How do you care for snake skin?

L

Lawrence Helm

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Jul 24, 2014
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I recently bought some new sheaths for some old Buck knives. I didn't start out looking for sheaths made with rattlesnake skins, but they turned out to be the best looking (on eBay) and very nice looking in fact. I know how to take care of leather but I have no idea how to take care of the snake-skin inlays. Any help on this subject will be appreciated.

Lawrence
 
Hi Lawrence. I made a thread some months ago called "care and feeding of snake (skins)". Can't remember what was advised, but might be worth a look.

Edit- here's the thread

Double edit- after looking at the thread there really isn't any pertinent information. :(

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1171324

Your skin, does it have the scales present, or have they been removed (smooth)? If the scales are still on the skin I have nothing to offer. If the skin is smooth I use a mix of beeswax and coconut oil applied in the direction that is smoothest. This was what I used on all leather up until recently when I switched to Fiebings Tan- Kote. Fiebings also makes a product for reptile skin care.
 
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A good rule of thumb, treat your snake and other reptile skins like you do your leather.

Sno Seal is good, Feibings Aussie Leather Conditioner is better imho, if this cant be found locally then go to a good western wear or boot store and look at the care section.

Dont even look at the neatsfoot oil COMPOUND. Avoid that stuff. Pure neatsfoot oil is a good conditioner, but if you use too much it will make the leather floppy and do bad things to your exotic inlays. Use it sparingly, a little goes a long way.
 
I have three snakeskin sheaths (so far) from two sheath makers. Two of the sheaths look as though they been treated with something. Here is a photo from my last hike of one of them:



This is one of the sheaths that looks as though it has been treated with something. I think I'll send a note off to the sheath maker and see what he uses. I use Mink Oil from time to time -- sounds like that would be okay. I've used Neats foot oil in the past on stiff leather but I'll avoid it on the snakeskin sheaths. Thanks for that info, Leatherman.

I've used Fiebings leather dye in the past. Didn't know they made a snakeskin treatment. I'll look for it on line. Thanks, Omega.

Lawrence
 
I think what Dwayne is saying is to avoid the Neatsfoot that is sold as compound as opposed to 100% pure.

I've never used the compound so I cannot comment on it other than to say that I haven't tried it because everyone seems to make a cross with their fingers and hiss at it. ;) I believe it's a mix of Neatsfoot and silicone (could be wrong) and possibly other stuff. I have a quart of Fiebings PURE nf that I picked up at Tractor Supply for a great price. It will last a long time and I really like it applied sparingly.
 
Neatsfoot compound is chock full of petroleum distillates. Not sure what they were thinking, best I can figure it was trying to produce a less expensive product.

Mink oil is another to be careful with, its known to degrade stitching after prolonged use. Just like the neatsfoot, there are different qualities out there, get the best you can afford.
 
I posted the following question to the maker of my snake-skin sheaths and got the noted reply:

Al & Karen,

I have 2 sheaths from you and another on the way & like them a lot, but I wonder how I should care for the snake-skin part of the sheath. I went onto a sheath forum and got some suggestions but the people there weren't sure. Someone asked if you left the scales on and I answered "yes," was that right?

Lawrence Helm


Hi Mr. Lawrence, we appreciate your purchases, and glad you are happy with the sheaths.
The scales are on the snake skin. It was glued down with contact cement and them he
applied it to the top also. He applied a final coat of Fiebing Resolene acrylic finish that makes
it water repellent. I would only use a water dampened lent free rag and wipe downward gently
as not to snag the scales. You can apply some more of the Resolene to it if you think it needs
more. You should do the leather part and let it dry one day and do the snake skin the next
with the Resolene if needed. or you have a accident. We use Fiebing's oil dye also. You can use
Neatsfoot oil to soften and keep the leather from drying out,don't get it on the snake skin.
Anything with alcohol will ruin the finish, so only use leather cleaning products. Hope this
helps and thanks again Al and Karen.
- alscrafts

Despite liking the two sheaths I got from Alscrafts (for my Buck 119 and 124) I liked the style of another snake-skin sheath maker for my 120. That one, while made well enough has caused me a problem. The sheath was tightly made and perhaps patterned for the older style 120 which has a slightly different blade shape than the 120BR. In any case the first time I inserted my 120BR into the sheath it poked a tiny hole in the back side of the sheath. I immediately order a 120 sheath from Alscraft but kept playing with the one I'd received. If I am careful and worm the 120BR toward the outside a bit I can keep it away from the flap that must now be inside that would guide it toward the little hole.

