Hardened leather

[jbird]

ok so how do you harden leather I have made some hair clips or holders its a oval piece of 8 / oz leather shaped in to a slight curve. I once heard some thing about puting it in the oven.

[CitizenKate]

Here's an article I found a few years ago on this subject:

http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Art...or_Improved.htm

...along with a few more articles I found on the web just now:

http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~Marc-Carlson/leather/hl.html

http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/perfect_armor.html

http://www.swordbrother.com/sca/hardleather/

http://www.dagorhir.com/HowTo/cbgryml.htm

Hope this helps...

Kate

[jbird]

thanks a lot Kate thats some good info.

Josh.

Edited June 16, 2008 by jbird

[TroyS]

Not sure how hard you want to make it, but I do know that if you soak the leather in HOT HOT water, then form it to the shape you want, let it dry and it becomes pretty hard. I use this method when I make Custom Motorcycle Tank Bibs and Fender bibs. I wrench them into place while they're wet, then let them dry overnite. once they dry, they hold the shape and become rigid...

Hope this helped...

Troy

[cat]

I've never tried dipping leather in boiling or hot water, as I've heard that it can damage the fibers and cause the leather to become brittle. I just soak the leather for about 20 minutes in room temperature water, hammer it with a rubber mallet to compress the fibers and to help shape it if needed, finish shaping by hand and then let it air dry.

Once it's dry, I use Future floor polish (an acrylic that leaves a glossy finish) to seal it and harden it up. Using Leather Balm with Atom Wax will also add a bit of hardness.

No matter which method you try, I recommend testing the process on scrap first to see if you like the results.

Cat

[Shorts]

I like using warm warm water with a bit of alcohol. Then mold and set. By 'set' I mean dry that the leather goes to natural color and is cool to the touch. I get the holsters pretty rigid by tossing it in the oven anywhere from 20min -1hr on a low heat setting. My oven temp is all off but it stay anywhere from 135-160 on the lowest fire. (I can still granb the metal racks by hand).

The oven heat can really set the holster by be aware, it can also adjust the fit further than what you need. So, use the heat wisely!

Edited June 16, 2008 by Shorts

[MikeDB]

Hot water will work, not boiling though. If you use boiling you'll end up with glue.

The process is like casing leather for tooling. Dip your leather into hot water, if it's veg tanned (chrome tan won't take moulding) you will see little air bubbles escaping. It's this process, also seen in hot wax dipping that gives the expression of 'boiling leather'.

When it's soaked you will have something thats quite soft and pliable. Be careful with it in this state as any scrapes or marks you get on it will be there for good. I tend to let it just air dry rather than accelerate the process with heat but it will be much harder and keep it's shape when it dries out. After you have the shape you want then you can go onto dye and finish etc.

To make it really hard then dip in hot beeswax. An ancient form of ballistic armour.

Mike

[jbird]

great help every one thanks, what about if you are carving then shaping.

[MikeDB]

great help every one thanks, what about if you are carving then shaping.

Then you will need to plan your carving very carefully to allow for distortion caused by the curvature on shaping. To get an idea of that try drawing a design with marker pen on a balloon, then blow it up and see how the original design has altered. Also, casing your work with hot water may lift any fine detail you have already added to the hide. If I'm adding a design to a costrel or flask then I form the shape first, wait for it to dry slightly then add the decoration. The main drawback with this, especially if it's a bottle/flask is that it can be difficult to prevent any accidental marks hitting the damp hide.

Mike

[Gibbsleatherworks]

I was talking to a veteran lether worker about a case Im making and he suggested that I harden the leather to hold its shape. He said that he has soaked leather in water with "Lime" added to it. Just regular old Lime from Home Depot. He use to make leather hats that way. For what its worth.....

[carver]

Weavers sell a pour on product to harden soft leather like belly . I haven't used it but have seen it in their catalog . Maybe give them a call and talk about it there is usually somebody around who can give accurate answers . Hot water will make it stiffer on a temporary basis but if it isn't immobilized it will eventually become limber . I have done that on some holsters . I was told by an old timer to dip it in boiling water but have been afraid to try that . But he insisted it wouldn't hurt the leather . I tried drying a piece of scrap in the oven at 300 degrees and it burnt the leather and caused it crack . I only left it in about 5 minutes .I have sandwiched kydex between layers of leather to stiffen up notebooks I made and it worked much better than the traditionally used cardboard .

