Boiled leather
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Boiled leather, sometimes called cuir bouilli, was historically a popular construction material for armour. It consists of thick leather, boiled in water (some sources hold that oil and wax were used as well, others posit the use of ammonia from fermented animal urine). The boiling causes the leather to become hard and brittle, gaining some resemblance to the properties of wood. Since the leather remains flexible and stretchable a short time after the boiling, forming it to the needs of the armourer is quite easy, making it a cheap, light and convenient alternative to bronze, steel, and other historical materials.
Cuir bouilli has also been employed to bind books.
Boilled Leather is made by first cleaning the leather by washing it in cold or slightly warm water for a short period of time. The leather should be washed and dried quickly so that little water soaks in. Secondly, bring the water, oil or paraffin to boil (be careful to keep the oil and paraffin below ignition temperature) and place the leather object within. Soak until the leather has taken up a lot of the liquid that it can, but remove before the liquid used has cooled as the leather will become very brittle making it useless as armour. Shape and stretch the leather to the desired shape, the easiest way to do this being between two molds of similar shape (e.g. two identical bowls). Now wrap the leather in moist towels and return to the molds so that it dries slowly, preferably overnight. Tomorrow apply any clasps etc. and you have a finished piece of homemade cuir bouilli! It does take practice to get the amount of time to leave in hot liquid and time to dry perfected.
[edit] External links
- Water hardend leather and Water hardend leather
- Boiled leather in wax
- Cuir Bouilli/Hardened Leather FAQ
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