In Need Of Advice On Hardening Scales

[Matty]

I came up with a good way to do scales using the immersion technique that won't burn the crap out of your hands! Pre-drill all your holes and use an old metal coat hanger to dunk each scale.

Do the metal coat hanger thing with several scales, evenly spaced, enough to easily fit in your pot. Or make a long metal trough just large enough for your scales, line them up on hangers, pour boiling water into your trough, wait for it to cool to 190 or whatever you need. Dip, remove, hang to dry, all on one rack. As long as you're not getting excessive shrinkage it will work. If you don't want to hang dry, dip fewer pieces at once and remove from the hangers to dry.

[douglais]

All good stuff, but I think that many of the temps are on the high side. I'd hover between 175 and 180. That will give you some time to get the leather out of the water when it starts to change color on the edges. It's a process that's extremely sensitive to time and temperature.

Once you get above 180, the edges start to curl within less than 30 seconds, and they curl rapidly. When it dries it will be brittle, and not take dye very well.

At 175, you can leave the leather in for over 2 minutes or more, without damage. When it dries it may still have a little flex to it, but still be stiff. Shrinkage and distortion are minimum, and it accepts dye just fine.

Below 170, the cuir bouilli doesn't happen.

I'd drill before hand, and immerse a few at a time, so you can keep an eye on them, and keep your temp steady. You can shape them by hand after they've been out of the water for 5 minutes.

Stick a vegetable steamer, or some kind of screen in the pot, as the leather will scorch if it touches the pot bottom.

The rabbit skin glue sounds fascinating, as it would eliminate the problem of softening in the heat or the rain. If you use some kinda glue, what would you do about waxing or oiling the leather? Would it absorb oil or wax?

Also, would it still accept dye? Or would you need to dye it before you harden it?