Leather Finishes, Preservatives, and Treatments: Post Yours Here.

I use Fiebings 'Aussie Leather Conditioner', it's beeswax based and does a great job for me.

Used pure beeswax a few times, just melted it, heated the sheaths in the oven and then dunked them in. Makes for quite hard finish, i assume it makes leather waterproof, given that's the process for leather water bags/bottles and leather gets saturated with wax.
 
Do any of you guys use paraffin wax for anything?

I was drilling some holes tonight and I usually have a chunk of beeswax next to the press for when my needle gets hot. I must have misplaced the beeswax, but I had a whole box of Gulf Wax sitting there and I can't remember why I bought it in the first place. It worked fine to lube the needle, but it is a bit more crumbly than beeswax. At the same time it's kinda stretchy under heat.

What, if anything, do you use paraffin for?
 
Hmmm, can't say I have ever used paraffin, but judging from what I know about it from candles I wouldn't use it. Chemically it is a totally different beast than wax and I wouldn't be surprised if it would dry the leather. But that is just me guessing.
Edit: okay just did a quick read, the drying of skin is a thing that constantly pops up with high concentration paraffin, I guess it is similar to how greases and mineral oils tend to dry your skin. Still, there are so many different variants of it and by itself it is considered harmless, so I'd say go for it.
 
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leatherman said:
Montanna Pitch Blend is one of the best out there, highly recommended. :D Smells wonderful as well.

Mental note for myself, GET MORE! As soon as I run out of Aussie Leather Conditioner that is, got a little bit to go.

On the concerns above, if its good for wood, it isnt necessarily good for leather. If it has a chance of hardening, it probably isn't the best choice for a flexible medium. That reason is the biggest reason I dont like any acrylic sealers, bag kote and tan kote is included in that reasoning. Wet the leather and it goes away, not a good thing. Bend the leather and it cracks and crazes, not a good thing.

My opinions, with some solid fact, take it how you want to. :p
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So stay away from the tan kote? I haven't had any feedback from my customers on the cracking, but thanks for letting us know. Should I just use the pitch blend after the saddle soap when finishing my sheaths?
Where do you get your Montana pitch blend?

David
 
After watching Anthony's testing of Tan Kote it seems rather useless as it simply washes away when the leather gets wet.

Pitch blend isnt easy to find these days. Online seems to be the best way, Amazon used to carry it but currently out of stock.

I've found that Aussie Leather Conditioner works well and is easier to get a hold of from Tandy/The Leather Factory. It leaves a somewhat low level of shine though, if you like shine take a bit of Atom Wax after the Aussie has had some time to set in good and you'll have a nice deep mellow shine.

I'll echo the use of paraffin, good for candle making not so good on leather. Its super high melting point is one of its bad things as well, and at that point it can burst into flame. You can see the vapors coming off it when melted. The wife and daughter have a candle making set complete with that venerable Owl mold. Does every candle maker have an owl for goodness sakes? :p
 
Lol... Owl. Sounds like an artifact of the 70's. My mom had ceramic owls.

Yeah, I'm binning the Tan-Kote. I was surprised, but my testing was sound. I'd read that soap and water would remove it, but it was like it was never there to begin with. Shiny... That's about it.

Now the pitch blend I must try.

Sorry about the confusion on the wax. I did post it here so I can see why it looked like I meant using it as a finish. I bought it to use for something somewhere, but not as a finish. Maybe I'll stumble upon why I grabbed it someday. I bought a huge block of beeswax before the canning wax, just can't place why.
 
:D My mother had the owl mold when she did candle making in the 70's and even then it was an old school item.

My grandmother used a ton of paraffin in her canning, had a double boiler dedicated to it. She made the best plum jelly, from the trees in her back yard no less.

You can use the wax on your drawer runners to make them smoother.

Not sure what else. I am having flashback memories of GulfWax at the department store, huge blocks of the stuff. Always had fingernail marks in em, always. People cant help themselves.
 
Anthony, thanks for that test. It does seem that for heavy outdoors use a beeswax mixture may be the ticket.

I was at the SHOT show back around '93(?) and spoke to the man who makes/owns Snoseal. He told me there is tack on display from the ancient Egyptians which was still usable today. He said they dipped leather goods into boiling bees wax and it did amazing things for preservation. Sounds interesting.

