What do you treat your sheaths with?

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godogs57

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Apr 16, 2004
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Finished a batch of sheaths that will remain unstained...neutral color so to speak. I tried out my old hunting boot treatment...Sno Seal on them and it seamed to work fine. Heated them over the wife's stove and rubbed the stuff in till it wouldn't absorb any more. Will buff off the excess later on.

This seems about what Bruce Evans uses in his sheath making tutorial except he uses a parrafin, beeswax, mink oil mixture in a crock pot. I like the idea, and the Sno Seal is about the same mixture, but not exactly. Incidently, I love his tutorials...they are great. Thanks Bruce.

Just wondering what everyone else does with their sheaths to treat the leather....any more tricks I need to consider?
 
Bag Kote and Neatsfoot Oil is my mainstay, but if I make a sheath that I know will be subjected to a lot of dampness and water, I will brush on some hot waterproofer I make myself out of mink oil, beeswax, and pine pitch.
 
I use Kiwi neutral shoe polish. The paste in the can.
Scott
 
Custom knifemaker's making there own sheaths?? BLASPHEMY!!!!





J/K:D :D :D

Those tutorials are sweet arent they??

Anywho...

I use 2 or 3 different ones...depending on what I have at hand when I am sealing the leather but these are the mainstays

Resolene<~~~very light coat on the inside of the sheath (this one is being tested right now to see if it is any better than beeswax/parrifin mix)

Neat-lac<~~~be very careful and apply a THIN coat on the outside

Tan-Kote<~~~3 coats (20 min dry between coats) over top of the neat-lac gives you a SWEET finish that is very durable and it is EASY!! to put on without streaking


Nothing wrong with the parrifin and beeswax mixture...I use it on the inside of the sheath for very hard use field knives...I also use it on the plain $20.00 sheaths that I make from time to time when someone HAS to have a leather sheath and dont wanna spend any extra $$$...The Kerambit sheath on my homepage was coated with the wax mix and works just fine (It did have a slight problem with the road however!)..lol
 
Thanks for the replies...any good sources for mink oil, beeswax, etc? And what is bagcoat??? Where can it be found?

Hey Leatherface, I have used Tan Kote, Resolene, and NeatLac from time to time, liking Tan kote the best. Resolene got obscenely glossy on some dyed sheaths. The Tandy folks told me their personal choice was Tan Kote as well. NeatLac was kinda streaky for me if put on too thick.

Will post a pic or two of the finished sheaths probably tomorrow if they turn out decent. They are only "plain Jane" sheaths, but I am happy with 'em.

Y'all take it easy.

Hank H.
 
Hank,
You can get parrifin wax and mink oil at Wal-Mart...I had to order some bee's wax online...cant remember where I got it, but it was expensive


Yea that resolene can give ya a ugly finish...That is why I use it on the inside only for now...

Never used bag-coat

Neat-Lac can be a pain if ya overdo it...I use a clean shop rag and "dab" it on the sheath and then rub it in...seems to work well

I do LOVE the tan-Kote!!!

cant wait to see the pics!
 
I got some beeswax at Hobby Lobby. A pound for $12 US.
Personally I add some beeswas to SnoSeal. It seems to be a harder wearing finish than SnoSeal alone.
 
I'm using a mix of Ballistol oil, mink oil, parifin wax, bee's wax, and Kiwi neutral shoe polish melted in a big crock pot. It's hard at room temp, heated it soaks into the leather. I just heat the mix up and dip the sheath and pour a little inside it, wipe the excess off and out of it, stick in the oven at 175 deg.F. and let it set for a few minits to soak into the leather. Carful on the oven temp, crisped the first sheath I tried that with.

I tryed an acrilit sealer and it sealed the leather perfectly, but left it so stiff that the inside put lots of wear marks on the gaurd rite quick.
 
I waterproof/soften with neatsfoot oil and then use a saddlesoap to put a finish on.

I like Leather New, Foam, a spray on foam that you rub in and then polish for the saddle soap. They stock it in feed stores and saddle shops.
 
Well, here are some sheaths for some designs I have completed. The picture quality is crap, but I did not have time to set up a pretty snapshot. Sorry.

Anyway, they are treated with Sno Seal and buffed with a soft towel after everything is soaked in.

Worth a hoot?

Sheaths.jpg
 
Worth a hoot?? Very much so

The knives look SWEET!!!!

Leather looks very functional and durable

TWO things I would change

1...Double stitch the top's of them for added strength

2...add a leather tack at the top of the sheath to aid in protecting the thread
 
Thanks Leatherface. I run the stitches back down the sheath for three stitches before I close everything off. Was that what you were refering to, or were you talking about another row of stitches?

Take care,
Hank
 
A 50/50 mixture of beeswax and bear grease. I get the wax from local beekeepers, the bear fat from local hunters. The beeswax keeps the bear grease from going rancid. I warm the mixture to a liquid and apply it with a rag. (when cold, the mixture has the consistency of chapstick) Don Craig, Saranac, NY
 
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