sheaths

[charlie phillips]

I've been trying to make some sheaths with no luck.Do you wet the leather before trying to work with it.I'm using a lacing chisel and then trying to hand stitch.I got some rapid rivets and they don't work to good.I'm better at making knives than sheaths. HELP

    TXCP  

[srtben]

I use a drill press to drill the stitching holes, and then hand stitch it. If you are doing any stamping or shaping then yes you need to get it wet. what type of leather are you using?

[charlie phillips]

I got a 12 by 24 piece of 9oz leather.I'VE MADE 2 TUBE SHEATHS JUST TO STORE THE KNIVES IN.They didn't turn out reel good.How do you mark you'r holes in the leather for the drill press.


    TXCP

[stickhorse]

Cut out your patern- do eny carving, stamping ect, and you do wet the leather from the back side.let leather dry,do your dyeing,staining etc. Cover knife in plastic wrap,i use bread sack. dampen leather from the back side insert knife and clamp edges, press leather around the knife too form fit. let dry. remove knife and insert gusset leather between the edges, make sure it is slightly larger than needed. glue pieces together and clamp. after drying use a stich spacer to mark the line you wish to place your stiching, looks like a spur rowl. or use a ruler and a pointed object. Drill them or use a hand awl to punch the holes,stich them together, cut all three pieces at once the distance you want from the lacing. clean them up with a fine sand paper, blacken the edge with edge coat if desired or put a little wax on them and polish with cloth, iuse a piece of waxed canvas cloth. For a finish i use Pure olive oil 2-3 coats, be sure to use a dober to get it down inside the sheath.

All done.
This is one i've been working on.
 

[Steve Nuckels]

Charley, first lay out your stitch line with your stitching needle after making the leather damp, be careful because once you mark the leather it's next to impossable to remove the mark or groove. Make in advance a narrow piece of wood or cardboard the width you want between the holes (Jig).  Just lay the jig on the leather and press the point of your needle in the leather then move the jig on down the layout line pressing the marks on the leather as you go. Then use a drill, drill press or dremmel tool to make the holes.  A drill press is best to make square and true holes.  I use a modified nail that I cut the nail head off, put it in my drill press and turned the press on and filed/sanded the nail to a tapered point polishing it up so it actually burnishes a nice stitch hole in the leather.  I drill from the finish side of the sheath in case I don't make the hole square, that way at least the finish side of the sheath looks good.  Don't forget to sand down and burnish the edges of the sheath to complete a nice job.  The tool in the photo is used for marking stitch holes.
 

That will work until you can pruchase some basic leather working tools that are fairly inexpensive. A good source would be Tandy.

   http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/  

Steve
--------
Potomac Forge

[charlie phillips]

Thanks Yall.how do you come up with a pattern.


   TXCP

[skullworks]

http://www.northcoastknives.com/northcoast_knives_tutorials_LeatherSheath.htm

[bigbadjon]

I make my patterns the same way Bob Loveless did. Draw a straight like on paper and lay the knife on its spine directly on the line. Roll the knife on its shoulder and lay it on its side so it is now directly beside the line. Make marks one inch from the the knife around the entire part you want in the sheath, and do the same for the other side. Connect those dots and you have a slightly over sized template that you can sand down to finished dimensions once you install the welt. Don't forget to add a belt loop if you want it integrated.

[bigbadjon]

Once the leather is cut out from that template put the knife on its spine down the center of the sheath. mark wher the blade lies and where the handles lie. Next you want to use a V-gouge to groove the profile of the handles and blade. The idea is to make the sheath fold over easily. Next with the knife in place dampen the front of the sheath inside and out and mold the leather around the knife. Make sure you have a clear imprint of the entire blade inside so you can align the welt. After it dries is a good time to stitch down your belt loop.

[bigbadjon]

To make the welt trace the edge portion of your knife and just leave the back part so it fill the bulk of the main sheath. Cut the profile of the knifeexactly to the guard. once you get to the guard just leave a small half circle aboe\\ve it the catch the tip of the guard once inserted. The rest of the handle portion leave good clearance and taper off to the top of the sheath. Align the imprint of the blade with the edge of the welt and glue it down. At this point close the sheath up with the knife in it to test the fit. This is your only opportunity to make adjustments! Then from the inside of the sheath mark a stitch line and punch the holes. I also like to cut a goove along the holes so the stitches are flush. Now sew the welt to the front of the sheath. Once thats done glue the rest of the sheath closed.

[bigbadjon]

Now with the sheath closed up you're about done. Using the stitch line around the edge as a guide you can sand off some of the excess. I usually get the edge evened up and cut to shape. Then lay down where you want your final stitches on the outside of the sheath. Once thats marked I like to sand the edge down to finished dimensions. Lastly punch your holes and stitch it up. After that I treat them with Obenauf's to finish.

[bigbadjon]

On my sheathes I do not like dye or tooling. If you want to use dye I'd recommend doing it before any assembly take place. If you want to tool or carve it I would omit the wet molding step, although it might effect the fit. I guess you could also omit the locking feature from the welt if you are having great difficulty fitting it, but you miss out on the best retention system ever divised.

[charlie phillips]

Thanks BIGBADJON.


    TXCP

[Tique]

I use the 4 prong tool sold by Tandy: Craftool Chisels 3/32". Does a nice job.

[Bert Frelink]

Here you go, Rob posted this a long time ago, and it got me started.
 http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=110;t=000596#000001
Good luck with your project.
Bert.  

[charlie phillips]

YALL ARE ALOTA HELP.THANKS


   TXCP