LOL on the owl candle! It would have fit in with my "Harvest Gold" bathroom I had in Del Rio:D My wife still loves owls though and she snuck a few onto our Christmas tree last year:)
 
Btw Anthony, that ask sheath has a layer of bag kote on top of atomic wax. Don't know how it holds up.
 
vilePossum said:
Btw Anthony, that ask sheath has a layer of bag kote on top of atomic wax. Don't know how it holds up.
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I'm not worried about it. I wouldn't mind using any of the products for myself as long as I know their limitations. I'm lucky to be able to refinish them, I just don't like selling it because the customer may not expect to have to deal with it. It's funny because before I'd offer the option of wax or pro product. I would tell them that I believe the Fiebings finish might last longer, and wax might need reapplied after several months. I was wrong. I ran my first sheath under the tap a couple of weeks ago and it beaded water like new. Interestingly it did take a little neatsfoot and another app of wax, but it didn't seem to need it. :)
 
leatherman said:
:D My mother had the owl mold when she did candle making in the 70's and even then it was an old school item.

My grandmother used a ton of paraffin in her canning, had a double boiler dedicated to it. She made the best plum jelly, from the trees in her back yard no less.

You can use the wax on your drawer runners to make them smoother.

Not sure what else. I am having flashback memories of GulfWax at the department store, huge blocks of the stuff. Always had fingernail marks in em, always. People cant help themselves.
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omg the memories!!

I remember that plastic 2-piece owl candle mold taking almost 3 full plates of paraffin.....painting that owl was a pain though LOL.

and mom taught me canning - from our trees out back, we made sour cherry and mulberry jellies using the hot bath canning method and capping it with the wax.

Hell, we even used to make our own sour kraut.....mom had her grandfather's cabbage cutter sled for the task. Sadly, I never got pictures of it and at her passing, my sister asked if she could have the old canning supplies. I let her take it because it meant so much to her to have it. I remember using the cold paraffin to slick up the sled box rails and blades as a lubricant.

It looked exactly like this one but was a LOT darker and in way better condition [probably because we used ours so often]. Ours looked like 'stained' black walnut compared to this one:

10606317_2.jpg


oops....off track......

Here's a picture of a purse I made my [now] 18 yr old. The bag is goat skin and the flap is 9 oz oak. This purse was finished using Dr. Jackson's Hide rejuvenator and topped off using my families waterproofing agent [recipe above]:





 
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Oh yea! Sauerkraut! Made it and whew! We've got a couple of those really big crocks as well. Our biggest has a nice big crack in it though and dont know how to fix it correctly for that awful concoction not to eat its way through it. :p any ideas would be greatly appreciated, We're about out of our stock and need to make more.

I'd love to have one of those cutters! Nice!

Oh my! I forgot about painting those awful creatures! Yes! I did quite a few in my day. Worst thing about candle making is to remember that the stuff shrinks substantially as it cools. Its essential to refill the mold before it cools completely.
 
leatherman said:
Oh yea! Sauerkraut! Made it and whew! We've got a couple of those really big crocks as well. Our biggest has a nice big crack in it though and dont know how to fix it correctly for that awful concoction not to eat its way through it. :p any ideas would be greatly appreciated, We're about out of our stock and need to make more.
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If the crack is wide, then it is sadly unable to be repaired....although...I do recall some crocks from my youth that were cracked...and pulled back together with bailing wire. Wrap the bailing wire around the crock two or three times and twist the ends to tighten the cylinder together. You will need a 'lever' to twist it strongly enough...like a "T" handle on a cork screw.

BUT - To properly seal the crack, you would have to reglaze the entire pot and re-fire it in a kiln...but I don't know if the bailing wire can take that kind of heat for that length of time....and the wire would need to stay there indefinitely. I'd say that crock is pretty much finished, unless you wanted to make a planter out of it. Use the bailing wire to pull it back together and then wrap some hemp rope around it to decoratively cover the wire.

leatherman said:
I'd love to have one of those cutters! Nice!
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EvilBay has quite a few and cheaply I might add.....$30 for this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-VTG...246?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43dcc3a19e

$_57.JPG


if you intend to use it as a cabbage cutter:

Gently disassemble it by removing the blades out the sides. Clean the blades with a mild soap and steel wool, descending from course to fine 'grit'. Once cleaned, sharpen with a whetted stone in the manner in which the Katana is done....the blade is stationary on a bench [vice] and use the stone to re-profile the edge at its original angle. It does NOT have to be razor sharp, only 'utilitarian' sharp. Consider a dull axe blade as the maximum sharpness needed for these blades. Once that's done, wash them again and dry them thoroughly. Apply a light coating of Crisco or Coconut oil onto the blades. Reinstall them.

