Neatsfoot Oil?

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Aug 27, 2008
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I recently had a local Amish harness-maker construct a sheath for my Old Hickory Nessie. My question is, can I use neatsfoot oil as a conditioner for this sheath? I always use neatsfoot or a similar oil on my boots, belts, etc, but I don't know a whole lot about sheath maintenance. I'm not sure about the tanning process used on the leather, as I have yet to actually see the sheath (Christmas gift from my parents). What do you guys think?
 
I've had good luck with plain beeswax and a hair dryer. This will definitely not soften the leather and will even make it harder if you put a bunch of coats in. Even one coat will darken the leather so if that concerns I would test the behind the belt section first. I've never tried neatsfoot on a sheath because it seems to make boots more supple and I was worried about over softening.
 
Lexol products are exceptionally good. They have a conditioner with neatsfoot, one without and a cleaner.

I've had great luck for years using sno-seal on leather boots, but for sheaths I prefer the Lexol.

Peter
 
Angle Iron's heated wax is good. I've used neatsfoot oil on a sheath I made and I didn;t like it. It did soften the leather by taking some of the hardness out of my wet-forming that I worked so hard on. Not my cup of tea.

One thing to know is how is the leather now. Is it stiff as in wet-formed? Do you like it that way? Is the color the way you like it? Most guys will heat beeswax (properly...safely) then dip a warmed, unfinished sheath in it, wiping off the excess before it cools. Then they'll use the heat-gun method Angle Iron mentioned to heat the leather and rub more in. This tends to make the leather stiff (which I like) and protects it well.

I used SnoSeal on the inside of a sheath I made. This was to prevent transfer of moisture to an O-1 blade I was giving to a friend. There was no way for me to know if he might leave the knife sheathed for a long time, so I thought I would seal the leather before sewing the sheath up. I read in here that SnoSeal might be good for that, so I tried it. I don;t think I'd use it again for that purpose, but I still have it (in black) and I wouldn;t have a problem applying it the exterior of a sheath dyed black. Thing is, I rarely use black dye, so the SnoSeal will sit until the next black one is made.

Now, having typed all that unnecessay verbage, probably the best thing to do is get some Kiwi shoe polish that's about the same color as your sheath, and use it as you would on a pair of shoes. I keep a can of black, brown, clear, and cordovan (reddish-brown) and use that as a final finish on every sheath I make or have.
 
I would go with Sno-Seal myself. I have been using it for years, on many types of leather products, with no problems.

Tom
 
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