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MNE Частый гость Редактировать | Профиль | Сообщение | E-mail Как правильно обрабатывать кожу воском? Варят ли ее или пропитывают? Можно ли использовать вместо воска парафин? Если есть место, где об этом подробно написано, ткните пожалуйста. Заранее благодарен. ----- In nomine Domini amen. Отправлено:22:41 - Июнь 4, 2002 | Всего записей: 72 | Дата рег-ции Март 2002 Skiffi Тоже горожанин Редактировать | Профиль | Сообщение | E-mail текст отмылил, проверяй почту ----- С уважением,  Skiffi Отправлено:05:03 - Июнь 5, 2002 | Всего записей: 547 | Дата рег-ции Май 2001 Korroh заблокирован Редактировать | Профиль | Сообщение | E-mail   Skiffi А мне можно? Буду очень благодарен! Пиши на          korroh2@mail.ru Много текст весит? ----- Сменил ник на Egil Zloy. Отправлено:13:19 - Июнь 5, 2002 | Всего записей: 135 | Дата рег-ции Янв. 2002 Loki заблокирован Редактировать | Профиль | Сообщение | E-mail И мне залей пожалуйста. ----- Если не можешь победить честно - просто победи. Отправлено:17:41 - Июнь 5, 2002 | Всего записей: 110 | Дата рег-ции Ноябрь. 2001 Halvdan Недавно здесь Редактировать | Профиль | Сообщение | E-mail и мне, если можно. ----- Тяжело быть Винни-Пухом. Отправлено:18:07 - Июнь 5, 2002 | Всего записей: 10 | Дата рег-ции Апр. 2002 MNE Частый гость Редактировать | Профиль | Сообщение | E-mail Спасибо. (Отредактировал(а) MNE - 19:21 - Июнь 5, 2002) ----- In nomine Domini amen. Отправлено:19:49 - Июнь 5, 2002 | Всего записей: 72 | Дата рег-ции Март 2002 Volh Недавно здесь Редактировать | Профиль | Сообщение | E-mail И мне! И мне! ----- Да будет велик ваш род! Отправлено:02:41 - Июнь 6, 2002 | Всего записей: 37 | Дата рег-ции Сент. 2001 Seva Ratoborez Недавно здесь Редактировать | Профиль | Сообщение | E-mail Волх, тебе все Воевода-Батюшка расскажет ----- Не ну прикольно да :) Отправлено:02:53 - Июнь 6, 2002 | Всего записей: 38 | Дата рег-ции Апр. 2002 Skiffi Тоже горожанин Редактировать | Профиль | Сообщение | E-mail Всем отмылил. Вопрос по обработке кожи (Cuir Bouilli - по умному) поднимался на старом форуме. Если кто найдёт, дайте ссылку. ----- С уважением,  Skiffi Отправлено:04:22 - Июнь 6, 2002 | Всего записей: 547 | Дата рег-ции Май 2001 Volh Недавно здесь Редактировать | Профиль | Сообщение | E-mail Скиффи, благодарствую! ----- Да будет велик ваш род! Отправлено:04:50 - Июнь 6, 2002 | Всего записей: 37 | Дата рег-ции Сент. 2001 Skiffi Тоже горожанин Редактировать | Профиль | Сообщение | E-mail Цитата: благодарствую! погоди, почта сообщила, что адреса Oboroten@yandex.ru не существует, письмо то получил или нет? ----- С уважением,  Skiffi Отправлено:06:24 - Июнь 6, 2002 | Всего записей: 547 | Дата рег-ции Май 2001 Halvdan Недавно здесь Редактировать | Профиль | Сообщение | E-mail Спасибо большое, премного благодарен. ----- Тяжело быть Винни-Пухом. Отправлено:16:20 - Июнь 7, 2002 | Всего записей: 10 | Дата рег-ции Апр. 2002 Korroh заблокирован Редактировать | Профиль | Сообщение | E-mail   Благодарствую! Хороший текст. ----- Сменил ник на Egil Zloy. Отправлено:18:12 - Июнь 7, 2002 | Всего записей: 135 | Дата рег-ции Янв. 2002 Nickolas Тоже горожанин Редактировать | Профиль | Сообщение | E-mail Извиняюсь за несвоевременную заявку, а нельзя ли и мне копию? :-))) ----- О русская земля, уже ты за холмом С уважением, Николай. Отправлено:19:41 - Июнь 7, 2002 | Всего записей: 464 | Дата рег-ции Июнь 2001 Volh Недавно здесь Редактировать | Профиль | Сообщение | E-mail Цитата: Oboroten@yandex.ru не существует, письмо то получил или нет? Отвечать оно может что хочет, но почта пришла ----- Да будет велик ваш род! Отправлено:04:25 - Июнь 9, 2002 | Всего записей: 37 | Дата рег-ции Сент. 2001 Fritz Тоже горожанин Редактировать | Профиль | Сообщение | E-mail Ой и мне если можно !!!!!Так интересно :))) Спасибо !!! ----- Vlaanderen!!!!!!!!! Отправлено:13:07 - Июнь 10, 2002 | Всего записей: 443 | Дата рег-ции Июнь 2001 Veron Недавно здесь Редактировать | Профиль | Сообщение | E-mail А как вощится бумага? И какая? А то меня сначала ввели в шок тем, что у самураев доспехи были из бумаги :) Мне понравилось. А потом добавили, что из вощеной. Отправлено:14:29 - Июнь 11, 2002 | Всего записей: 25 | Дата рег-ции Дек. 2001 Godrit Заслуженый житель Редактировать | Профиль | Сообщение | E-mail Skiffy - Ты бы лучше выложил этот замечательный текст по вощению на Форум для всеобщего обозрения, а? А то я сейчас тоже копию просить буду... :-)))  С уважением,                              Godrit ----- Пуля - самый доходчивый способ передачи мысли на расстояние. Отправлено:14:41 - Июнь 11, 2002 | Всего записей: 766 | Дата рег-ции Май 2001 Skiffi Тоже горожанин Редактировать | Профиль | Сообщение | E-mail Да, собственно, ничего особо замечательного... Грубый перевод сути известного фака... если только влезет на форум: Hardened LeatherCuir Bouilli/Hardened Leather FAQ Compiled and Copyrighted by I. Marc Carlson Updated May 31, 2000 Just a few words on this, if I may.  This document is not intended as "the last word".  To be blunt, I don't think at this time that there can be a last word on what "Cuir Bouilli" is or was.  The term may have undergone change changed in meaning depending on when and where it was used.  What this started out as was a compilation of a discussion by several people back in 1996, just shooting the breeze, sharing sources and experimental information.  This has been expanded by more information uncovered by other people since then.  If you have information that's not in here, please feel free to let me know. Yes, the name up there is mine, since I'm the guy bringing this all together - but it's not just me speaking here.   If you contribute, you will be acknowledged. Cuir-bouilli (From the Oxford English Dictionary, 2d Ed.) Forms: 4/5 quir-, quyr- boilly, -boily, -boyly, -boile, -boyl(l)e, quere- boly, qwyrbolle, coerbuille, -boyle, 6 Sc. cur-, corbule. [F., lit."boiled leather."] Leather boiled or soaked in hot water, and, when soft, moulded or pressed into any required form; on becoming dry and hard it retains the form given to it, and offers considerable resistance to cuts, blows, etc. The word was in common English use from 14th to 16th c., after which it is not found till modern times, when it appears as borrowed from modern French. 1375 Barbour Bruce xii. 22 On his basnet hye he bar Ane hat off qwyrbolle. 1386 Chaucer Sir Thopas 164 Hise Iambeux were of quyrboilly [v.r. quereboly]. 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxvi. 123 ai hafe platez made of coerbuille. 1413 Lydg. Pilgr. Sowle iv. xxx. (1483) 80 A feyned hede formed of playstred clothe other of coerboyle. 1513 Douglas ?neis v. vii. 77 Thair harnes thaim semyt for to be Of curbule corvyne sevin gret oxin hydis. 1880 C. G. Leland Minor Arts i. 1 Solid or pressed work, known as cuir bouilli, in which leather after having been boiled and macerated, or rendered perfectly soft, is moulded, stamped, or otherwise worked into form. Basically Cuir Bouilli is a means of making hardened and stiffened leather. Although there is some disagreement among some leatherworkers as to how this is accomplished, there is a significant amount of evidence to think that it was done by molding wet vegetable tanned leather. This leather can be formed into any number of forms, which, on drying, will retain that shape. The wet leather can be set more firmly by drying it under moderate heat, the degree of rigidity obtained being determined by the drying temperature. A faster method, which produces extremely hard and rigid shapes, is to dip the molded leather into boiling water for anywhere from 20 to 120 seconds. This technique causes the partial melting of the fixed tannin aggregates in the leather, making them plastic, causing them to flow and redistribute themselves throughout the fiber network of the leather. On cooling, the fibers become embedded in what can best be called a tough, three-dimensional, polymer network or resin, somewhat similar to the materials made by condensing formaldehyde with substances such as phenol, urea or melamine. The molding of leather was known in Saxon times in England, and was widely practiced during the middle ages in both England and on the Continent.  How do I make Cuir Bouilli?    Simple Soaking    Hot Water Soaking    Boiling Water Soaking    A Variation on Boiling Water Soaking    Baking    Hammering    Wax    Sun Burning    Tooling the Hardening leather    Experimentation  Wax    Basics    Discussion    Molding    Melting points    Evidence for Wax in History    Waxing from the inside    Waxing Oiled Leather    Can I wax tanned hides with fur intact?  Oil?    