To age leather I do the following
Depending if scabbard or handle
Either way New hide is full of dye generally, I soak it in water to take as much of the dye out as possible, one or two days with lots of rinsing
Then I form the leather onto whatever former I am using for scabbard and stitch up
Then I use sand paper 200 grit or so to rough up the edges and then polish out the rough with 800 grit
Bend and crease scabbard lots, then use old engine oil and dirt off workshop floor and rub into scabbard,
Rip out some of stitches and it should have the old look
For handles more or less same except no creasing possible
I have had reasonable results with running a flame over the grips to get it nearly crispy but it can go shiny if chrome was used in the tanning
I work in a well stocked lab and have I tried lots of chemicals but none really improved on above
A crucial rule would be to make whatever you are doing perfectly as distressing is not an excuse for bad workmanship, this can be weird making a grip very carefully and getting it so smooth and then hammering it to bits
Have fun
Ken
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