- Joined
- Oct 29, 2006
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- 2,912
... or how do you finish your sheaths?...
Well once again I finished off a sheath, got it looking nice but since I knew it would be a real hard use sheath, I decided to pour in some neatsfoot oil for a 1/2 minute soak just to help with water repellency.
As you would expect, it soaked in very quickly through the fleshy side except along the welt where the barge cement has created a barrier, so now the damn thing is 2 toned... I've done this before and vowed not to make the same mistake.. damn... now to try to fix it.
So.. my question to all you leather guys.. how do you finish your sheaths?
I seem to have no method at the moment. I hear of another product someone is using and try that.
I use Fiebing's dyes. For an even coat I wet the leather first. For rustic finishes I put it on dry leather for an uneven finish.
For rawhide I use a mix of dye, antique paste and potassium permanganate.
Top coat products I have:
Bag Kote
Tan Kote
Leather Balm with Atom wax
Neatsfoot oil
Gum Tragacanth for edges and the insides of belt loops
Acrylic Resoline ( for inside parts of black dyed sheaths)
Lexol
Mink Oil
Ballistol (stinky stuff but I was told about it by Burt Foster who mixes it with Viscol but I can't find Viscol - I put a thin layer inside carbon steel blade sheaths to inhibit rust)
I never do the same thing twice
Sometimes with low maintenance sheaths I use only Tan Kote.
For heavy use sheaths for our west coast weather I will try to get the leather a little more resistant to wet so I will often use an oil product but that always messes with the finish.
Just curious what others do.
Well once again I finished off a sheath, got it looking nice but since I knew it would be a real hard use sheath, I decided to pour in some neatsfoot oil for a 1/2 minute soak just to help with water repellency.
As you would expect, it soaked in very quickly through the fleshy side except along the welt where the barge cement has created a barrier, so now the damn thing is 2 toned... I've done this before and vowed not to make the same mistake.. damn... now to try to fix it.
So.. my question to all you leather guys.. how do you finish your sheaths?
I seem to have no method at the moment. I hear of another product someone is using and try that.
I use Fiebing's dyes. For an even coat I wet the leather first. For rustic finishes I put it on dry leather for an uneven finish.
For rawhide I use a mix of dye, antique paste and potassium permanganate.
Top coat products I have:
Bag Kote
Tan Kote
Leather Balm with Atom wax
Neatsfoot oil
Gum Tragacanth for edges and the insides of belt loops
Acrylic Resoline ( for inside parts of black dyed sheaths)
Lexol
Mink Oil
Ballistol (stinky stuff but I was told about it by Burt Foster who mixes it with Viscol but I can't find Viscol - I put a thin layer inside carbon steel blade sheaths to inhibit rust)
I never do the same thing twice
Sometimes with low maintenance sheaths I use only Tan Kote.For heavy use sheaths for our west coast weather I will try to get the leather a little more resistant to wet so I will often use an oil product but that always messes with the finish.
Just curious what others do.
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