Leather washers

[melchior]

Hello

How exactly do you take care of handles made of leather washers? What do you do to prevent them from shrinking? On one of my knives the washer is coming away from the pommel and its collecting dirt. Thanks.

 

[Mike Hull]

Tighten the pommel down, sand the leather flush, and give it a coat of neutral shoe wax. If you want to really go crazy, you can sand the whole handle and run super glue around every washer, resand again, and then coat with wax. You need to rewax at least once a year, or more with heavier use. Good luck.