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Main Boards => Hunting Knives and Crafters => Topic started by: joebuck on February 12, 2010, 05:12:00 PM
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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
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Why would you want the sheath hard?
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cause i like'em. :)
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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.
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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
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Leather armor was made by boiling it in wax for a few minutes. Should work on sheaths.
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thanks guys!
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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
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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)
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Ron that gives me goose bumps!
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Tandy has a couple products that may be what your thinking of.I have used super sheen,I think that may work for you.
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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.
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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.
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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.