Linseed Oil as Varnish      1.How do I make Cuir Bouilli?There are a number of suggestions for how to      do this, and none of the following discussions are any more authoritative      than any of the others. Essentially, it seems to require the proper sort      of leather, carefully applied heat, and possibly some form of liquid. The      final answer, is for you to use the method that you think is more      appropriate, based on your final goals.      There is a great deal of confusion about the term "cuir bouilli" in the      literature about leather. Some sources seem to think that it was      shaped/hardened with wax, others by wetting, shaping, and drying. The best      sources seem to be R. Reed and Waterer (Leather Craftsmanship,Leather and      the Warrior) who seem to agree that cuir boulli was formed by wetting and      drying.      I would like to stress something that is often insufficiently stated, if      stated at all, during the various descriptions of leatherwork in general,      and in this case, specifically of the various ways to make Cuir Bouilli.      Since we are dealing with an organic substance, and I refer to "organic"      in more than its merely having once been alive, each piece is unique and      will handle differently. Two otherwise similar bits of leather can react      quite differently. What this means is that you can do everything described      hereafter perfectly and still have your project fail, or at least come out      with a finished product that is not up to what you had hoped. Don't be      discouraged. Leather hardening is not always a "cut and dried" science      when dealing with the levels of technology we are working with.      A.Simple Soaking      The first, and the easiest, is to soak the leather in cold water (as long      as you want to, suggestions range from 15 minutes to 12 hours or longer)      then form it and let it dry. This may not seem all that great, but if      you've seen a vambrace after it's been sweated into after a summer, you      know it can harden up quite a bit. If you tool the leather while it is      wet, you will make it even harder.      Soaking leather to make it harder is really more appropriate for vegetable      tanned leather.      Some people have suggested soaking the leather in lye or urine, but I have      no idea if these actually work any differently than using normal water.      B.Hot Water Soaking      The hotter the water you soak it in, the harder it will be when it dries.      However, each bit of leather has it's own point at which the water is TOO      hot, and will be cooked by it. If this happens, your best bet is to keep      it hot, and stretch it out on a form and let it dry. It becomes very hard      and brittle, but that's the penalty for over ambition.      I tend to get it about as hot as I can stand to put my hand into, and      maybe a trifle hotter, but as long as it doesn't burn me, I assume it      shouldn't burn the leather.      Sue Hallock (Kendra of HollyOak)        "Reed goes into detail about the physical/chemical makeup of leather and        the effects of wetting/heating. Leather which is simply soaked in room        temperature water and then shaped and dried gets harder (not that hard)        and retains its form. The hotter the water, the more structural changes        you get which results in harder leather. Experiment with scraps to find        the right temperature."      C.Boiling Water Soaking      If you decide that you want to place your leather into boiling water, and      be warned that many people consider this a patently silly thing to do, you      will want to be prepared to have your leather shrink and harden very      quickly. I would advise actually placing the whole form you are working      with and keeping it in the boiling water for not more than about 2      minutes. What this does is to cause chemicals in the leather to liquify      and polymerize (see later discussion below) until it shrivels into plastic      hardness.       I wish to specify this since I, at least, try to avoid having my heat      treated leather shrivel up into a plastic mass because it's more difficult      to manage.      Do not dip leather in to Boiling water - UNLESS you know what you are      doing!.      D.A Variation on Boiling Water Soaking      If you take cold formed leather and while it is still on the form and pour      REALLY hot water over it, letting it drain off (say fresh from a coffee      maker), it will scald the surface of the leather and harden the outer      layer without altering the inner layers at all. By the time the water's      soaked the rest of the leather, it has been cooled (by having to heat the      leather) sufficiently that the temperature's dropped back down to the      120-140F range.      You can also presoak the leather in water, then pour the boiling water on      top.   This either heats up the water inside the leather, so you don't      have to wait for it to soak in, or the cooler water slows the soaking      process, letting the outside of the leather harden more fully.  I've tried      it both ways and I couldn't tell you which worked better.      E.Baking      According to J.W. Waterer, Cuir Bouilli is made by soaking vegetable      tanned leather in water until it is thoroughly water logged, then molding      it to form and drying it in a constant temperature of 50C (or 122F).      Baking the wet leather can make it even harder, say in an oven, but you      run the risk of steam scalding it and making it shrink (as per C, though      see below).      Play with scrap pieces until you get the temperature about what you feel      is just right, and then bake your pieces, tied to the forms with string,      stitched, or nailed in place.      Reed goes into a bit of detail about the structural/chemical changes      involved, and why it must be vegetable tanned leather. The key factor is      the heating, and the presence of water may play a part. As far as I can      remember, neither author mentions the use of wax or oil. Unfortunately,      neither author mentions anything about the basis for these descriptions.      Since cuir bouilli was still in use until fairly recent times, these      descriptions may be based on methods of the recent past which they assume      to be carry overs from medieval methods.        Page 79: "Some of the properties of vegetable tanned leather have        already been mentioned. If the tannage is sufficently long, the leather        tends to be full, with a round and generous handle: i.e., it is a        filling tannage. It shows high resistance to perspiration fluids        (accounting for its use in various parts of shoe construction, e.g. the        insole), whilst it can be embossed easily to allow designs and art work        generally to be applied to the surface of the leather. It possesses        strange thermal properties and one disadvantage is that wet, vegetable        tanned leather begins to shrink above 75 degrees C and so lose its        shape. Nevertheless this property has been widely exploited. The        moulding of this type of leather was known in Saxon times in Britain,        and during the Middle Ages both here and on the continent of Europe it        was extensively practiced. Chaucer, in the fourteenth century makes        frequent reference to the peculiar form of moulded leather known as cuir        bouilli. After thorough softening in water at ordinary temperatures, the        leather can be formed or moulded into the most remarkable shaped which        on drying retain a fair degree of permanence. The wet-moulded leather        shape can be set more permanently by drying under a moderate heat, the        skilful choice of temperature determining the degree of rigidity        obtained. A quicker process which produces extremely hard and rigid        articles is to dip the moulded shape into boiling water for about 20-120        sec, a practice which gave rise to the name cuir bouilli. Such a process        involves the partial melting of the aggregates of fixes tannin in the        leather. near 100 degrees C these become plastic and can be made to flow        and redistribute throughout the fibre network. On cooling, the latter        becomes embedded in what is virtually a tough three-dimensional polymer        network or resin, not unlike the more modern materials made by        condensing formaldehyde with substances like phenol, urea, or melamine        (e.g. Bakelite and the aminoplastics)."      If I read this correctly, and I would love to entertain discussion that I      am not, then in order to make something of "Cuir Bouilli" I can place my      wet leather on or around its form when wet and either heat it until it      shrinks (say in my oven: since 75C is about 167F), or immerse said form      into boiling water (100C = 212F) until it shrivels into plastic hardness.      