Not sure why, but I got a bug to attempt a leather sheath. After finding a Tandy leather store they hooked me up with some 7 oz leather a hole punch and a thread and needle. I ended up making this one in three pieces with a welt to prevent the blade from cutting the thread. It was a surprisingly difficult, but addicting project. The biggest issue was getting all the holes lined up perfectly for threading. As you can probably see, they are not real even. Going to have to spend a few hours on Youtube watching the pros.
All in all it is a durable sheath. I took it traveling over Thanksgiving and it protected the blade and the edge well. Even after it getting dropped and some pretty good travel beating it held up just fine. I am definitely going to try a few more...my son has some leather tools from Scouts so I may try my hand at some tooling on the next one.
I think you did a fine job.That looks darn good.I often made sheaths for my knives but mostly used sinew for the threading as I was into pre 1840 mountain man rendezvous. Your son can lead you right.Working with leather can be rewarding in of itself.
old onion wrote: ↑Sun Dec 10, 2017 2:52 pm
I think you did a fine job.That looks darn good.I often made sheaths for my knives but mostly used sinew for the threading as I was into pre 1840 mountain man rendezvous. Your son can lead you right.Working with leather can be rewarding in of itself.
Sinew thread was an option they had for sale. Is that better to use than the standard thread?
old onion wrote: ↑Sun Dec 10, 2017 2:52 pm
I think you did a fine job.That looks darn good.I often made sheaths for my knives but mostly used sinew for the threading as I was into pre 1840 mountain man rendezvous. Your son can lead you right.Working with leather can be rewarding in of itself.
Sinew thread was an option they had for sale. Is that better to use than the standard thread?
Sinew now days is artificial but is pretty tough stuff with a waxy feel to it.It is waterproof and won't rot like ordinary thread.For long lasting durability,I would use it.
Nmiller21k wrote: ↑Sun Dec 10, 2017 6:17 pm
Just remember leather keeps moisture in.
RIght, I am curious to see how it turns out. The knife I have it on now is a semi stainless so not much of an issue.. However, I am borrowing a fully reactive knife from another maker right now. It is fully reactive and has a leather sheath and there does not seem to be any issue. Most of my vintage carbons also have leather sheaths and cases without much issue. I need to try it on a knife prone to reactivity and store it away for a month to see what happens. I am betting as long as the knife comes out every now and again it should be good. (famous last words)
Nice job on your first one! If you feel like buying more tools to help get a stitching groover to make an evenly spaced channel which will also protect the thread, and then a star wheel to mark where the holes go. Will make a nice even channel and spacing hopefully! Good luck!
Attachments
stitching groover.JPG (29.98 KiB) Viewed 2890 times
Bob Z wrote: ↑Wed Dec 13, 2017 1:19 am
Nice job on your first one! If you feel like buying more tools to help get a stitching groover to make an evenly spaced channel which will also protect the thread, and then a star wheel to mark where the holes go. Will make a nice even channel and spacing hopefully! Good luck!
Looks like that stitching groover is a must. I will hit up Santa for that one.
Thanks for the kind words all. Surprisingly, it was harder to make than a wood saya. With wood I can sand and shape, and if I don't like a shape I can just sand it to adjust. With leather everything has to else exact pre- assembly so it requires a little more precision...at least to make nicer ones.
