Neatsfoot Oil

[olgeorge]

I'm a rank amatuer to leatherwork. Have made a few knife sheaths and slim jim holsters for percussion revolvers, that's all. In a book I have by Al Stolman and in some web tutorials I've seen, the maker is cautioned not to apply too much neatsfoot oil to the project. In some of Elmer keith's writings, on the other hand, he talks about having to wear old clothes while breaking in a new rig until the excess oil has come out of the leather. How does one know when he has applied enough/too much? What happens if one does apply "too much"? Couldn't the excess be removed by placing the article in some sort of absorbent material? These are probably dumb questions to someone with more experience than I, but I don't know how else to find out. L. O. G.

[Dwight]

Actually in one of John Bianchi's videos, . . . he put the whole holster and belt down in a heated oil bath, . . . pulled it out, . . . let it dry.

I've always been under the assumption that the oil is often bleached out of the leather by the molding and dying processes, . . . so I add some to most of my stuff to keep it from drying out, cracking, and prematurely ending it's useful life.

So far it has worked for me, . . . one light coat with a paint brush, . . . go over it once, . . . get away from it, . . . let it dry, . . . add the finish.

Others do it differently.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Chief31794]

I use it very lightly, one and at most two very, very light coats. I had a nice project ruined once, oiled it too heavily, it became "soggy" and never did get all the oil out, I had to throw it in the opps basket.

Chief

[chiefjason]

I usually add 2 light coats to my vinegrooned holsters. It can really draw out the oils. It seems to look, feel, and finish better than one light coat. I let that dry 24 hours before finishing. Dyed, just one light coat. So far, so good. I just finished up an AIWB that I just oiled and finished.

[TwinOaks]

The easy answer is stop 3 coats before you think you have 'enough'......

Adding too much oil will saturate the leather fibers making them soft and unable to hold shape. There are some types of leather in which this is 'planned'....specifically oil tanned leather, which is often used in hard use bags and such. The idea is to make the leather extremely resistant to the elements.

[St8LineGunsmith]

this might sound crazy but oil dry compound will pull the oil right out of a soggy holster that has been oil saturated.

I went overboard with the oil one time and didn't want to throw away the holster so I shoved the holster down in a bag of oil dry, (or cat litter is pretty much the same thing)

pulled it of the bag a day later and it was dry as a bone like I never put the first drop of oil on it.

anyway the best thing is not to over do it with the oil.

[olgeorge]

Thnks to all for the info. St8LineGunsmith: I don't know why I didn't think of cat litter. I've been using it in place of oil-dry for years. Usually cheaper and easier to find than oil-dry. Dwight; I, too, am a former Buckeye, born in Lima, OH and lived in the area for aver 60 years. Retired from Ford's Lima Engine Plant in 2002. L. O. G.