Rick Cavasin (Balderik)        "As Reed says, the choice of temperature determines the degree of        hardness. I think the trick is to not heat it to the point of        'shrivelling'. At this point, I think the finished product will start        being too brittle to be useful for armor. I think the trick is to stay        right around the 75C mark so that the leather is on the verge of        shrinking, so you get the hardness without the shrivelling. I hardened        my armor plates by the soaking/baking process. They were quite hard        before I waxed them, but had remained true to their molded shape (ie.        not shrivelled). The dipping in boiling water probably requires a bit        more practice to get the duration just right so that the leather hardens        without shrivelling."      NOTE: When heating the leather, do NOT touch the leather to any hot metal      (Since using heated tooling materials is how book leather is embossed).      Sitting it on newspaper works just fine to stop the heat though.      John Waterer's Leather and the Warrior has a complete chapter on Cuir      Bouilli, and its history.      F.Hammering      Hammering dampened veg-tanned leather will harden it up a lot. This is why      sole leather is harder than belt stock. It has been compressed between      rollers. The old fashioned method (in the recent past at least), was to      hammer the leather you were going to use for shoe soles.      G.Wax      See Below.      H.Sun Burning      I have recently discovered that leaving leather out under the Summer      Oklahoma sun will burn it hard as well. However, see the discussion under      OIL.      LATE ADDITIONS:      By Other Volken (From the Crispin Coliquy, 26 May 2000)        "I just stumbled across some old info on cuir bouilli in:  Louis        Figuier, Les Merveilles de l'Industrie, Paris, 1873,  chapXX,  pp.446        Here a translation:          "We will finally note a curiosity in leather fabrication specially          made in Turin, Italy. Once the leather is tanned and finished it is          deteriorated as follows, under pretension to ferment it. The leather          gets wetted and then piled up; and that the leather heats up easier,          the wetted hides are covered with straw. The hides are turned once or          twice a week and then brought to the drying rack. One obtains this way          a blackish, breakable leather, which is called **cuir lissй          bouillis**. (Litt. slicked boiled leather) It is a very bad          preparation, because on almost burns the leather, and we obtain a bad          product.          A cuir bouilli is a nearly decomposed material. Its fibers are          disintegrated and don't have the firmness and elasticity produced by          our excellent French tanneries. Luckily the good slicked leather          replaces little by little the cuir bouilli."... end of citation        I found this part in the section where Figuier talks about finishing the        tanned leather. I guess we added one more mystery to the boiled leather        enigma."      I.Tooling the Hardening leather      Jackalope Also - When you say that you feel the examples you've seen of      historical cuir bouili can't have been totally polymerized due to their      degree of tooling - might it have been possible to actually do the tooling      after the shrinkage, but while the leather is still wet?      Marc Carlson (Diarmuit) While I am fairly confident in that statement, I      have some thoughts that it might be possible to place formed leather in a      press to do the tooling, even if simply soaked and baked dry (since      tooling takes so long). It might be possible to do this as well when      "overcooking" the leather by boiling. I haven't tried it myself.      J.Experimentation      Experimentation is a good idea, since what we seem to be dealing with is a      range of "hardness" imparted by the various treatments used:      Somewhat Stiffened:      Caused by simply soaking in water and drying. (Examples: Most things that      have been merely tooled, but not much else. For those unfamiliar with the      tanning process, this is simply reversing the 'Staking' process. When      leather is tanned and is in the process of drying, it must be worked or      'staked' to prevent it from drying stiff. The amount of staking, to some      extent, determines the final softness. Soaking the leather and letting it      dry reverses the process).      Stiffened:      A quick soaking in water and baked. (Example: Armor that has been sweated      into and dried in the sun).      Hardened/Polymerized:      Soaked for a LONG time in water and baked dry. (Example: Cuir Bouilli as      Rick Cavasin (Balderik) and Waterer have been describing it. This *may*      also include the attempts that have been soaked with oil and baked hard in      the sun).      Totally Polymerized:      Boiled in Water until it shrivels and shrinks. (Example: Marc Carlson      (Diarmuit)'s wrist brace experiment described below).      Marc Carlson (Diarmuit) ...I went home and began to experiment with a      variety of things. The first batch of experimentation was with a variety      of pieces of leather, each sewn to a shaped frame (a wooden dowel) and the      dipping them into water at a rolling boil, and holding them there for 60      seconds. (For the precision fiends out there, while I'm not certain about      the elevation of Tulsa, Oklahoma, but I'm close enough to sea level that      my 3 minute eggs take about 3 minutes to cook). Afterwards, I let them sit      for 24 hours. The results were about what I expected.      The 8-10 oz Veg. Tanned Cowhide turned dark brown, shrank and hardened.      The 5-7 oz Veg. Tanned Cowhide turned black, shrank a LOT, and hardened.      The 2-4 oz Calfskin turned dark brown, and shrank to fit beautifully.      The 5-8 oz Latigo Cowhide had no noticeable changes at all.      Elk hide (tanning method unknown, but probably oil "tanned") Darkened      slightly, and only stiffened VERY slightly. The Latigo calfskin, Horsehide      and Buckskin had the same results as the Elk hide.      Heartened by the success of this, I took an old tooled wrist band (10 oz      Cow hide), wrapped it around a bottle and dropped it in the boiling water      for 2 min. Most of the tooling vanished, but it is currently harder than      anything I've yet made.       My second experiment was to take tooled leather (8-10 oz Cowhide) soak it      down, hammer it to shape on a piece of wood and to stick it into an oven      at 225 degrees. It darkened slightly, only part of it shriveled, and the      rest looked like a 2-3 mm thick Bat-a-rang (However the tooling remained      intact :) ).      Rick Cavasin (Balderik) Your differing results with the different weights      of veg-tanned leather probably reflect the greater amount of time required      to heat thicker pieces of leather....      David Friedman (Cariadoc)      1. Using leather (8 oz., Veg. Tanned) that had been soaked for several      hours:      If you boil it for 20 seconds, it shrinks to about 7/8 the original size      in Both directions, becoming correspondingly thicker. It also hardens a      little. The result is comparable in strength to wax hardened 8 ounce      leather. If you press it between two flat surfaces for ten minutes or so      after boiling it ends up flat--the curling at the edges is negligible. If      you boil it for 40 seconds or more the shrinkage is more substantial (to      about 2/3 the original dimension) and the hardening (and associated      thickening) much greater. Pressing it still gives you a flat piece.      If you boil it for 40 seconds, it shrinks to about 2/3 the original size      in both directions, thickens to about the equivalent of 16 oz leather, and      becomes quite hard--oddly enough, the complete hardening process seems to      take several hours after cooling. The final result is comparable to 16 oz      wax hardened leather.      Boiling for more than 40 seconds results in very little additional      shrinkage, some additional hardening.      2. Using dry leather (8 oz., Veg. Tanned).      The result seems to be somewhat faster hardening, but also a lot more      curling, distortion, etc.      From these experiments, it seems clear that one could make scale or      lamellar by taking your scrap, soaking it, boiling it 20-40 seconds,      pressing it between two boards to make sure it hardens flat, then cutting      out the individual lamellae or scales.      3. Shaping the leather (8 oz., Veg. Tanned):      It occurred to me that one could take advantage of the shrinking produced      by boiling. One of the problems I have had in making bazubands and greaves      is the difficulty of making the portion that covers elbow or knee      sufficiently convex. This is basically done by stretching the middle part      of it. Shrinking the edge should have the same effect.      