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.....