, 2004
1,397
11
56
Hawick, Scottish Borders
Hi all, got a Lapp Puuko knife from Jack last week[cheers Jack] but what i would like to know is, should i treat the leather sheath, if so what would be the best thing to use?. Oh one other thing should i treat the wooden handle?. your thoughts please. CHEERS STUART F.
 

JakeR

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 18, 2004
2,288
4
37
Cardiff
Hi Stuart,

The handle can easily become dull after use around water, mud...... So i just sand papered it down to get all the superficial dirt off, then put a layer of Rustic Oil on it, seems to be fine.

As for the sheath, im not sure how important treating it would be, others may disagree, but unless they are boots, i doubt whether treatment is neccessary. Leather is naturally resistant. Have fun with it, it is a great knife.

Cheers,

Jake
 

eraaij

Settler
Feb 18, 2004
557
61
Arnhem
When I build a sheath I usually treat it with molten wax, like snow seal or something alike. Before I pour this over the sheath, I warm the sheath a little in the oven at around 50 degrees C. The sheath gets saturated from the wax and will last forever.

So you could try that treatment.

-Emile
 

ChrisKavanaugh

Need to contact Admin...
Saturating in quality wax is what Ragnar @ www.ragweedforge.com suggests. All leather products are not created equal or the same. The Fallkniven knife sheaths require a simple application of shoe polish and various dressings are actually discouraged. Leathers can be vegetable tanned, brain tanned and chemically tanned. Using vegetable and animal base products can be very problematic. For example, olive oil will go rancid, breaking down the leather and these applications also attract beasties that like to chew things for food and the salt residue from our own sweat. The stitching thread may also be either synthetic or cotton. Cotton will readily rot with moisture.
 

Hoodoo

Full Member
Nov 17, 2003
5,302
13
Michigan, USA
Lots of folks use a mixture of bees wax and neatsfoot oil. I forget the best proportions. Me, I'm too lazy. I just melt some sno-seal in a tin and brush it on. If you do this, you'll find that some of it will congeal on the sheath because of the coolness of the sheath. That's when I dig out the hair dryer that I got from my sister for Christmas 20 years ago. I knew I'd find a use for it sooner or later. :-D I go up and down the sheath and slowly but surely, all the sno-seal is absorbed.
 

Dave Barker

Nomad
Sep 15, 2003
302
3
53
Norway
www.brukskniver.net
stuart f said:
Hi all, got a Lapp Puuko knife from Jack last week[cheers Jack] but what i would like to know is, should i treat the leather sheath, if so what would be the best thing to use?. Oh one other thing should i treat the wooden handle?. your thoughts please. CHEERS STUART F.

Get hold of some saddle fat from a saddlers, or alternatively from a leather suppliers.

When I make a sheath i give the thing a really good coat and let it sit for a few days. it helps if the sheath is slightly damp (NOT WET), as the fat goes in further.

I let it stand for a day or so before reoving the excess with a bit of loo roll or a soft cloth.

As for the shaft, well Rustic oil is great. Depends what finish you want tho.

The norwegians have used bolied linseed oil for years and have said that in the beginning one coat of oil a day, then after an amount of use, one coat a week, then one a month til in the end one good coat a year does the trick. I oil the shafts of my useage knives once a year unless they have gotten really wet, then it's a bit more often.
 

Martyn

Bushcrafter through and through
Aug 7, 2003
5,252
33
59
staffordshire
www.britishblades.com
Hoodoo said:
Lots of folks use a mixture of bees wax and neatsfoot oil. I forget the best proportions. Me, I'm too lazy. I just melt some sno-seal in a tin and brush it on. If you do this, you'll find that some of it will congeal on the sheath because of the coolness of the sheath. That's when I dig out the hair dryer that I got from my sister for Christmas 20 years ago. I knew I'd find a use for it sooner or later. :-D I go up and down the sheath and slowly but surely, all the sno-seal is absorbed.

Did that myself, I used mainly beeswax, some carnuba wax to give it a hard surface and neatsfoot oil for penetration. Proportions were about 50% beeswax, 10% carnuba and 40% neatsfoot oil. I used an old mess tin as a mixing pot and just melted all the ingredients together. It gives a waterproof, hard and very durable sheath. This was on a raw veg-tan leather sheath with no other treatment though. I've no idea ghow it would work on an already finished sheath.
 

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