Leather Oil for sheaths

[Dwight]

The 50/50 beeswax and neatsfoot oil is an old, . . . old, . . . recipe from what I've been told.  I got it from the Pacific northwest, . . . believe the lady said her grandfather or father gave it to her.  

Been using it for over 10 years, . . . no complaints so far.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Rockoboy]

On ‎9‎/‎19‎/‎2019 at 10:36 AM, BKW said:

Thanks, so no Turpentine to allow it to soak in?

 

I know a bloke who mixes neatsfoot oil and lanolin (proportions are a bit vague depending on the consistency required) and a dash of PURE GUM TURPENTINE, not the regular turpentine. Its has a pleasant smell, I think, from the pure gum turpentine.

[battlemunky]

@BKW you mention soaking the sheath... I wouldn't fully soak it but as the others have suggested apply on the exterior and let it soak in. Soaking it could have some unwanted consequences and needlessly use a lot of product. Also, if your ratio is off, over oiling will make a messy, oozing, floppy mess of an article. Too much oil is not a good thing. I oiled the living hell out of a few items with NFO early on and they got sorta mushy and were ruined. Completely unusable. Higher wax content if you are going to soak, but then you have to deal with wax all over the knife.

[BKW]

So I have come up with a recipe based on all the info I received (thanks too all)

beeswax

neatsfoot oil 

and using a vegetable turpentine made here in Japan. I screwed up the percentages so I am not exactly sure on the mixing but the turpentine is the infusion agent and yes needs to be heated in a double boiler to 70c then submerge the entire sheath in the solution let it drain then hang for 3-4 days and the turpentine completely evaporated and leaves no smell but the leather is totally infused with the beeswax and oil and polished up beautifully. 
the lighter leather is Tochigi Veg Tan and the darker is an old piece of leather I had stored for about 10 yrs. not sure the tanning process. 

[battlemunky]

Looks like it worked out for you, congrats!