neatsfoot oil thinner

[davek14]

This is an answer I have been looking for for some time.

What would be a good "thinner" for neatsfoot oil? Something where you could paint the stuff on and the "thinner" would evaporate and leave a thin coat.

Thin coats of neatsfoot are the best for many or most applications and I have trouble getting it thin and getting it into all the nooks and crannies also.

Perfect example is the pouch sheath for a folding knife I just did. The shiney side of the leather won't absorb well so's I had to try to get it down inside the sheath to get to the rough side and get it top to bottom evenly, hard to do.

It would have been nice to just sort of paint it in there and let the "thinner" dry an leave a thin coat which doesn't soften the leather and is better all around.

I know Lexol has something like this to thin the stuff (and is also neatsfoot COMPOUND, which isn't good). What do they use?

 

[sheathmaker]

I don't know of any thinner or suitable way to thin Neatsfoot Oil. Neatsfoot Oil should be applied before any other finish and then allowed to level before additional finishes, if any, are used. The grain side of the leather is what you are calling the "shiny" side, I guess. If it is veg. tan it would not be shiny if you hadn't applied some type sealer or top finish. Once that happens then naturally Neatsfoot or anything else will have a hard time penetrating the sealed leather. If you want to oil the interior (flesh side) then that should be done prior to glue up and assembly, not after.

Neatsfoot oil is best and easiest applied with a shearling wool pad trimmed to a "GI haircut" length.

I would guess that a lot of the answers you have been looking for for sometime might be found in the DVDs mentioned below in my sig line.

Good Luck!

Paul