Waxed leather coasters

[ScoobyNewbie]

Hey guys and gals! 

I’ve been thinking, and we know that’s a dangerous past time, right?

Okay, so my friend is a coaster fiend. Coasters under everything... 

So what’s for Christmas? Coasters! 

But not just normal coasters, I’m choosing a series of thought bubbles from a book called “You Are Here” by Jenny Lawson. Great stuff. You should look into it. 

Anyway, I was wondering if any of you know the process by which you soak leather in wax to make it water proof-ish. Times, temperatures, stuff like that.

Thank you!

[chrisash]

Most people just apply one or two layers of resolene over the finished item, which gives a protective layer, you dont soak it just use a dabber and cover it like you would a dye then after its dried say 24 hours apply another coating

[ScoobyNewbie]

Okay, but I was thinking about soaking it in wax/paraffin/carnuba to both stiffen it and make it water proof. I actually found a few sites that talk about heating the leather to around 170 degrees and then painting it with melted wax. I was just wondering if anybody had tried just soaking a small project in hot wax. Kind of like really hot casing, but with a chance of scalding and preminant damage....

That seems a bit extreme. 

Anyway, some of the SCA sites seem to mention that their pieces were already tooled, and it seemed not to damage the tooling. I guess I’ll have to play with it.

Can you tool bridal leather?

Edited November 22, 2018 by ScoobyNewbie

[fredk]

Hot waxing will shrink the leather, from 10 to 25%. Warming the leather and applying heat softened beeswax is a different matter

[chrisash]

Maybe a couple of coats of marine varnish would make a good sealer and a high gloss finish

[ScoobyNewbie]

What temperature do you warm the leather to?

What brands of marine varnish do you know about? That you have used to good effect?

[Northmount]

18 hours ago, ScoobyNewbie said:

Can you tool bridal leather?

Your bride might not like this!  Better to try bridle leather.

Tom

[garypl]

1 hour ago, Northmount said:

Your bride might not like this!  Better to try bridle leather.

Tom

LOL!  Yes, bridle leather tools nicely.

Gary

[fredk]

3 hours ago, ScoobyNewbie said:

What temperature do you warm the leather to?

You asking me? You asking me!?! [in my best Robert de Niro impression]

A beeswax mixture melts at around 65*  The leather only needs to be slightly above that. I use a hair-dryer to warm the leather to just over hand-very-warm, my beeswax mix is soft and I apply it with a rag, then I play the hairdryer over it and the wax melts and flows into the leather. A couple of coats is enough, if you do more until the wax can no longer be seen disappearing into the leather, then when it cools you can buff that wax to a shine. If you add carnauba wax to a wax mix it will add hardness to the wax and thus stiffness to the leather item

[fredk]

2 hours ago, Northmount said:

Your bride might not like this! . . .

Dunno bout that. . . . . I believe there is a "special" area on this ere forum . . . . . . just sayin like

[ScoobyNewbie]

Just sayin’...

Thanks fredk.

Edited November 23, 2018 by ScoobyNewbie

[kiwican]

Just remember bees wax has a flash point. Not boiling point!

[ScoobyNewbie]

Eyebrows... thanks.

[LatigoAmigo]

I would consider using something like Montana Pitch-Blend All Natural Leather Dressing, then I would (using a dryer rack) place the treated leather in our clothes dryer for 10-20 minutes. This is the best way I've found to treat and warm leather.

[ScoobyNewbie]

Hmm, cool. Thanks.