leather handles

T

tim wagendorp

Joined
Jul 14, 1999
Messages
51
Hy folks,

I recently fixed a leather handle to a stick tang dagger: epoxied a lot of leather discs on top of eachother and attached a brass pommel to keep it in place. Shaped the handle with files and finished with abrasive paper (grit 600). I'm still not pleased with the finish though (rough spots). It's still not as smooth as i wanted. Does anyone know how to put a decent finish on a leather handle?. I'd like to kniw, because it's a great looking handle material.

Tanx,

Tim

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Depending on the leather you used you will never get to a perfectly smooth surface. You may treat the surface of the leather with wax or shellack to get a high shine or spit and rub it to seal the leather as the enzymes in the spit will dissolve a part of the proteins of the leather.
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Achim
 
Hi Tim

I have made a few knives with leather handles. What I do is burnish the leather after final shaping. This can be done with a very worn 400 grit belt or the backside of a belt. If you dont have acces to a beltgrinder a sanding drum in a handdrill works too. Its the highspeed and the worn belts that does the trick. This makes the leather all smooth. Next aply some neutral shoepolish or leatherwax for the real nice and warm look and feel.

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Jens Anso, jens@ansoknives.com
(check out my homepage)
Ansoknives.com
 
Burnishing is definitely the way to go to get a smooth leather handle.

When I do edges of sheaths or leather washers on a handle I use a two-step approach to burnishing. After I have shaped the item, trimmed away or sanded the excess, I wet the area I want to burnish with clean water. Then I take a piece of burnishing canvas or denim and rub the area until it gets as smooth as I can get it. Old blue jeans are great for this. After the item dries, I cover it with beeswax and rub it with a dry piece of canvas or denim until it gets even smoother. The rubbing action tends to heat up the leather and cause the wax to penetrate. You can speed up the penetration by heating the item with a hair dryer or heat gun while you apply the wax, but you still have to rub it with the cloth for the smoothness. When completed burnishing gives a hard, shiny finish to the item. Sometimes it seems I spend more time burnishing a piece than I do in the construction.

Good Luck!

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Travis Autry
My knives are just like rabbits---they keep multiplying!!
 
Jens, very nice knife and sheath!!!!
Hmmm, I always built my stacked leather handles on a 5/16" piece of allthread. Put a nut and big washer on one end, stacked the discs with glue on each piece and stacked enough to have a little extra and then put another big washer and nut on the other end and tightened them down till the glue started oozing. Then I'd chuck it up in my drill press and run it on slow speed and use a large wood raspe to rough shape it and then sandpaper to finish shape it. Then after the knife was complete, I just buffed the leather handle with white rouge and it came out real slick.

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Always think of your fellow knife makers as partners in the search for the perfect blade, not as people trying to compete with you and your work!
http://www.nebsnow.com/L6steel
Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms!!!

[This message has been edited by L6STEEL (edited 09-01-2000).]
 
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