In making things such as knees and elbows out of hardened leather, one      problem is that it is hard to stretch the leather enough to get the piece      as convex as you would like it. It occurred to me that boiling could help      with this problem. The technique works as follows:      First cut out an oval piece of leather, soak it thoroughly. Then stretch      it over a small bowl to give it a somewhat convex shape (more details on      how you do this available if people are interested). Then stick a pin      through the middle of it, with the head on the convex side. Then lower the      piece slowly into boiling water, holding it by a pair of pliers gripping      the pin (do you have an easier way of constructing a handle in the middle      of a piece of leather?), and steadying it with a large spoon. The idea is      to hold it for about 10 seconds with just the outside periphery of the      piece (which is the bottom, since you have it convex side up) in the      boiling water, then lower it for another 10 seconds so the area      intermediate between the edge and the center is also under the boiling      water, then finally submerge the whole piece for another twenty seconds.      The result is that the periphery has boiled for about 40 seconds, the      intermediate area for about 30, and the middle for about 20. The longer      you boil it the more it shrinks, so you have just shrunk the periphery      relative the center, which makes the piece more convex--also thicker and      harder. Now you put it back over your bowl (or a smaller bowl if it fitted      well over the old one before boiling). Let it cool. Let it dry.      I have now done this several times successfully. One piece I also      successfully waxed--the others are still drying. I think waxing is      necessary if you are using 8 ounce leather and the piece is supposed to be      an elbow. 8 ounce leather boiled for only 20 seconds (the center of the      piece) is not hard enough for me to trust it to protect the point of my      elbow. Such leather both boiled and waxed is.      2.Wax      I've been told that I should use wax to make leather hard, is this true?      A.Basics      The other way to make leather hard is to take a piece that has been formed      previously, place it into an oven, and dry heat it to about 200 degrees.      Then take melted wax (bee's wax is traditional, but I have gotten just as      good results from melted candles). Remember all the safety precautions you      learned in art class as a kid for melting wax because it can be dangerous.      When the wax is hot, and the leather is hot, take the leather out of the      oven and paint the wax onto the leather (which will then soak it right      up). Keep this up until the leather cools enough to not absorb the wax any      more. Reheat the leather, and repeat until you are satisfied that the      leather won't absorb any more wax (a good clue is that it's all the same      color). Then let it cool. It will be extremely hard when it's done.       NOTE: When you are heating the leather for this you will be up at      temperatures that will polymerize the chemicals in the leather in the      presence of water. What this means is that if you get ANY water on the hot      leather it will shrivel up and harden.      B.A discussion on other views of Wax and Hardened Leather      Ron Charlotte (Al Thaalibi)        "In my own experience with wax hardening of leather, 200 degrees is        -way- too hot. I normally melt my wax in a "double-boiler" arrangement        in a pan set in another pan of water. Try water shaping the leather        first, then, when it has dried and set into the shape you want, immerse        it into the melted wax. High heat isn't needed just enough to keep the        wax liquid. If the piece is too large for your melting pot, heat the        piece with a hot hair dryer/heat gun or place it in the oven long enough        to get hot then "pain" it with the melted wax, reheating the piece as        needed.        "You really need to stay away from "oil-tanned" or treated leathers for        this purpose, use an alum or veg. tannin tanned leather. Only these will        absorb the wax properly to decently harden. "        Rick Cavasin (Balderik)        "To the best of my knowledge, this is somewhat misleading. For an        excellent description of the chemistry involved, see Ancient Skins,        Parchments, and Leathers by R. Reed, but the gist of it is that it is        not the wax that is hardening the leather, but the heat. Cuir Bouilli        can be made WITHOUT WAX (although using wax helps by making the leather        denser, heavier, and resistant to water). The chemical/structural        changes responsible for the cuir bouilli effect are only possible with        veg-tanned leathers. Other leathers may be stiffened somewhat by heating        and adding wax, but it will not be cuir bouilli.        "Given that a good deal of hardening can be achieved without resorting        to the use of wax (by simply drying under heat) and that waxing provides        some enhancement, my argument was that those who wax the leather        directly are probably getting most of their hardening from the heating        needed to apply the wax, not from the waxing itself."      I would have assumed that the hardening was more due to the wax      infiltrating the fibre matrix (as Reed suggests that the Tannin Polymers      do) and then hardening there. Also there is some concern about the weight      added to the leather for the amount of strength given.      Ron Charlotte (Al Thaalibi)        "I've used both the cold water/wet molding and the hot water methods of        shaping leather as well. I simply find that the addition of wax produces        pieces that stand up to the rigors of SCA combat abuse, especially here        in the humidity and erratic weather of Trimaris (Florida), far better        than the other options."      Rick Cavasin (Balderik)        "Oh, there's no doubt that wax *helps* by increasing the density and        water resistance. The point I was trying to make is that the majority of        the hardening is related to the heating. Much of the hardening many        people achieve may be a result of the heat they apply in order to get        the wax to soak in, not from the wax itself (people who use wax        hardeners excepted). While I hardened my armor without wax, I added the        wax afterwards to enhance the effect."      The reason that I suspect that it is the wax that is the prime factor, as      opposed to the heat thickening of the collagen, etc. is a combination of      the reports I have of wax impregnated leather re-softening to an extent in      the summer heat, and the use of wax as an emollient in leather (also      reported in Reed). I may be in error here, but it's just an opinion.      Rick Cavasin (Balderik)        "The cuir bouilli effect, (ie. hardening by heat), is, as far as I know,        non-reversible. The softening in the sun would be the removal of any        enhanced stiffness imparted by the wax. If the softening is substantial,        I would suspect that little heat hardening was achieved. My own armor        does not soften much in the sun. In cases where peoples' armor does        soften appreciably, I would say that you are correct, that the wax is in        fact providing the stiffness.        "My own feeling is that the added stiffness, density, and water        resistance is well worth the increase in weight (but then my life        doesn't hang in the balance, as it would for the medieval warrior).        "Another factor to consider is that the wax may have been a significant        expense in Medieval Europe. Bees wax was in high demand for candles.        Waxing leather that could be adequately hardened without it might have        been regarded as extravagant. Unfortunately, I must plead ignorance        regarding the relative market value of wax in period.        "Perhaps water resistance would have been achieved using something more        economical like tallow which would, I suspect, have had little        additional hardening effect."      