UBB.threads Forums Edged Weapons Army, Navy, and Luftwaffe Forum 1st Luft scab. seam coming apart...what do I do???

Got this 1st Luft a couple months ago, and I am sure this was not happening when it arrived. The seam of the blue leather is beginning to come apart towards the tip of the scabbard. It has been in open air inside a house, but not exposed to any significantly dry or humid temperature or climate changes at all.

I don't want to be the one that lets this piece degrade any further. What should I do?

There is a general purpose adhesive that you can apply. I`m not sure about brand names but it`s a PVA glue. Even wood glue would do the trick just fine. (I`m talking about the white stuff). This is water soluble and can be wiped up with a damp cloth.

Pour out a small amount on something then pick up & run the adhesive in with the edge of a cocktail stick followed by the tip so that it goes under the flap and leave for 5 minutes. Then wipe over with your damp cloth with a bit of pressure to close the seam. Job done!

PS. Looking for a brand name I just found the stuff in my daughters art box, this just say`s "craft glue" but it`s what I`m talking about.

Contact cement works fine and does not require water clean up nor leave a film. A small lift like that can be easily fixed by spreading the cement sparingly on both sides with a tooth pick, let set for 20 minutes, close split with hand pressure, and the residual glue will "ball" up and roll off. Just be sure to always apply pressure in the correct direction.

So, apply over the top of it, or just underneath?

At the split, you have two inside surfaces. The top and the bottom. Put the glue sparingly inside on both surfaces covering both inside surfaces with a thin layer. Let set ope for about 20 minutes then pressure close it. Put no glue on the outside. Some excess will come out of the seam. This you can simply rub off with your hands.

Thanks, just bought the contact cement. So what about the rest of the leather? Does anyone put any kind of protectant on the outside of the scabbard leather? (don't want to ruin anything) Something that would keep it from drying out easy?

Now you are entering an area of great differences of opinion. Many people say don't touch it, others say you must preserve it. I will tell you what I would do if this was for my collection. I would get some shoe die that perfectly matches the original color, color the scraped spots, then treat the leather with pure leather conditioner. Let it set for 15 minutes, wipe off the excess conditioner, and, except for protecting the blade, put it up for display.

Other opinions will certainly very.

Ok, splitting seam taken care of. Thanks Jim W.

Did anyone else know that stores don't sell shoe polish anymore? All they have is brown and black and clear. The woman at JC Penny said colored shoe polish is "from back in the old days" lol.

Time to look on the internet I guess. Amazon has some navy blue for $7. I guess nobody has colored leather shoes anymore.

A brand called "Meltonian" does (or did) do a blue leather cream that was an exact match to the original colour of this leather. It was available certainly no more than 5 years ago. You may find that a good hardware store will sell such things. Shoe stores these days are just that.

Here you go!

meltonian at amazon

The colour of the leather on these daggers has darkened with time. Originally they were more like the Imperial blue but the navy blue would probably be a better match now.

The first application will not be as dark as the colour in the jar. Just add to the scuff until you get the matching shade as each application will deepen the colour.

Ok, thanks. It's coming in the mail now. Already have the leather conditioner ready and waiting.

Allright. Kiwi navy blue shoe polish came in the mail. It matches perfectly, applied 2 thin coats to the scuffed areas, then I waited 2 days and applied one thin coat of the leather conditioner. It looks pretty good.

the photo makes it looks like the leather is black now, but it isn't.

the shoe polish wasn't dried yet.

I bet an outside photo would be better.