The box itself should be lightly sanded to remove topical nasties and wiped down with a diluted bleach for disinfecting. One teaspoon of PLAIN bleach to a quart of water. Disinfect the whole board and box. Afterwards, wash the board and box in hot water and towel dry. To finish it, use pure Coconut oil...NEVER a vegetable oil. Veggie oil goes rancid and I guess, any oil can...but we always used the coconut oil and I found this in a google search for you:

http://www.cuttingboard.com/vegan-coconut-cutting-board-oil/

It is said to be "specifically refined coconut oil that does not go rancid and has no coconut flavor, scene and is pure liquid at normal temperatures. This oil is good for those that would like to use a purely natural or plant based oil on their cutting board or block." I cannot verify this claim though, I've never used this brand...

leatherman said:
Oh my! I forgot about painting those awful creatures! Yes! I did quite a few in my day. Worst thing about candle making is to remember that the stuff shrinks substantially as it cools. Its essential to refill the mold before it cools completely.
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Yup. stoopit owls (-.-) LOL...
 
I'm going to have to drag that crock out and look it over again, I want to remember that its a hairline crack. Enough to expose the inner ceramic to pickling juices I had figured.

Also going to look up one of those cabbage slicers! Much appreciated!

The daughter uses coconut oil has a hair conditioner, very curly and knotty, so I might steal some of hers and give it a shot on a couple of cutting boards I have sitting.
 
Thats ok, its my thread and I tend to encourage thread drift whenever possible. Makes life more interesting. :D

I do love watching conversations evolve. Its amazing how time over a nice camp fire, a few drinks, and a good conversation can go every which way but the original subject. Hunting camps being where I found some of the most profound stuff.
 
leatherman said:
I'm going to have to drag that crock out and look it over again, I want to remember that its a hairline crack. Enough to expose the inner ceramic to pickling juices I had figured.

Also going to look up one of those cabbage slicers! Much appreciated!

The daughter uses coconut oil has a hair conditioner, very curly and knotty, so I might steal some of hers and give it a shot on a couple of cutting boards I have sitting.
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The crocks are made of clay and many are press-formed. I found this Facebook "how we make stone crocks" for you:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150394637560578.611702.185210415577&type=1

and I'm guessing these are the same people, their catalog:

http://ohiostoneware.com/catalogs/2013 Catalog.pdf

Basically, it's like making "quik-crete." The crocks are made by taking powdered clay and mixing it with water to a desired firmness. Then it's pushed into a tube [the diameter of the crock], making a "slug." That slug is then cut to the desired height of the crock. The cut slug is then put onto a hydraulic male/female form and pressed into shape. Then they hand trim the excess, are then air dried, then they are glazed and then fired in a kiln.

If you know anyone locally who can restore your crock, I would seek their advice. If not, check with a local museum and ask who they suggest for restorations of that piece.

Outside of that, You could always read around here for a while:

https://www.bigceramicstore.com/info/ceramics/tips/tip53_glaze_toxic_dinnerware_safety.html

If it's only a hairline crack, it's possible it's just the glaze that needs reapplication but you will need to find someone with a kiln to seal the coating properly.

However, they are not that expensive, you may just want to consider replacing it with a new one:

http://www.allamericancanner.com/Opco2L.htm

the 5 gallon is $55 and the 10 gallon is just under $85.

I'm of the opinion that you are "better safe, than sorry" and just replace it.

As to the cabbage cutters, yeah....the memories....LOL.

How about this one?

Vintage_16qt_Peerless_Pressure_Cooker_e2e3ea8375fa8ae144fa_1.jpg


That's the one my mother 'schooled' us on LOL. As I recall, hers was a bit bigger in diameter though...but then again, I was half the size I am now...LOL!

leatherman said:
Thats ok, its my thread and I tend to encourage thread drift whenever possible. Makes life more interesting. :D

I do love watching conversations evolve. Its amazing how time over a nice camp fire, a few drinks, and a good conversation can go every which way but the original subject. Hunting camps being where I found some of the most profound stuff.
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AND........because it's so freaking interesting!! WHURZ MUH CHANNEL CHANGER?!?!

lol :D
 
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