Master Duncan Saxthorpe of Alnwick from the  Kingdom of the West:        "You are welcome to include this in future articles, if you wish: Use a        mixture of half pure white beeswax (it smells a bit less sweet) and half        pure Grade I carnauba wax (the really, really hard stuff). I use a large        commercial roasting pan which barely fits on my gas BBQ and do this        outdoors... having some concerns about fires and some real trouble        removing the wax mixture from a even stainless steel counter top! I        gentle heat the wax over medium heat with a barrier of heavy duty tin        foil between the grill and the pan, to ensure more even heat        distribution. When the wax is fairly hot (a scrap of heavy sole leather        forms numerous small, well-distributed bubbles on the rough side within        one minute) I "boil" my cut, died (and dry) leather pieces for about 2        to 4 minutes. As you pointed out, the leather can be cooked and ruined        by too much heat, but this heavy grade of leather seems to be more        forgiving than even 10-12 ounce leather. Anyway, when the leather        appears to be well soaked I remove it from the waxing pan, wipe it clean        with a towel I never want to see again, and shape it under running        water. The leather sets up nicely within a few minutes and takes about        12 hours to completely cure. This wax mixture holds up very well in our        California summer sun with minimal softening (about twice as firm as        bees wax armor) and can be re-softened and re-shaped by heating in an        oven."      C.Molding      Cliff T. Wilkey        "From what I have heard, the leather was placed into a "mold". This mold        consisted of two *large* blocks of wood, and the shape of the leather        armor was carved into these two blocks. The leather was put into the        mold and boiling wax was poured in. Then it was left to cool."      D.What are the relative melting points of beeswax vs paraffin etc... would      it make more sense to use a higher melting point wax in favor of a lower      one?      As far as I can tell, the Beeswax and Paraffin will melt at about the same      temperature (and mix very well, if you want to stretch the beeswax a bit).      Personally, I can't find a wax with a melting temperature hot enough to      keep it from softening while worn outside in the sun (in Oklahoma),      however, there is a form of crystal (styrene?) but that are available at      hobby shops) that, when melted into wax raises the melting point. Good      results can be had using about a 2:1 ratio of paraffin to beeswax.       Unfortunately, the hotter the melting point of the wax, the hotter the      oven needs to be to get the leather hot enough to readily absorb the wax.      I've had too many pieces suddenly shrivel up to be eager to risk the      extremely hard waxes (although I suppose I will give in eventually).      E.Is there any evidence for waxed leather in period? Do we speculate that      the evidence has rotted away? Or is it unlikely that hardened leather was      ever used for armor?      Speculation: It is conceivable to me that, after introducing an organic      waste product, such as wax to leather, it might rot away faster than      ordinary leather. It is also conceivable that after more than four hundred      years of burial, there is no way to distinguish the waxed forms.       It is, however, also reasonable to assume that waxed armor was not used      either in period, or during any of the classical periods for armor, either      because it was too expensive to waste, to difficult to get a regular      temperature from an oven that was low enough not to destroy the leather,      or some other reason.       I would have suspected that the Mediterranean Civilizations might have      had trouble with it due to the sun's heat, but I have been informed by the      people I have armored in the stuff that fighting under the Texas/Oklahoma      sun hasn't posed a problem and that while the leather softens a bit after      an all day thing, it rehardens very quickly.       Please Note that there is NO Evidence that I know of that Waxed Leather      was used for anything other than some Elizabethan era bottles, cups,      knives scabbards, etc.      LATE ADDITIONS:      By DR OBUV (From the Crispin Coliquy, 21 January  - 27 January 1999)        "The cuir bouilli is the leather of ox or cow 'bouilli' in wax mixed        with various gums, resins, and pastes, which are kept secret by the        sheath and scabbardmakers. Article 13 of the statutes of the sheath and        scabbardmakers of Paris, which are dated 12 September 1560, allows that        it is forbidden for the trade to make leather bottles with any other        leather than cow or ox, because other leathers are not suitable, and        that the above-mentioned bottles must be 'boulues' with only new/fresh        wax and nothing else, and stitched with double-seams from both sides        [i.e. double-looped hand stitch, not a running stitch-ED], strong and        durable." -- Roland de la Platiere, 1788 in 'Encyclopedie Methodique'        [Paris,1790]        Key here are the various ways in which "bouilli" and "boulues" are used.        Literally "boiling" the leather, as in dunking it into a vat of hot        waxes is the immediate and easy assumption, but upon removing the object        and its "last", the waxes would rapidly cool and leave an object encased        in a mess solidified waxes.        "The Shoemaker uses several kinds of wax. [...] Bootmaker's jacking/wax        is made from two pounds of collophony [NB -- highly refined/brittle pine        rosin from Colophon, Lydia. The German edition has 'pitch' or 'black        pitch' here] and one pound of yellow wax [NB -- raw beeswax] with        lampblack [NB -- powdered carbon from oil fires] to suit, all melted        together. This jacking/wax is used by Bootmakers to penetrate the        leather of jack boots and to make them stiff as wood... The Shoemaker        uses this wax for certain heavy shoes that the lower sort and peasants        wear, but while making it he reduces the amount of colophony."        "Having one pair of boots... over their boot trees and previously wet,        but now dry, take a coarse wood rasp, which is rubbed over the whole        boot-leg to remove the fluff which stands up on the flesh; after this        you proceed with the jacking/waxing... The place for jacking/waxing must        be a room with a chimney, paved or tiled [NB-- "...where there is no        fear of fire" in one edition]; near the top of the chimney, outside, is        attached an iron chain which dangles to within six inches of the floor        or there-abouts. You ready yourself for jacking/waxing by putting a        small portable stove or lit brazier on a table to your left, on which        you place a kettle containing the following recipe: One pound of yellow        wax, two pounds of colophony, which is pine rosin, and lampblack to        suit. You also furnish yourself with a swab, this is the name of a large        dauber formed from a bundle of linen rags bound together, and have on        your right, on the ground, some loose straw... Begin your task by        lighting a little straw, which you wave under the bootleg to singe it,        in other words to burn the rest of the fluff from the leaher that the        rasp did not remove; afterward dip the swab in the BOILING [NB --        emphasis added] jacking/wax with which you coat the entire bootleg. Then        continually rotate the boot-tree with your hands over a steady straw        fire so that the heat makes the jacking/wax penetrate. You put on six        sucessive coats in the space of an hour, being very careful to        occasionally moisten the bootleg so it will not scorch, and so it takes        two hours time to jack/wax one pair of boots. The bootleg now        jacked/waxed, leave it to cool... When the bootleg has been        jacked/waxed, and once more is thouroughly cold, it is full of lumps        caused by the boiling jacking/wax with which it was coated and        saturated; to remove them take an old knife, and using the blade as a        scraper, scrape off all these lumps, then rub with a piece of cold wax        that you spread very evenly with a stiff brush or burnishing stick,        etc., and you finish-off by polishing and shining with the palm of your        hand". -- M. de Garsault, 'l'Art du Cordonnier' [Paris, 1767]        "Lacquered [NB -- literal translation from German] Boots -- A type of        stiff boot with or without tops, which are made with the flesh out in        the same manner as the jack-boots, and which are given a glossy finish        with the following lacquer:        Powdered gum mastic... 1/2 oz.        Powdered ivory-black.... 1 oz.        White poppy oil... 1 oz.        Spikenard oil... 1/2 oz.        Asphalt... 1/2 oz.        White wax ... 1/2 oz.        Add the ingredients seperately, mix in the oils."--D. G. Schreber, 'Der        Schuster' [Leipzig, 1769].        While not necessarily a jacking/wax, this formula is interesting.        Schreber discusses the superiority of all English boots, and the        polishes for them, but says they can't quite get it right. [*, this        usually denotes highly refined beeswax that has been rendered and        filtered to the point of being nearly pure white--harder than raw yellow        beeswax].        "For Jacking The Flaps of Cartridge Boxes        Let the flesh side of the leather be shaved smooth, & put outside. When        'tis well dried & warmed, rub it with the following composition, of:  6        pounds of rosin; 1 pound of beeswax; 1/2 pint of spirits of turpentine}        all dissolved together and put on hot.  Frequently hold the flap to the        fire till enough of the stuff enter the pores of the leather, rubbing        well. When cool, size it... with a size made of rawhide, rubbing it        well.   If spirits of turpentine cannot be had, beeswax will answer; but        it does not penetrate the leather so quick... To save the jacking stuff,        the flaps should be cut out before they are jacked; but it is said that        the jacking should not come where the leather afterwards to be sewed as        it will be too hard; ... You will try the jacking, both before and after        the sewing, and determine which is the best way." -- Timothy Pickering        on Jacking cartridge box flaps, Vol. 56, p. 5 [No date, c. 1775]        "We would go to a turner or wheelwright, and get head blocks turned, of        various sizes, according to the heads that had to wear them, in shape        resembling a sugar loaf; we would then get some strong upper, or light        sole leather, cut it out in shape, close it on the block, then grease it        well with tallow, and set it before a warm fire, still on the block, and        keep turning it round before the fire, still rubbing on the tallow,        until it became almost as hard as a sheet of iron... We made the        scabbards of our swords of leather, by closing on a pattern of wood, and        treating it similar to the cap." -- Recollections of a Revolutionary War        Soldier [reprint 1854 edition]        Now then, as we have before us an accumulation of descriptions of the        process of hardening leather with heat, pitch, rosin, etc., let me        launch a question... since "bouilli", in Abel Boyer's 'Royal Dictionary        Abridged' [London, 1700] gives, in addition to "boiled", "warm, boiled,        seething, or bubbling up", "to gush out", and even "baked" in connection        with "boul"--derived words, what are we led to believe? Under "cuir" he        gives "visage de cuir bouilli'; a wainscot face. P. Faire de cuir        d'autrui large courroye, To be free of another man's purse." Now        wainscot seems to be a stretch, but the connection with wood [as in        Garsault's "hard as wood"] is tempting..        ...Firstly, just because Chaucer mentions leg-guards of "quirboily",        how/why do we assume it was heat and water only, rather than heat and        "bouilli" painted-on? Why not dope-hardened leather? Waterer's        assumptions aside, why couldn't Chaucer's "quirboily" be doped-hardened        leather in the 14th c. as well? Post 1560 in England and France, the        suggestion is saturated with rosin, etc., just that the Brits start        calling it "jack"ed by the 17th, and drop the Franco-phonic "quirboily"        from the vocabulary all together.        Any confusion here regarding "waxed leather", which I agree is NOT "cuir        bouilli", is purely accidental I assure you. The problem is in the        French use of "cire" for bloody everything vaguely resembling a waxy        substance. A bit of care, however; in my translation from Garsault        [above] I carefully wrote jacking/wax, where in the French text it's        just "cire" [wax], though the French author seems to use "cire" for        everything from currier's dubbing, shoemaker's "coad", and "machine"        [white coad], up to and including what Pickering just calls "jacking        stuff". Garsault also discusses "heavy waxed shoes", [gros souliers        cire's]. In this case he says that the un-dyed and un-curried shoe        uppers are smeared with a wax [cire] composed of "mutton tallow, a        little wax [cire again -- beeswax presumably] and a little more        lampblack". This mixture is applied with a dauber dipped in "le cirage        chaud" [the warm wax-mix]. Nothing in the text suggests that this form        of "wax" stiffens or hardens anything. Quite the contray, it loads it        with warm tallow. As a matter of fact, the English term "waxed leather",        as in waxed calf, etc. merely refers to a heavily grease-stuffed,        blacked on the flesh, uppers leather. In fact, elsewhere Garsault says        that blacking on the flesh is more "English", and the French usually        blackened their uppers on the grain with dye or stain rather than sooty        grease. In French, "waxed leather" is clearly NOT "cuir bouilli".        Finally, why are Chaucer's "quirboily" leg-guards NOT dope-hardened        leather? Shouldn't leather armour be hard? I suppose all I'm at here is        this, since "cuir bouilli" meant doped-hardened leather from 1560 on in        France, and became "jack"ed leather in 17th c. England, why must it mean        something different in Chaucer? Are we just trying to leave room for        Waterer to be "right" about the heat/water only theory? Impregnating        items with rosinous substances to alter their texture hardly seems out        of keeping with the most ancient leather-work        Oliver Baker makes a case for all hardened "jack" type leather vessels        being essentially British in origin.      F.Would it be possible/effective to wax the leather piece from the inside      instead of outside?      In fact, it works better since the wax doesn't have to soak through the      skin to get to the flesh. I don't know if heating it will loosen the fur      at all, or do other weird things to it.      G.Waxing Oiled Leather      I have never used the alcohol to work oiled leather, however don't be      surprised if residual alcohol doesn't mess up your wax (since that's how      you strip wax off of shoes). Waxing the oiled leather may make a horrible      mess, but if you are patient it will eventually even out (I have a cup      that oozed oily wax for months, but is now a prime example of hard      leather).      H.Can I wax tanned hides with fur intact?      They may be chrome-tanned, essentially using mineral salts. The wax      *should* harden them, but I've never tried it on pelts, and if you use too      much you may get waxy fur.      3.Oiled Leather      Some people feel that there should be NO boiling in oil AT ALL. Oil is      used to soften leather, and all boiling it has gotten me is a soft squishy      mess better left undescribed and buried, not to mention this is how one      deep fries meat.      Rick Cavasin (Balderik)        "Boiling oil is way too hot. I've never tried the boiling water method        described by Reed, but he does specify that the immersion be very brief        (depending on thickness, etc.). The hardening only works with vegetable        tanned leathers. "      Ben Rondeau        "One word of warning: do not immerse any leather into the (presumably        hot) solution while the leather is cold. I did this once with a lame for        a pauldrin. I got to watch it deep fry. It came out looking like a piece        of bacon. Not something that was terribly useful.        Perhaps stitching to a form, then boiling in oil?? Any ideas?"      Now that you mention it, I have a leather bottle that I made last year      that, for reasons better left unmentioned, I soaked to the brim with      Neatsfoot oil, and then left in the window of my spare room to let the oil      settle. I forgot about it, and after three months of the Northern      Ansteorran summer sun on it, the puppy had baked hard. I had a similar      experience with the front flap of a map case I left in the rear window of      my conveyance. It too had been heavily oiled with Neatsfoot oil.      A.Linseed Oil as Varnish      Ron Charlotte (Al Thaalibi)        "We've all heard the mistaken notion of boiling leather in -oil- to        harden it. It was recently pointed out to me that boiled -linseed oil-        is a varnish. Has anyone tried this as a medium. I'm going to give it a        try with some sample pieces once I'm done with my current slate of        projects, but if anyone else has come across this and tried it, I'd love        to hear."      