Leather Canteen trouble

[Tony Logan]

I decided I needed to make a couple of leather canteens. So far its been a PITA and a waste of time. I decided to make 2 at the same time. I used good stiff cow leather. I cut them, stiched them, stretched them and let them dry. So far so good. Heres where I screwed up. I stained them and put melted wax on the outside of one. I new I messed up so I put it in the oven to melt the wax off the outside. too long and too hot, it shriveled up to 1/2 its size and looked like a shriveled piece of bacon. The next one, I put wax inside it. of course I put too much wax in and it hardened too quickly with out sealing all of the stiches. I got the excess wax out and added real hot bees wax after letting it sit in the sun for a while to heat up. I still got leaks.
I thought you could seal these things up with bees wax only. Now the canteen shrunk a little so I soaked it in water,filled it up with marbles again and have it hanging outside. I have never used pine pitch. I dont know much about it. I know JA Townsends sells it. It has been a heck of a learning experience so far. Any suggestions besides give up and let the dog have it to chew on would be appreciated.

 

[LRB]

The trick with the wax is to completely saturate the leather. Apply wax until it will not take any more. My shop bud just did a canteen using a heat gun. Worked great, but you cannot overheat. Read this. Chuck Burrows posted this link on another thread. It will give you an understanding of what is happening with the leather. This involves a double benefit treatment. You will waterproof, and harden the leather. You should also find his thread and read it. It is on this section of The Craftsman. http://personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/leather/hl.html