Club Obi Wan

I've been messing around with making a few nylon whips, and to that end I bought a bunch of wax and a roaster to melt it. Since dipping nylon in wax gives a little extra weight, I was wondering what would happen if I dipped leather in wax.

Has anyone done this? Anyone think anything really bad will happen?

So far all I know is that the leather darkens, but the wax does seem to soak in and give the leather extra weight, especially if it hasn't already been oiled at the tannery.

I know that with Lexol or Neatsfoot oil it's really easy to over-apply, and excess oil will loosen the fibers in the leather, making it fall apart. Would paraffin do the same thing? The stuff I have melts at about 130 degrees, so I think it'd stay solid inside the leather, so it might not cause the same problem.

Anyone out there have any opinions?

-Adam

I know that cooking the leather in the wax, hardens her very much. formerly did so cure leather armor, and today it is a method used to cure skin such as the knive sheath.IMO it is risky to use this method to whip

Well, I think how much the leather hardens has to do with how hard the wax is. The stuff I'm using is pretty soft.

I know with drum-stuffed kangaroo the hides are heated in revolving drums with oil put in with them. Would dipping in wax be doing something similar?

I'm working on a experiment with latigo dipped in wax right now. It might be risky, but experimentation is something that keeps me excited about whip making.

-Adam

Hi Adam. It seems there is an alternate procedure to waxing hides. What Kooniu said about hardening leather by dipping it in melted wax is what I knew.

You should rub the wax, heat it to melt it, and keep the temperature in order to allow it to soak in. There's a long book at http://www.archive.org which dedicates some paragraphs to this method. I remember another method, but can't remember where I saw it. Will have to look it up at my house. Wax would enhance its water repelling characteristics and was used in carriage making. Of course, the method makes it more difficult to apply, because it is similar to the way drum stuffing is achieved.

The name of the book is The Arts of Tanning, Currying and Leather Dressing, by Campbell Morfit (pp. 484-485).

ATB

Aldo.

I tried soaking White hide falls in melted pecards so that it could penetrate all the way through, I either left them in too long, or it was too hot because the falls came out hard, stiff and brittle.

I don't know what wax would do, this is just my $.02

ST

I'm actually kinda interested in this as well. Have absolutly no skills involved, either whip making or experience working with wax, but do love experimentation. Could be a complete and total failure or it could work. What's there not to be excited about?

Well, I completed a 9 ft latigo whip where I dipped all the laces in wax before braiding them. Nothing seems stiff or brittle, and I think the whip plaited up tighter than if I had left the strands dry. The whole thing also feels more dense.

Now I really want to try making a latigo swivel-handled bullwhip with strands dipped in wax, but I guess it'll have to wait until I get back from the Arizona ren fair and the Scarborough ren fair in Waxahachie, TX. Maybe in a few years I'll buy a nice trailer so I can make whips while I'm on the road

-Adam

Adam and others-I mentioned this to my wife for her opinion. Her caution to all is never heat wax directly as it can catch fire-this from her candle making experience. She suggested electric roaster or a double boiler, but not a roasting pan over direct flame. Just a safety tip. Just thought I would share, just in case.

NOW you tell us!!!

LJ

Don't worry Bob, I am indeed using an electric roaster, with no open flames! I knew that I had to control the heat of the wax because too high of a temperature can weaken nylon.

The stuff I'm using is pretty soft.

Where do you get this stuff? The paraffin wax I have is as hard, or harder than most candles.

ST

ST wrote:

The stuff I'm using is pretty soft.

Where do you get this stuff? The paraffin wax I have is as hard, or harder than most candles.

ST

http://www.natural-craft-supply.com/sho ... 0293e.html

They sell a variety. I just bought something with a low melting point.

-Adam

winrichwhips wrote:Well, I completed a 9 ft latigo whip where I dipped all the laces in wax before braiding them. Nothing seems stiff or brittle, and I think the whip plaited up tighter than if I had left the strands dry. The whole thing also feels more dense.

Don't forget to post some pics of it!!!


Aldo.

Here are some pics of the whip I made. It's a 4-plait latigo bullock whip. The handle may look big, and it is--it's also 5 feet long. This type of whip is a two-handed whip used by oxen drivers in Australia to control their teams while pulling wagons.

I was thinking about the whip stiffening up with the wax. As I said, this wax is soft. I also find that the 4-plait latigo thongs I've made in the past tend to loosen up pretty fast. So in this case, the wax might help the whip stay tighter longer.

I don't think I'd use this waxing thing on kangaroo leather, which already has good density and can be plaited up super tight. I was thinking, however, of dipping the cowhide bolsters for a kangaroo bullwhip in wax. I usually find that kip bolsters don't give a whip the weight I want, and I've tried taking well oiled cowhide and splitting it down for bolsters. I think waxing kip would be easier and would give better weight than the split cowhide.

-Adam

Thanks for the pics, Adam. It got a very nice, rich color to it. Did it change much from the original before waxing?

I want to make a bullock whip for myself someday!!!!

About bolsters... What do you think about soaking dry leather, letting it get damp and saturating it with braiding soap? I've done this with falls and after a day, they soak up all the fat in the plaiting soap, making them more dense. I then give them another light coating to finish.

Just a thought.

Aldo.

Adam I'm waiting for results your experiment , mayby will good metod for stiffening redhide whips?

kooniu

Ah-ha yes this is something I've fooled around with a bit. It's OK to heat up dressing (I presume the same could be said of wax) to make it penetrate the leather faster and more thoroughly, we do it all the time with hiking boots after all... The danger is in having the temperature too high, which does turn leather brittle (it cooks it actually). Sorry I don't have any exact reading of temperatures to give you, but if it is just hot enough to turn liquid, I think it should be fine. But given the risks of loosing the entire whip by placing it in wax/dressing that is too hot, thereby cooking it, I think one is better to just let time do its thing and apply dressing the normal way; with your hands. As for nylon whips and wax, I should think that the same common sense can apply without much fear.
Cheers,

Franco

Just to add my 2 cents:

How hard the leather becomes is a function of the temperature of the liquid you're soaking it in. The higher the temperature, the harder the leather. Too high, and it turns into a brittle rock. This is true of water, wax, or any liquid. That's how it works on cowhide, anyway.

Since you've found a low temp wax, maybe you'll be okay. The lower the temp, the better.

Also, you were soaking latigo. The oils in it might have reduced the amount of wax absorbed.