Rick Cavasin (Balderik)        "Boiled linseed oil has additives to make it dry faster. Not sure what        these will do to the leather. If the varnish dries stiff, you may have        problems with cracking. I have dressed leather with unboiled linseed        however. Because it oxidizes at a lower temperature than other oils, it        yellows the leather much more quickly than neatsfoot oil. The end result        is that you end up with a partial oil tannage. I'm not sure about the        long-term stability, as the leather I dressed was some alum-tawed,        hair-on, moose hide from which I made my first suit of armor (candidate        for one of the most offensive suits of armor of all time - both in looks        and smell). It hasn't been used in ages, and the leather is falling        apart. Not sure if it's because of the linseed, the tawing recipe, or        the repeated cycles of being soaked in sweat and then dried. I give away        bits to people who tie flies"      I hadn't considered it, since Linseed Oil can be (I am informed) somewhat      explosively flammable. [of course, that's while it's wet.  When it's dry      it stabilizes, unless fire is applied directly.]      Ron Charlotte (Al Thaalibi)        "True enough, the commercially prepared stuff has drying agents (without        reading the can, probably alcohol or mineral spirits). Based on        Cennini's The Craftsman's Handbook, Theophilus's On Divers Arts and        Alessio Piemontese's The Secretes of Alexis of Piemont; and their        instructions for boiling linseed oil down into a varnish, both with and        without the addition of lac resin, starting with the raw stuff and        adding the leather to it or vice versa might work. In fact, the place        where Cennini discusses rendering the oil down by sun-cooking makes me        wonder if applying the raw oil to a piece and subjecting it to slow heat        (sun or low oven). I think that I need to pick up a gallon and start        tinkering...preferably outdoors on a hot plate or propane stove, all of        the period writers mentioned above make a point of pointing out the        flammability of the stuff.        "As far as the stiffness factor, I've used tung oil varnish for a finish        on a couple of belts, and it made for a nicely flexible finish. I'm        hoping that linseed oil will behave in a similar fashion."      I would like to point out that oilskin is made from UNboiled Linseed Oil. Rawhide  Use  Tension and Rawhide  Other Problems with Rawhide  What happens to Wet Rawhide?  Variations in Raw Hides  In Situ Self Tanning?      1.A short discussion on uses for Rawhide      After thinking about it, I can think of a number of historical      applications for leather, such as shield facings, where rawhide might make      more sense, but there is no indication in the texts I can find.      A number of experiments have been made using rawhide as shield facings and      armor. Knives didn't even cut or pierce them, and they REALLY tried to. We      talked about shooting at them with arrows but never did. Maybe next year.      Rawhide could be a good material to make armor of.      Waterer suggests that in a quick examination of rawhide in a site, it is      often mistaken for Cuir Bouilli, and has been found used in knife      scabbards, etc.      Rick Cavasin (Balderik)        "Remember that Parchment is a form of rawhide."      Tibor        "...Don Tivar, as part of his study of the rapier, has done studies of        how much force is required to pierce human skin. His research lead him        to use rawhide soaked in water, which he was told most closely matched        human skin's behavior. (Some coroner research, I gather. Memory dims).        It cut with about 5 pounds of pressure, and pierced with substantially        less. So, dry rawhide is relatively impervious, but thoroughly soaked        rawhide is barely impervious. Try not to leave those shields out where        the dew might get them. And, don't make armor of it if you perspire..."      Rick Cavasin (Balderik)        "The ease with which a piece of dry rawhide can be soaked depends on how        much it was stretched while drying, and how much residual oil is left in        the hide (ie. parchment is easier to wet than rawhide because it has        been stretched more and has less residual oil, generally)."      Matt Richards        "Native American tribes would take buffalo rawhide and deliberately heat        it to the point that it shrink and thicken for use as a shield. This is        well documented and I could find the sources if you are really          interested. Another technique commonly used was to coat their rawhide        containers with 'sizing', which would increase the water resistance.            Typical sizes included prickly pear cactus juice and hide glue. And        while neither of these is 'water proof' they are both slow to absorb        water. I think your statements about how rawhide would not significantly        wetten under normal use unless left soaking in a puddle are quite        accurate. While rawhide does absorb enough moisture from rain or dew to          bother drummers, it takes a very long time for it to get 'wet'."      2.Tension and Rawhide        "Rawhide changes tension radically with humidity and moisture, far more        than tanned leather. This would tend to limit rawhide in a structural        application."      Rick Cavasin (Balderik)        "The problem with rawhide is that it can become dimensionally unstable        if it becomes wet and is then dried. Parchment/rawhide can generate an        impressive amount of tension when it dries (I've had goat and deer hides        warp and break the frames I use for parchment making). Tanned hides are        much more stable, and are much less prone to rot.        "A piece of rawhide, left to dry on it's own, will shrivel up to become        tough, hard, horny, and semitransparent. Usually, in making        rawhide/parchment, it is customary to stretch it on some sort of frame        so that it dries into a flat sheet.        "If it is subsequently soaked in water, and allowed to dry without        tension, it will shrivel up more or less like a fresh piece of rawhide.        And parchment/rawhide can generate an awful lot of tension when it's        trying to shrivel up."      3.Other Problems with Rawhide      Finally from other information I have received, it would appear that since      rawhide is more susceptible to rot than tanned leather, it might have been      used for other things, like shield facings, and we wouldn't know. It would      also be susceptible to rot in use, while on campaign, etc. This may have      restricted it's use in damp climes. (Rotting Rawhide Stinks!)      4.What happens to Wet Rawhide?      This may seem like a naive question to some, but what happens to rawhide      when it gets wet? Doesn't it get soft and pliable?      As a rule, you have to soak rawhide for some time to get it to soften at      all, and quite some time to make it pliable. When you stretch it while      wet, it shrinks as it dries.      On the other hand, while certainly rawhide will become "soggy and      stretchy" after emersion in water for an extensive length of time, it has      not been my experience that rawhide, simply exposed to moisture, will be      made malleable. Granted, changes in humidity can make it not entirely      suitable for things like knife scabbards, as it can swell up slightly,      although this can be planned for by making the scabbard slightly larger      than needed. I assume the same can be done for armor.      In Waterer's Leather Craftsmanship (1968), page 116:        "Shields have long been made in India of layers of raw skin. The most        prized were those in which, by careful selection of almost flawless        skin, the resultant laminated material was nearly transparent."        "The Somalis made a shield of an untanned hide in an unorthodox form but        in this case the outer surface is roughened to make it completely opaque        and resistant to moisture."      Waterer's Leather and the Warrior (1981) page 5 shows a photo of the      Somali shield "made from layers of untanned hide".   Page 47 shows a      picture labeled "Body armor (Shupenpanzer) covered with scales of untanned      hide with hair remaining."And just to give some support to David Friedman      (Cariadoc)'s suggestion:        Page 53: "...But in wet or damp conditions it will quickly revert [to a        more softened condition], purefaction will commence and eventually        destroy it. Therefore for any purposelikely to be involved with changing        atmospheric conditions, the surfaces must be protected; the traditional        way of doing this was to laquer it, as was done in China and Japan.        Rawhide scales would have been very tough, light in weight and long        lasting if properly looked after. They were used for lamellar armor in        the Far East..."      5.Variations in Raw Hides      Also some sources suggest that different forms of raw, or undressed, or      green, hides have different properties, although I have not been able to      experiment with this yet. It is suggested that buffalo hide (parfletche)      when raw is in fact softer and more pliable than cow, which is why it was      used for so much more by the Native Americans.      