Thread: Making Leather Scales

You need to clamp them between material that will wick the water out. Stone and metal plates will only trap in the moisture. The method you are using is like putting it in a sealed container.

Great idea. I've also never thought of using leather. If you're going to lacquer them anyway, you could try using a vacuum chamber to stabilise them.

I've been thinking about doing leather scales as well. There is another method of hardening with bees wax that I was looking into. The leather is heated to open the pores, then brushed with melted wax. This process is repeated a few times. This is supposed to get the leather pretty stiff and waterproof it to some degree.

Originally Posted by Suticat

You need to clamp them between material that will wick the water out. Stone and metal plates will only trap in the moisture. The method you are using is like putting it in a sealed container.

No, it is allowing the water out, just very slowly. I am OK with this. Most leatherwork involves long periods of waiting for the leather to absorb something or dry from something, so this is pretty normal. I don't want to use wood on these, as I don't want to emboss the woodgrain onto the leather. (Hmm, that might be something to try later if this set works out.) It will be a few weeks before I have time to work on the blade, so I am not in any kind of hurry for this.

Originally Posted by puketui41

Great idea. I've also never thought of using leather. If you're going to lacquer them anyway, you could try using a vacuum chamber to stabilise them.

That could work, but I am not sure how to do it. One of my goals with making these is to work with what materials and tools I have on hand. I would love to see someone with a vacuum chamber experiment with leather.

Originally Posted by BeJay

I've been thinking about doing leather scales as well. There is another method of hardening with bees wax that I was looking into. The leather is heated to open the pores, then brushed with melted wax. This process is repeated a few times. This is supposed to get the leather pretty stiff and waterproof it to some degree.

The bee's wax method is similar, in that it cooks the leather to get the chemical change that hardens it. However, since it is done slower and at a lower heat, it does not typically end up as hard. I have made a few bottles using the method above, and it wasn't quite what I was looking for this. I haven't worked with the fully boiled leather before, so I am looking forward to seeing how it reacts to sanding, staining, and sealing. We know some scales were made using a similar method to this, so it will be fun to see if I can work out how it was done.

Originally Posted by Drygulch

That could work, but I am not sure how to do it. One of my goals with making these is to work with what materials and tools I have on hand. I would love to see someone with a vacuum chamber experiment with leather.

It just so happens that I have some spare time and a vacuum chamber. I'll give it a go and let you know.

Update: leather had been drying under the stones since Sunday (about 72 hours.) They are completely dry to the touch, but not quite as stiff as the first set I did. To let them finish drying, I clipped them to each other and hung them up to dry some more. I will turn them around in the clips tomorrow, and should be able to play with them on Friday. I think these are going to work, so it will be a matter of seeing how they hold up in use.

Lookin good Drygulch. Do you know if you'll be able to tool them as you would with soft leather. That would open up all kinds of possibilities.

No, these won't be able to be tooled. The tooling process depends on just parts of the leather being compressed, while the rest says pliable. The cooking process hardens the whole picece to Wood_like hardness. I may play with the scraps, but I am pretty confident that it won't soften up enough to tool.