peter johnsson Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Greetings! For a current projekt I am using thin rawhide for the scabbard. It has wood core and a wrap with textile bands for strength and to build up a layered structure under the final layer of thin hide. I want the look to be wethered and worn with some dark patches and stains. The intention is that the knife and scabbard should look old. Hilt furniture is antler and silver and the blade is dirty old wrought with steeled edge. This is pretty straight forward to create an old look with. However, the thin raw hide (a kind of calf parchment) does not readily take normal leather stain since the pores are closed. It is a really great material: very thin and very strong with a great character. But its strength does make distressing a bit difficult... A long soak in strong cold tea gives a light tan color that is nice but also very even. I´d like a more rough and dirty look. Any tips and suggestions are much appreciated. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petr Florianek Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 (edited) smoking might work, brusking with steel brush might open the grain in places ( if done from other side it may be natural looking) hammering thiner might also work..... just suggestions Edited December 13, 2015 by Petr Florianek GULLINBURSTI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesus Hernandez Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Like Petr said. Distressing by mechanical means leaving a random print behind. I like scratches and sandblasting personally. Enjoy life! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ondřej Borský Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 How about painting it with beech tar? It would create a coating of sorts.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 a light torching? Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter johnsson Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 Scratching the back is a great suggestion. Will try that. I shall also try light scorching before the actual wrapping. Tar could work well for that dirty top layer. If I had a bead blaster I´d test that as well... Instead it´ll be steel brush, emery paper and steel wool. I will try a combo of dry and wet distressing. Thanks for your suggestions gentlemen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Kelso Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Rubbing with charred cork... My website and INSTAGRAM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter johnsson Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 Rubbing with charred cork... Ahhhh :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter johnsson Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 Testsample with mild distressing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 WOW i think you nailed it Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter johnsson Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 Sam, this was the first attempt. I would like an even dirtier and scruffier look. Marring the backside and staining this might be the way to go. Rubbing the front is too harsh and leaves a dead surface (lower left corner). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake cleland Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 coffee may work for a darker stain - instant coffee sprinkled onto the tea soaked rawhide may give an interesting effect... Jake Cleland - Skye Knives www.knifemaker.co.uk "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." Albert Einstein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter johnsson Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 Instant coffee! Thanks Jake :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Rose Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 (edited) Well FWIW I use and "age" a lot of Rawhide and have no problems getting it to dye using Fiebings Spirit Dyes. 1) Soak until properly tempered 2) while still damp apply the dye to BOTH sides - the flesh side takes dye quite well. Depending on what type rawhide you use (I prefer deer and elk (NA wapiti not the same as the elg aka moose - red deer is closest to what I use) over cow which has a much tighter grain and that makes it harder to work with) you may/will get differences in colors with splotches etc. 3) To finish (rawhide needs to be as water resistant as possible) I use what was a common finish here in the SW good ole spar varnish. 4) I don't; do a lot of distressing since rawhide when dried and finished general does not scratch easily - that's based on making them unaged and using them for years to see just what wear can occur. You can take a look at the sheaths I've made with rawhide at www.wrtcleather.com one caveat re: natural dyes such as coffee, tea, walnut, etc. is to be aware that they are high in tannins and if you soak rawhide in it too long it can and will tan the rawhide into leather - stiff but still leather not Edited December 13, 2015 by Wild Rose 2 Chuck Burrows Wild Rose Trading Co chuck@wrtcleather.com www.wrtcleather.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter johnsson Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 Thank you Chuck.I was hoping the hear advice from someone like you who have worked a lot with raw hide and get many different characters out of it.I shall try using dyes when the raw hide is wet. This is how I normally dye vegetable tanned leather. Since I had hoped to keep some of the translucent quality of the parchment, I did not want to load it up with too much dye when wet, but perhaps this can be worked around? In the end I did not get much of this translucent quality translating in the finished test pieces anyway. It seems that the translucent property changes when you stretch the material: it turns a whitish when stretched. I have never worked this material before and I have lots to learn. It is different, but I really like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Page Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 (edited) If you're still not getting a very random patterning from staining, maybe try a sprinkling of wood shavings soaked in whatever dye you are using? edit- could also be a way of controlling how much dye contacts the hide to prevent above mentioned tanning Edited December 13, 2015 by John Page 1 Not all those who wander are lost. -J.R.R. Tolkien-Shards of the Dark Age- my blog-Nine Worlds Workshop--Last Apocalypse Forge- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter johnsson Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 Wood shavings is a good idea too :-) The end result will be a sum of the collected wisdom of the forum :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob beer Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Well, I find that sometimes when all else fails, tangible aggression helps: Perhaps putting it through a good thrashing and beat it up, run around the woods and scuff it up against trees and rocks, river water is pretty nasty...., -then "fix" it as a warrior would on the fly and ready for the next battle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott A. Roush Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Hi Peter... Alcohol based Fiebing's leather dyes work wonderfully on rawhide because of the variable fat content in the rawhide gives a naturally uneven result. Check out John Cohea's work. Potassium permanganate also does beautiful natural aging... http://www.bigrockforge.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter johnsson Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 Experiment continues. Leather has been glued and sewn in place. Strips of rawhide is used to stitch/repare "damage" in the hide. Alcohol dye was used to get a blotchy character. I wanted to include a mark that look like a tattoo. The result is not pretty, but that might be a good thing. This is the point of departure for further pagination and distressing. We´ll see what it ends up like. Thank you all for information, sharing of knowledge and suggestions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 That looks serious! I like the effect. I also like your awl handle carving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Arthur Loose Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Looking good, Peter! jloose.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter johnsson Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 Thanks Guys! Alan: that awl is a gift from Petr. Just like the scarf I got from you and your wife, it is a much loved thing that I use on a daily basis :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now