Techniques for aging leather?

N

Night_Owl

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Feb 14, 2010
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Does anyone know how to go about giving a new leather sheath an aged look? Either with chemicals or (preferrably) without?
 
Well, there was an article published on it some time back that I found on the internet again recently, buuut I wasn't smart enough to save it. John Cohea is on this forum every now and then, though, and he is a master of that. I don't make my leather look aged so much as...blown up? Basically, though, you can do it by burnishing areas so they take dye differently, and you can layer finishes and bend the leather to crackle them, and you can use sandpaper, and all sorts of other things

~Noah
 
NoahL said:
Well, there was an article published on it some time back that I found on the internet again recently, buuut I wasn't smart enough to save it. John Cohea is on this forum every now and then, though, and he is a master of that. I don't make my leather look aged so much as...blown up? Basically, though, you can do it by burnishing areas so they take dye differently, and you can layer finishes and bend the leather to crackle them, and you can use sandpaper, and all sorts of other things

~Noah
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for the info, Noah:thumbup:. Will the crackling or sandpaper method damage the leather in any way?? If so, I'll probably just leave my sheath as it is. . .
 
Pretty much as described above...

...I recently made this Cheyenne/Mountain Man style sheath After dying in a 'random' fashion, I used Shelak and a wire brush to give it a distressed look. I buffed it back up with some Laederfedt afterwards. It is quite aggressive and scratched through the grain easily....which is how I wanted this one:
P1010001-6.jpg

P1010021-2.jpg


You can also dye a coat of lighter dye and then dark on top (leaving to dry in-between) then use some fine grit ally oxide to gently wear away areas, revealing the lighter cooler, without too much 'scratching'.

Its very subtle, but you can see it here:
0016.jpg
 
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I make all my sheaths "antiquey" looking. I use dye in layers and leave it streaky then burnish any areas that will get normal wear so it looks like it's happened already. If doing a rawhide sheath then I use dye in layers and a bit of sanding to again bring up areas that will get normal rubbing and use. I also mix Fiebings with different waxes (neutral shoe polish works well) and polish the sheath with coloured wax. Have fun playing.

Best regards

Robin
 
To age leather (there's a difference between aging and antiquing) so it looks real is not a simple one or two step process - the process for me usually takes longer than the building. FWFW-I've been doing it studying how to do it for over 40 years and it's only in the last few years that I've really gotten the real McCoy Look.
Here's an article (maybe the one Noah was talking about) by one of the best that will get you started:
http://www.wrtcleather.com/1-ckd/tutorials/aging-leather-zurl.jpg

The best way to learn how to do it right is to:
1) look at real old/used leather and imitate the wear and look.
2) Make the piece new and then age it - doing it in parts and then assembling looks just that way, a hodegpodge of parts rather than a piece that is aged the way it would be done naturally.

To view some of the best aged leather work around take a look at folks like: Ken Scott, Jack Hubbard, Tim Albert, Dan Winkler/Karen Shook, (all are on line and that's just a few) and the artisans posted here: http://contemporarymakers.blogspot.com/ - go back through the archived stuff as well.

Sandpaper and or steel wool will not really damage the leather when used properly. Crackling or crazing of the leather is in fact damage, but if limited to the surface that the leather will still retain it's integrity - crackling crazing is more applicable to antiqeuing (unless you're blowing them up like Noah ;). Aging leather and rawhide some of the same methods but rahide takes certain specila techniques.

as for the difference in aging and antiquing........
Here's an example of a couple of antiqued pieces that are still eminently usable:
holster-frontiersman-091116.jpg


gunbelt-morin-2009-1-1.jpg


This rig on the other hand has been aged
girardin-texas-1.jpg
 
Fuckin awesome. Man, am I glad I joined the forums.. Thanks to all who responded for the plethora of information and the very helpful pictures!!:thumbup:

Now it's time to do some research. ;)
 
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By the way...
Scruffuk, I like the style of the sheath for your hunting/skinning knife!
Wild Rose, the "old" holsters brought to mind some awesome memories of Roland from King's "Dark Tower" series.

Regards, y'all.
 
Chuck--that's exactly the one I was talking about, and I saved it this time, thanks!

By the way, I love the effect you got on that bottom rig

~Noah
 
NoahL said:
Chuck--that's exactly the one I was talking about, and I saved it this time, thanks!

By the way, I love the effect you got on that bottom rig

~Noah
Click to expand...

I especially like the way you moved the tongue of the belt. Like the gunman's possibilities have been "expanding", or the rig was passed down or reused. Excellent work.
 
Wow! Those sheaths are works of art WR.

I 'drew' the triskel by hand. Its a seax sheath btw
0011.jpg
 
Anymore info on the "aged" look on leather sheaths would be verrrry helpful. I am very interested as well.
 
Ever see the first few minutes of "To Live and Die in L.A."? ;) I'm at least half-serious (great movie, btw).
 
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