Waxing leather sheaths .

K

Kevin the grey

Joined
Aug 26, 2005
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Some of you guys treat your sheaths with hot wax . Can you do the same with a formed rawhide sheath ? I have made a couple of rawhide items such as arm guards and such . I treated them with mink oil and they would still take on moisture and deform a little . This sheath will be much more rigid and really not able to flex at all so humidity won,t be such a big issue . I would still like to explore this hot wax process .
 
Mink oil softens leather...the hot beeswax stiffens it. Back before TV, they used hot beeswax to make armor out of leather...worked well for a long time too.

Make sure you heat the leather too...it opens the pores and allows the hot wax to soak *into* and penetrate the leather and not just cool as it hits the leather and sit on top of it.
 
Kevin?

I put polyeurethane on all the rawhide sheaths I make. Dunno about hot wax. It's just under 90 degrees out here today (go figgur), and I'm not sure that the wax treatment wouldn't melt and stain.

dunno.
 
I find wax to be very messy, occasionally painful, and ugly afterwards. Some guys can get an even finish with it; I have never been able to. The resulting leather, while nearly indestructable, looks terrible.

My big batch of beeswax/paraffin/neats foot oil that I used to treat leather with now gets used as casting flux, if that's any indication of how I feel about things.
 
Kevin, I use a wax paraffin, and mink oil mixture. Go to a thrift store and get yourself an old crock pot for <5 dollars. It makes the whole process much less messy. Then when you're done you just unplug it. Next time you just gotta plug it in and get going.
 
aproy1101 said:
Kevin, I use a wax paraffin, and mink oil mixture. Go to a thrift store and get yourself an old crock pot for <5 dollars. It makes the whole process much less messy. Then when you're done you just unplug it. Next time you just gotta plug it in and get going.
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Won,t that make my stew taste funny ?
 
Heat, and hot wax will destroy the leather structure. The leather will be very tough and stiff, but also sort of brittle. Think of leather as skin. Would you want to treat your skin with hot wax?
 
Kismet said:
Kevin?

I put polyeurethane on all the rawhide sheaths I make. Dunno about hot wax. It's just under 90 degrees out here today (go figgur), and I'm not sure that the wax treatment wouldn't melt and stain.

dunno.
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Yeah I have to agree its a given that the hotter it gets the softer the wax will be . I know carnuba (sp) wax is harder .

I am lucky in that I have cheated as far as traditional methods are concerned . There is going to be a kydex inner sheath on this . The rawhide is to give it a more trad look and to form two pockets to make up a small last ditch survival kit . The kydex sheath even has 3/16th grommets holding it together and so I can duplicate the holes just smaller in the rawhide to give it a laced together look . The laces can also serve as a neck loop , emergency lashing and a way to close the two pockets .
I,m still working on the concept . I will proabably use scraped boar hide as the buffalo hide I have is too thick and hairy for the moment .
 
richardallen said:
...Would you want to treat your skin with hot wax?
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Hey...it's only once a month, and it *is* bikini season.
 
Nasty said:
Hey...it's only once a month, and it *is* bikini season.
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:D

Well, _that's_ a relief! And here I thought I was the only forumite to wax my bikini line. ;):rolleyes:

Gotta look good on the beach, although I do get some odd looks for some reason. (?) Probably it's the YCS I'm carrying and not the leopard skin bikini briefs...:confused:

Norm
 
No. Sadly, it is not the YCS.

It is the leopard skin bikini briefs.

As a member of the beautification of America committtee, we have a formal request being drafted. You should receive it shortly. You are causing whales to beach themselves.
 
Kismet said:
No. Sadly, it is not the YCS.

It is the leopard skin bikini briefs.

As a member of the beautification of America committtee, we have a formal request being drafted. You should receive it shortly. You are causing whales to beach themselves.
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Hmm! Do you think? I wondered why cats are always coming by and trying to cover me up! :D
 
Gentlemen ? I do not mean to prick your bubbles while you wax poetic . As this is a thread about a neck knife could we keep this thread above the waistline ?

Besides..... I just ate . L:O:L
 
Kevin oils and fats are used to tan rawhide into leather and so would make it softer. I don't know how straight wax would do but I'm gonna go along with Kis and say that it is potentially messy. :(

The Old Ones would either use nothing on the rawhide for Parfleches and the like or it would be coated with a hide and hoof glue.
And although the glue would get soft when becoming soaking wet or in strong dew for a long time it would dry again when the conditions were dry or it was dried out in front of a fire.
I've also used a polyurethane on a painted drum that I took into the Lodge to help it keep its tone but it was on one side only so the wet atmosphere got to the backside that wasn't coated.
Polyurethane would be more traditional looking than anything else methinks.:thumbup:
 
I,m not against the polyurethane steadfastly . Heck its got a kydex inner sheath so it wouldn,t be out of line .

I have heard of boiling leather for armour . It is news to me that they used bees wax as well . I will check that out more on another site . As this is rawhide It may be it would react differently than leather .

I,ll keep the polyurethane on the back burner for now and explore my options .
 
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