After the above communication from alscraft I can see that the other sheath maker didn't apply Resolene. It is possible to flip up the snake scales with my fingernail; so I'm not going to subject it to a hike until I get some Resolene on it. As to the little flap that is now inside the sheath near the tip, I don't know what to do about that other than hope for the best. :rolleyes:

Lawrence
 
Howdy Lawrence

The Resolene won't hold the scales down on your other sheath. It is merely a clear protective coating. I was trying to decipher what they meant by: It was glued down with contact cement and them he applied it to the top also." I'm not understanding the second half of that process. Anyhoo, that looks like very fine work from what your picture shows. Keep that Buck handy, legends abound about weird things in them hills down by you.
 
Thanks for posting their response. It was a smart move to ask them directly. I've never used skin with prominent scales so it's nice to know what some do to keep them from flaking off. I personally really like the look of rattler skin.

I've also never had a blade punch through the leather before. I think it's likely that the blade will want to follow that path from now on so care should be taken. Have you contacted the maker of the sheath? That is something I would fix if it were one of mine. I wouldn't expect the customer to fix it and it will likely need to be taken apart to have the back panel replaced.
 
Horsewright said:
Howdy Lawrence

The Resolene won't hold the scales down on your other sheath. It is merely a clear protective coating. I was trying to decipher what they meant by: It was glued down with contact cement and them he applied it to the top also." I'm not understanding the second half of that process. Anyhoo, that looks like very fine work from what your picture shows. Keep that Buck handy, legends abound about weird things in them hills down by you.
Click to expand...
That one had me thinking hard as well. Doesn't make sense to put contact cement on the outside of the snake skin.

Anyone reading this, dont put contact cement on the outside of anything that doesn't have another layer of something over the top of it. Contact cement is NOT a sealer of any form. Any sealer on top of the cement will peel off eventually. Cement is meant to glue two pieces of material together. Period.

Explanation of the scales issue. When you get a new snake skin and preserve it you will start to find that the outer layer of each scale will come off, THIS IS NORMAL, and is NOT the scale itself. It is the outer layer that comes off when the snake sheds. The scales themselves DO NOT come off, they are still there. Always remove these outer scale sheds, the underlying scales are much more vivid and colorful, and new. And you dont have a customer freaking out because the scales are coming off his sheath!!!! :p

Edit to add. some tanneries go ahead and remove the outer scales. This is less common among rattle snake. Its been a good while since I have not needed to remove the scale sheds on a rattler. A good stiff brush will get em off very well.
 
2,000 acres on my rancho (give or take, the city stole 50-60 acres to build a road from no place to nowhere else) and I haven't seen a single rattler all year. You guys must have used em all up on sheaths. Thanks! Keep up the good work!
 
The Rattlers are getting hard to find these days. I used to bank on a couple a year from the local police having to shoot them on someones property, but its been at least three years since.

I put part blame on the rattlesnake roundups. This conditioned the snakes to not rattle when someone comes near. There was a study a few years back that proved the theory that the hunters had about them. It also darn near proved that the roundups nearly eradicated the species and shows a marked rise in rodent populations. Which as you know is much much worse than a few rattlers. The prairie dogs in these parts are a big problem, worse when there are no snakes to keep the populations in check. A herd of cattle through a dog town means a good chance of broken legs.
 
Yeah we have the Mojave Green rattler here, a particularly nasty member of the tribe but indeed a vibrant green color. No drives around here but I think the drought got em. Our Golden Eagles eat them too and I think that keeps em in check some but mostly drought i would guess. Course had an eagle kill and eat on of my calves a couple years back, that was disheartening. Man he was a big sucker. I rode up on him just as he was pulling the guts out of the calf. He took off when I was only a few yards away. That close and he seemed to have a wing span like a plane. No payday from that calf. No dogs but we have ground squirrels, very similar just a smaller package. They too dig bad holes. A guy has to watch as he rides in some places, particularly if its fast after cattle. Coyotes tend to keep em in check and we help em. Course its not unusual to lose a calf or two to coyotes either a year. Then there's lions tigers and bears too, oh my. Well lions and bears for sure no tigers. Tell me again why I do this?
 
You do it because it's in your blood and because it's awesome. Better than hookers and blow at any rate. ;)

There used to be a pack of guys at work that would go out in the foothills a few times during the summer. They'd get totally loaded and "hunt" rattlers. I was tempted a couple of times (Success Lake area for Dave), but good sense got the better of me. Plus I quit drinking a few years ago so not much in common. I would consider it now only because I really really want to try my hand at brain tanning. Kinda cool having harvested your own exotic, but I'm too busy anyway. I wonder if you can brain tan a tarantula. We have those by the thousands at the right time of year in the local hills. I know this because I've been caught up in it a couple of times while camping. Kinda freaky when you get out of the tent and theres a really big spider about 1/square ft. Even had one making a home in the center of a toilet paper roll one time. Not what you want to see with your pants down, I'll tell you that. :o
 
Well then there'sthat! Thanks guys. Somebody gots to make steaks for the grill.
 
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