Randyc Report post Posted July 23, 2008 A friend of mine would like to build a leather canoe. He asked me what he could use to waterproof the leather. I've been doing leather work for several years and couldn't answer his question. Any ideas? Randy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UKRay Report post Posted July 23, 2008 A friend of mine would like to build a leather canoe. He asked me what he could use to waterproof the leather. I've been doing leather work for several years and couldn't answer his question. Any ideas? Hi Randy, You might want to buy your friend a copy of this book, The Brendan Voyage by Tim Severin, about a team who built a leather boat and sailed from Ireland to North America in it. I guess they got the waterproofing about right! http://www.amazon.com/Brendan-Voyage-Moder...n/dp/0375755241 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Storm Report post Posted July 23, 2008 Do some research on how the Eskimo people build Kayaks and what they use. May depend on your construction approach but here is always polyuretane. Storm Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UKRay Report post Posted July 27, 2008 Hey Randy, I just checked out Tim Severin's book - they used lanolin to waterproof the leather boat. I can see that working really well as it shrugs off water. You can get lanolin at most good pharmacies - I can't believe I've written that twice in two days - it usually comes in small pots and I believe it is used in the treatment of exzcma (sp?). It isn't at all expensive but apparently needs to be re-applied regularly to the hulls of leather boats. Apparently Icelandic fishermen use lanolin to waterproof their huge woollen mittens, but this could easily be an urban myth... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thewaycreates Report post Posted June 27, 2010 A friend of mine would like to build a leather canoe. He asked me what he could use to waterproof the leather. I've been doing leather work for several years and couldn't answer his question. Any ideas? Randy hello, this is my first post on this forum. i did a search for "leather canoe" on Google because i thought it would be intresting to try to make one, and figured id be able to find an Inuit technique or something online but the only site that came up that was actually talking about building a leather canoe was this one. so i signed up just to ask if your friend ever ended up making the canoe? im curious to the best method of waterproofing the leather. i see that they used Lanolin in that book, but would that work with thinner leather(i guess the leather they used was 1" thick)? im not much of a leathercrafter but i thought Lanolin softened leather? before searching online i figured i would be using wax or something, i just thought the leather would need to be hard. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeCahill Report post Posted June 27, 2010 hello, this is my first post on this forum. i did a search for "leather canoe" on Google because i thought it would be intresting to try to make one, and figured id be able to find an Inuit technique or something online but the only site that came up that was actually talking about building a leather canoe was this one. so i signed up just to ask if your friend ever ended up making the canoe? im curious to the best method of waterproofing the leather. i see that they used Lanolin in that book, but would that work with thinner leather(i guess the leather they used was 1" thick)? im not much of a leathercrafter but i thought Lanolin softened leather? before searching online i figured i would be using wax or something, i just thought the leather would need to be hard. I would have thought lanolin wouldn't work as well in a warm place like illinois as it would in artic waters, it would disperse into the skin, and become less effective over time. as would tallow or neetsfoot oil my next favorite options. they would both have to have repeated application as they are absorbed. Parafin wax, applied warm and then made to soak into the leather with a hair dryer, or hot air gun wouldn't migrate, but all of these treatments are quite heavy, and would add significantly to the weight of the canoe, but at least parafin wax wouldn't be attractive to bears a plus in wilderness areas. You would also need to be able to re tension the skins, as a lot of dressing would make the leather stretchy, mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stelmackr Report post Posted June 27, 2010 ...asked me what he could use to waterproof the leather. Any ideas? Randy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coracle Bob Stelmack Editor, RawHide Gazette www.pslac.org Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeCahill Report post Posted June 29, 2010 A friend of mine would like to build a leather canoe. He asked me what he could use to waterproof the leather. I've been doing leather work for several years and couldn't answer his question. Any ideas? Randy not quite on topic, but interesting, this is a link to a clip on youtube, I think you copy and paste the link into your browser. It is a bit of film about building a coracle in the 1930's, they use an ox hide as the "skin" they don't discus waterproofing the hide, but they were a hardy breed in those days, and just put up with wet feet <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value=" name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeCahill Report post Posted June 29, 2010 not quite on topic, but interesting, this is a link to a clip on youtube, I think you copy and paste the link into your browser. It is a bit of film about building a coracle (irish name "Currach") in the 1930's, they use an ox hide as the "skin" they don't discus waterproofing the hide, but they were a hardy breed in those days, and just put up with wet feet <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value=" name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> well the link didn't work for me type "Boyne Currach" into the youtube search box cheers Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeCahill Report post Posted July 2, 2010 A friend of mine would like to build a leather canoe. He asked me what he could use to waterproof the leather. I've been doing leather work for several years and couldn't answer his question. Any ideas? Randy reading a bit more about the Brenden voyage, they took butter with them as a waterproofer Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dink Report post Posted July 6, 2010 Interesting to see this, I wa just reading the lewis and clark journals, and though when they wanted to use it the trre were not available, but the sealer they planned on was made out of pine pitch. Probably no help but an interesting observation. Dink Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