[Mattsbagger]

6 hours ago, carver said:

Weavers sell a pour on product to harden soft leather like belly . I haven't used it but have seen it in their catalog . Maybe give them a call and talk about it there is usually somebody around who can give accurate answers . Hot water will make it stiffer on a temporary basis but if it isn't immobilized it will eventually become limber . I have done that on some holsters . I was told by an old timer to dip it in boiling water but have been afraid to try that . But he insisted it wouldn't hurt the leather . I tried drying a piece of scrap in the oven at 300 degrees and it burnt the leather and caused it crack . I only left it in about 5 minutes .I have sandwiched kydex between layers of leather to stiffen up notebooks I made and it worked much better than the traditionally used cardboard .

When I first started I put a mag carrier in boiling water. It is petrified. I have it hanging on my bench as reminder not to do that again.lol That being said. If it needs to stay hard as a rock and not ever flex again it will work. I also basically soaked it in Neetsfoot oil and it never softened.

[bikermutt07]

I think the boiling water water trick is for filled items. I saw a thread about midival water containers. They were filling them with beads or something to retain the shape before boiling. After they were emptying them and dipping in hot beeswax. I think?

 

Edited January 14, 2018 by bikermutt07

[DJole]

I have been playing with boiled leather for a few months now, after spending lots of time researching and reviewing instructions and videos from the internet. Marc Carlson's link (listed above) is a very good starting place. 
Here is what I have found:

(1) Boiling water (100 C/ 212 F) is NOT what you want. It cooks the leather too hot and too fast, and you'll have all kinds of warping and shrinking and brittleness problems. There is a big difference between shaping wet leather and shaping "boiled" leather -- you really only need to "boil" it if you absolutely want or need a large degree of hardness or rigidness (like armor, for example). Most pouches or sheathes don't need that much hardness or rigidity, so merely soaking in warm or cold water and then shaping them is fine. So whenever I mention "boiling" here, I don't actually mean "boiling," but rather nearly boiling, at the temperature that is best.  (Carlson discusses wax vs. water as what cuir boulli is, so I refer the reader to him on that discussion.)
(2) So what is the best temperature? It depends on two factors: the hide itself and the thickness. You will need to use test bits from the hide to find the best results.  If you don't, you'll waste a nice big piece of leather.  I have one piece of shoulder leather here which I have discovered reaches my desired results at 170 F, for about 20 seconds. The thicker belly pieces I have been using need 180 degrees, for about the same length of time, to reach the hardness I want. I use a BBQ fork that has a temperature gauge to check the water temperature.
This is difficult, because you won't KNOW if the temperature and time is right,  until after the leather is dry, which can take hours.  190 and above turns the leather into brittle cardboard. 
(3) It takes some practice to observe the leather in the water,  watching it bubble and curl, and know when to take it out. I have read some say to soak the leather for 10 minutes or so before putting it into the pan of hot water, and others say you don't need to do this. I'm not entirely sure yet which directions yield the most consistent results.
(4) Any tooling done prior to boiling is not going to look good -- cut lines swell and get hard edges; shapes warp and twist. The simpler the tooling or design, the less likely it is going to be mangled by boiling. I suspect that most historical boiled leather goods with patterns were embossed, rather than tooled. Tooling after boiling may work, but it would be difficult for 3 dimensional shapes, unless you have a rigid form or mould for them. And this leads us to...
(5) using some kind of rigid form to tightly hold the leather in a shape as it dries is great for boxes, pouches, and even knifes or shears. I did this for my leather shears -- wrapped them in plastic, then shaped the wet leather around them. Many people do this for knives, gun magazines, and so on. . 
(6) dyeing prior to water hardening is going to work better, unless you are using a water-soluble dye (like the Eco-flo dyes). Afterwards, you'll need to decide how to treat the leather-- it's only rigid, not waterproof. Water will spot and stain it. 
(7) it is also possible to soak the project and then dry it carefully in the oven, at a low heat. You need to test it (what heat? how long?), and WATCH it. I've only done this once,  so I know it works, but I don't know yet how to get beautiful, smooth, non-warped pieces using this process yet. (Again, I bet that keeping the leather around a form as this is done is the way to go. )