I really come to admire and like those that magically treat their sheath work to some type of hardy snakeoil to produce a hard product. I have been using beeswax and snowseal to medium results. Can anyone share their special recipe on treating a laether shaeth to make rock hard? thanks
Why would you want the sheath hard?
cause i like'em. :)
Sosk it in water, shape it and let it dry...it will be rock hard then. I have no idea of what treatment would make them hsrder than that. I've seen kydex sheaths that are leather wrapped...I would guess they are pretty stiff.
get some parifen wax and melt it down soak Your sheath in it until it feels limber hang it dry dry will be hard as a brick when cool.I would use a double boiler system to keep wax from gettin to hot.I would also wrap my blade in saran wrap and place it in the sheath while it,s still hot! C-Ya Bob
Leather armor was made by boiling it in wax for a few minutes. Should work on sheaths.
thanks guys!
I was trying to speed up the "softening" of leather once for a sheath so I could form fit it. I dropped a small test piece into boiling water to see how much faster it would soften up. It instantly curled up like a dog chew toy and turned rock hard.
Aaron
Rawhide over soft leather gives you a hard sheath. It is nice for a big knife. Art Vincent made one for this big heavy knife .
(http://www.shrewbows.com/rons_linkpics/Sheath4.JPG)
Ron that gives me goose bumps!
Tandy has a couple products that may be what your thinking of.I have used super sheen,I think that may work for you.
Wet the leather, shape it to the knife, dry it solid in the oven.Comes out rock hard. Finish the outside with wipe-on poly by min wax. Oven needs to be warm, not hot.
Wet form it and apply a mixture of melted parrafin with a table spoon of saddle oil mixed in. Use a hairdryer to open the pores of the leather and allow the mixture to soak in. It will add a nice darker texture to the leather, waterproof it, and make it hard. You can always reapply as needed.
You want rock hard leather,boil it.Put leather in water at a slow boil for about 3-5 min and it'll be like stone when it dries. Bear in mind the leathetr will shrink a fair bit and ironicallyu gets thicker when dry so experiment with some scap peices first.