Antler handles on leather mugs

[kiwican]

Love the wood bottom idea!

[BBL]

On 11/16/2019 at 11:27 AM, maxdaddy said:

Those are very unique looking.

Is this the Envirotex product that you use?    https://www.amazon.com/Environmental-Technology-128-Ounce-Finish-Gallon/dp/B000LNW022?psc=1&SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-osx-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B000LNW022

 

 

That’s the one. If I could find one that is a satin finish, that would be ideal. The gloss kind of takes away from the look.

My only issue with the beeswax is that I have a very difficult time getting the lining to stay clean. I usually end up with drip lines down the sides on the inside. I am incredibly OCD and even 1 small drip mark bugs me to no end. Which is the biggest reason I have been using pitch.

Is that due to over heating? I also do not like to see any wax on the outside of the mug (other than a very thin layer on the stitching and in the crease. 

Also, sometimes when using beeswax, I will get a separation of the wax from the mug sides at the bottom after it dries and hardens. Another reason I will use pitch.

Any suggestions?

By the way, I am low heating in a pot on a burner. Not a double boiler. Does that make a difference in how the wax sets?

[maxdaddy]

I bought the 32oz Envirotex kit from Michaels on the way home from work yesterday and then made a couple of small-ish mugs and a large shot glass for the purpose of sealing with the Envirotex. My results and opinions are mixed and I'll likely end up making a beer bottle cap table top with the rest of the Envirotex. 

For starters, the Envirotex is not as easy to work with as beeswax. Even with the added necessity of melting the beeswax in a double boiler, I still consider it easier to use for the purposes of sealing a mug. The Envirotex simply takes too long to 'dry' to a point that it stops running and trying to find a level. This is great for the purposes of horizontal surfaces, but no so much for a three-dimensional object like a mug. 

Secondly, I called the folks at Envirotex (and a nice human answered who knew the product) and asked about the safety of Envirotex. Apparently it's only FDA rated as safe for incidental contact with food, like on a cutting board or the outside of a cup for example. She said that it was not approved for direct food contact or lining the inside of a cup. Hot liquid, like coffee, could soften the product enough to cause some of the nasty stuff to leach back out and into the contents of the cup. 

I don't get cosmetically perfect, drip-free, seals but have gotten much better results over the last few years by adjusting my techniques. Sloooooow swirls with the mug almost horizontal is the trick. You can watch the wax depositing onto the leather as you work the 'edge' of the wax up closer and closer to the lip of the mug. Then pick a spot and pour back into the melting pot. That's usually when a 'blemish' will appear in the lining. 

There's a beekeeper here in town that I can buy 10-pound blocks of beeswax from, so that's pretty convenient supply chain. I've not had any trouble with the beeswax other than from physical damage near the opening from dropping. That's the only downside to beeswax in my opinion, it is relatively fragile when compared to the rest of the mug. 

Maybe pitch is a more durable lining? Where do you get your pitch from? I'd love to try it but I'm not sure what kind of pitch to buy that is safe for direct contact with the drink.

The melting technique (double boiler versus direct heat) shouldn't make a difference to the final job. It seems to me that it's either melted or not and how it got to that state shouldn't matter. If the wax gets 'too hot' from the direct heat method I suppose it could be possible that the wax would behave differently, but I don't know. Everything I read on the subject warned about beeswax catching fire if it got too hot, hence the double boiler. 

Here's some pictures of my first tests with Envirotex as a sealer.

This is how I typically do bottoms nowadays. For this one I used some reclaimed rough-sawn barn wood. 

 

[BBL]

Bottoms are beautiful! As well as the mugs

Thank you for the info. Yeah I’ve been on the fence with the Envirotex as well. I’m not fond of the final product. It’s a pain to work with. But I was unaware of direct contact. Can’t sell that in a mug! 

I make my own pitch... 50/50 pine tar and beeswax. Pine tar isn’t fun sometimes. Low flashpoint and sticky. Makes for some real fun if it does happen to catch fire... which is how I lost my last burner lol.

I have ordered “Brewers Pitch” in the past but stopped doing so when I began making my own. The pitch does in fact provide a very durable seal and dries very nicely when applied in thin layers. Then I’ve been using a heat gun sparingly to clean up the outside and heat it to fill in the voids. I like it a lot.

These are the latest mugs I’ve been working with. I call them “corset mugs” as they remind me of miniature leather corsets lol.

I appreciate the info maxdaddy thank you.

btw, the rest of my Envirotex is sitting dusty on the shelf haha. I’ll find something to use it on I’m sure

 

[BBL]

[BBL]

This is the most recent wood I’ve been using... wild cherry. It soaks up the pitch very well and it’s very hard/durable even when dead. I also really like how it inks. Gets some really neat patterns. It took me quite a while to even determine that it was wild cherry. The log looks very close to honey locust or red oak even. But at the age it is, it’s hard to tell. I had to split 1 of the logs to find out. 

[maxdaddy]

That cherry wood bottom looks pretty cool. Very random coloring and grain.

Your corset mug design looks like it would be a pain to stitch but definitely gets a very feminine 'curve' due to the shapes of the panels.