what do you put on a sheath to darken the leather

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I had a bottle of Liquid Aquaseal. It is a waterproofer and conditioner for leather. Whey you put it on leather, it darkens it up real nice. But I am out of it. Does anyone know what else would work for this. Thanks
 
Neatsfoot oil will darken leather. Many of the readily available conditioners will also, and a good dose of direct sunlight will also sunburn the leather and make it darker particularly in combination with the Neatsfoot oil. If you use the sunshine technique, be sure to turn it frequently as the shaded areas will not turn darker as fast.

Paul
 
I've been going through a lot of different things recently and here's what I've found for oils/conditioners.

In order of darkest to lightest(ie, not affecting the colour much)
It depends on the leather too of course

-pure neatsfoot oil
-bag kote
-obenauf's (but the colour changes)(not fond of this finish except for pure utility)
-neatsfoot compound
-tan kote (not much change)

I've found lexol and atom wax not to affect the colour much and like the atom wax as a final finish because of that.
 
There is a version of Lexol WITH neatsfoot oil in it. It does darken the leather in my experience, but I have not compared the darkening effect to pure neatsfoot oil.

Peter
 
Hey Marion, how do you feel about the smell? There's bee "stuff" in the Obenauf's and while it is undoubtably good at protection, I found the lingering smell a little annoying.
Granted, it was for a recoil/extension cuff for an old garand so it was close to the nose. :p

garand_4.JPG
 
SBranson said:
Hey Marion, how do you feel about the smell? There's bee "stuff" in the Obenauf's and while it is undoubtably good at protection, I found the lingering smell a little annoying.
Granted, it was for a recoil/extension cuff for an old garand so it was close to the nose. :p

garand_4.JPG
Click to expand...

Good Looking Leather, did you build it?

I like the smell of beeswax, and I would suggest that the Obenauf's likely smells of other stuff (maybe even the most strongly of the other stuff), in addition to the beeswax.

And the nearness to your face was likely an issue, as you suggest. : )

One could always just use paraffin, which is pretty close to odor-free.

And, I don't care for the Obenauf's, because of the other oils, which will sometimes come out.... Staining other things.

I don' know. Just my experience so far.... : )

Best Regards,
Marion
 
Yes I did make that. I feel I should've laced it around the second time to get the full "x's" but it has a 1" LOP extension and it was really tough to put together. There's got to be a better way but I don't know what it is.

Thanks for elaborating... It has a smell that I associate with bee propolis so I assumed it was that rather than the other oils.

I've only used Obenauf's on a couple projects and I am going to save it for my boots. I don't like it for sheaths.
 
SBranson said:
Hey Marion, how do you feel about the smell? There's bee "stuff" in the Obenauf's and while it is undoubtably good at protection, I found the lingering smell a little annoying.
Granted, it was for a recoil/extension cuff for an old garand so it was close to the nose. :p

garand_4.JPG
Click to expand...

I love the color on that!
 
I am a big fan of Obenhauf's. The funny smell is propolis which is a chemical that bees make and use as a glue around the hive and which has anti-fungal and anti-microbial properties. Propolis is often used on wooden cutting boards suspended in mineral oil. I will be the first to admit the Obenhauf's does not give a refined finish. The result is a little rubbery but I kind of like it. It does also leave kind of a white residue around stitches and in nooks and crannies...a little like how car wax does in nooks and crannies. Obenhauf's is not for everyone or every project but I think it is proving to be an excellent product, especially when combined with others. I just completed some accessories for my EESE-6 and EESE-3MIL and used pure beeswax for hardening and Sno-Seal. My retention straps were too hard so I topped the project off with Obenhauf's and it softened. That was a move born of need. I am liking the results so now I am going to try various combination of Obenauf's, Sno-Seal, and Beeswax in future.
 
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