On the other hand, this may have had a lot to do with the methods used for      making the rawhide. Native American methods may have depended on bacterial      action to remove the hair from the hide, although it is known that by the      time of contact they generally used alkali to depilitate their skins for      rawhide, especially on the Plains where the rawhide culture was strongest.      Wood-ash lyes were most frequently used  but lime was used by the      Comanche. This is documented to the very  earliest descriptions of Plains      rawhide. See John D. Hunter (1823), George Catlin (1838) and Colonel      Richard Irving Dodge (1883).  It is arguable whether bacteriological      depilation would have had more of a softening effect on the hide than the      alkali depilation practiced by the Europeans and as described above, or      whether the reverse would be true (I've never tried either myself, so I      can't say for a certainty.  However, more experienced leatherworkers have      told me that hides depilitated through bacterial action may in fact be      harder, since the mucopolysaccharides -- a mucus, are removed or broken up      by the alkali.   Alternatively, another Native American method of      depilation was by scraping, which would have removed the upper or 'grain'      layers of the hide, which are more tough and compact than the underlying      layers. Without them, the rawhide would be softer and more pliable.      There is a difference of opinion about the differences and variations in      methods used and whether they would have any impact than the species of      animal in use (particularly when considering animals as closely related as      the buffalo and cattle). Others, including Waterer feel that differences      in age, species, and even gender of the animal can make a difference in      how the leather turns out.      6.In Situ Self Tanning?      Is it possible that some of the period examples of leather we've dug up      have some how "Self tanned" over the centuries to be harder to distinguish      from mere leather? I'm not sure what you mean by 'self tanning', but      rawhide/parchment, with time undergoes a natural oil-tanning process      whereby residual oils present in the hide oxidize to produce aldehydes      that 'tan' the hide. For more info, see Reed... Leatherworking in the Middle Ages - Cuir Bouilli/Hardened Leather. By I. Marc Carlson. Copyright 1996,1999,2000 This code is given for the free exchange of information, provided the Author's Name is included in all future revisions, and no money change hands. How to Water Harden Leather Take a piece of vegetable tanned leather. Immerse it in water long enough to get it soaked--ten minutes will do. Heat a pot of water to 180°. Immerse the leather in the hot water. Watch it. In about a minute, the leather will begin to darken, go limp, and curl up. If you pull it out at that point, it will have shrunk a little, thickened a little, and be stretchy, like a thick sheet of rubber; at this point it can be stretched and formed. In a minute or two the stretchiness will go away, but the leather will still be flexible. Over the course of the next few hours it will become increasingly stiff. You will end up with a piece a little thicker and a little harder than what you started with. The longer you leave the leather in the hot water after the process has started, the more it shrinks, the more it darkens, the thicker it gets--and the harder the final piece will be. A sufficiently long immersion gives you something that feels like wood. Unfortunately, when the piece gets harder and stiffer it also gets more brittle. If I were making lamellar armor to defend myself against real weapons, I would use a long immersion--and plan on replacing a few cracked lamellae after each fight. For SCA purposes, I normally leave the leather in the hot water for about thirty seconds after the process starts. This gives me, very roughly, shrinkage to about 7/8 of the original dimensions, an increase in thickness of about 25%, and a piece that is hard but not totally inflexible. The process is very sensitive to the temperature of the water, so you will want an accurate thermometer. The timing and the result also depend to some degree on the particular piece of leather. Instead of trying to work entirely by the clock, experiment with pieces of scrap until you have a reasonably good idea of how the leather looks at various stages in the process and how it comes out when finished, then judge the progress of your piece in part by time and in part by appearance. You can also harden leather in in boiling water--considerably faster. In my experience, about a twenty second boil gives shrinkage to 7/8ths, about a forty second gives you a shrinkage to 2/3 and roughly doubles the thickness. That has the advantage of not requiring a thermometer. It has two disadvantages. First, the faster process is harder to control precisely. Second, the hotter water produces a less uniform hardening--you tend to get pieces where the surface is harder and more brittle than the interior, eventually producing surface cracks. I therefore prefer the lower temperature process. I have not done any extensive experimentation on what happens at intermediate temperatures. Вкратце: кожу можно вываривать в кипятке и воде при более ризкой температуре 80 градусов ( 180 градусов в статье это по Фаренгейту! по Цельсию это будет 5/9*(180-32)=82 градуса, для ровного счета 80) Чем дольше вываривается кожа, тем больше она сжимается при высыхании и тем тверже и хрупче получается конечный результат. Поэтому для СКАшных боев товарищ вываривает ее при 80 градусах и выдерживает в воде 30 секунд после того, как кожа начнет темнеть, размягчаться и заворачиваться. Кожа сжимается на 1/8 и утолщается процентов на 25. При 100 градусах процесс идет гораздо быстрее, но его сложнее конторолировать и обеспечить равномерное отвердевание: снаружи кожа оказывается тверже, чем внутри и это приводит к трещинам. Поэтому лучше обзавести хорошим термометром и потренироваться на обрезках. Для ламелярки рекомендуется выварить сразу большой лист, расправить его под прессом (минут пять) и разрезать еще мягкую кожу на отдельные чешуйки. Отверстия пробиваются тогда же. Средневековый термин для варёной кожи: Cuir bouilli. Однако, я думаю, что под этим термином понималась не только сваренная, но и просто вымоченная кожа. Самый простой способ - опустить кожу (не сыромятную!) в кипящую воду на 20-120 сек. После этого советуют её растянуть или сформировать на болванку (если например это кожанный салад) или положить под пресс. Следует учесть, что уже в воде кожа начнёт садиться. Усадка начинается при температуре 75гр. по Цельсию. Горячая кожа не должна соприкасаться с металлом. Если вымачивать в холодной воде, то время увеличивается вплоть до 12 часов. Конкретное время подбирается эксперементально. Вымоченную в холодной воде кожу можно высушить на болванке (в прессе) при постоянной температуре 50 гр. Тут добавлю от себя о процессах, что происходят в коже при предлагаемой обработке: танин, содержащийся во внешнем слое любой кожи, от воды (от тёплой быстрее) начинает расходиться в глубинные её слои, высокая температура же очень быстро твердит танин в коже. Так что смотри на все приёмы обработки кожи именно с этой точки зрения. Меня лично заинтересовало прессование кожи. Вымочив её пол дня в холодной воде (танин пропитает всю толщину кожи), потом надо вскипятить её так, что бы кипяток успел воздействовать на все слои, а не только на верхние. Как это сделать - вопрос техники. Буду думать. После кипячения - под пресс между досщечек. Преимущества способа очевидны: плотность кожи повышается прессованием да ещё и твердеет после кипячения. Ещё забыл вещь: при всех вымачиваниях добавляй в воду антисептики, а то "зацветёт" кожа. Неисторично - зато практично. Сушка кожи на солнце - противопоказана. Для придания коже твёрдости её так же вощат. По одному способу, уже сформированную кожу нагревают до масимум 200гр. и натирают расплавленным воском. Всё это делают в несколько заходов до тех пор пока воск не перестанет впитываться. По другому, нагретую кожу в таком же порядке опускают в воск. О степени впитывания воска судят по количеству пузырьков, выделяющихся из кожи. Вообще вощёную кожу некоторые товарищи не считают Cuir bouilli. Но это будет принципиально, если соберётесь на серьёзный фестиваль. ----- С уважением,  Skiffi Отправлено:15:32 - Июнь 11, 2002 | Всего записей: 547 | Дата рег-ции Май 2001 Fritz Тоже горожанин Редактировать | Профиль | Сообщение | E-mail Я слышал только про церемониальные(парадные) доспехи из бумаги. ----- Vlaanderen!!!!!!!!! Отправлено:16:27 - Июнь 11, 2002 | Всего записей: 443 | Дата рег-ции Июнь 2001

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