Made my first knife sheath ever

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Valkman

Valkman

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So I've got this knife (the first one in 5 years) about done so I used instructions from the book "How to make knives" by Loveless to attempt my first sheath ever.

It took me 3 tries to get the pattern right but once I did it went quickly. I glued the belt flap down with Barge cement, then drilled holes with my big drill press (as opposed to the little one :)) and sewed it up.

Then I made a welt and wet formed it and used Barge again to glue it all together. Then I left it for today.

Tonight I made a groove where I wanted to holes to be for sewing, then to the drill press again and drilled all the holes.

Then I wiped it with a damp clean rag and put medium brown dye on it and let that dry for a few minutes.

Then I sewed it by hand with brown waxed thread and viola: a sheath! :D

Here it is before I sewed it but after dyeing:

sheath1_zps6iy18mhu.jpg

Knife_sheath1_zpsmcs2vpex.jpg

knife_sheath2_zpsmomduuu3.jpg

I don't think it's too bad for a first one, and I learned a lot so I expect the next one to be better.
 
That's very clean, simple and functional. Way better than my first attempts.

I make all my own leather now. You need one of theses:

http://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/craftool-overstitchers

Either 5 or 6 per inch. I use 5 for heavy leather. Makes it super easy to then drill the holes in a straight, equal spaced line.

I'm not real crazy about a groove. I don't like cutting through the outer layer of leather. Some do and like the flush stitches.
 
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Overstitchers are great and I did use one after cutting the groove and used those marks to drill by.

Thank you!
 
Ah. Sorry. Thought you eyeballed it and did a really good job!

Hard to tell on the knife handle, do I see a kind of John Ek pattern to it?
 
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Well, I designed the knife one way but because of the limitations of my 2" x 42" grinder it came out a little different than I thought it would.

But no I just drew it up and blatantly used a Loveless back end on it for the first time. :)
 
Constructive criticism only, O.K.??

Your lines aren't straight and sweeping around the seam and curve.

Next time, glue it up, then use your belt sander with a worn out smooth belt to straighten and blend in the curve.

Only then, use the groover to cut the stitch seam an equal distance from the edge.
Then use the spacer wheel to mark the holes.
Then drill them with a 1/16" bitt.

I also always use a fine belt after sewing to straighten the edges and round them again before applying edge dressing, then buffing on a hard cotton wheel with bees wax.

Then, start out with enough excess thread you don't run out and have to start over in the middle of the job.

Nice work for the first one though!!

rc
 
Looks good especially for a first try:cool:

Couple tools you may find useful if you don't already have them....

I like this stitching groover:
http://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/pro-stitching-groover-set

Its a little more expensive than the standard groover, but you can set the guide to the left or right, or you can take it off and cut along a straight edge which is nice for things like belt loops where stitches don't necessarily follow an edge.

And I use the heck out of this edge beveler:
http://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/craftool-edge-bevelers

Gives a nice uniform chamfer on your edges, making them easier to burnish. A #2 is pretty general purpose and works on just about any project. Larger sizes you'd have to be working on pretty thick stuff.
 
Save your money.
You can do the edge beveling quite nicely with a slick old worn-out belt on your belt sander.

rc
 
I use the belt sander to even them up, but a cut edge from the beveler burnishes a lot faster, and comes out even on the first try.
 
Beats any that I've done !

Simplicity is walking side by side with necessity, both the knife and scabbard designs show enough promise to keep working at both !
 
I like it for that knife.

The workmanship is on par for the most part though every one of RC's recommendations were spot on and some may still be applied to this sheath.

I might try some form shrinking too before it gets too much leather goods applied to it.


Todd.
 
After talking to a friend and showing him the knife and sheath and what's been posted here I may make another one tonight to replace this one. The more I look at it the more I am not happy with it - I could've wet formed it a lot better and the stitching and edge needs work.

I left the edge the way it was after grinding it to shape because my grinder is full speed only and I didn't know if I could get a good finish using it. I will try it on the new one and do things in a little different order.

I sewed the belt loop before drilling the holes for the sheath, and that makes it very hard to drill them straight. Some of the stitching on the back shows that. Now I'll drill those holes before I sew the belt loop and that should help.

Thanks for all the advice, it really helps!
 
Glue and sew the belt loop first just as you did.
You have too!

Then glue the welt & sheath together with contact cement.
And grind the seam edge even.

Then?

Saw out a 3/4" scrap pine board for the belt loop to set down in.

That leaves the sheath flat on the board, backing up the drill bit for straight holes.

rc
 
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Good stuff RC, I'll try it.

Barry, thank you!

I went out to start another sheath and nothing would go right whereas last night it all but made itself. Just like knife making! I finally just left it and I'll try again tomorrow.
 
What kind & weight of leather are you using??

And are you wetting it and casing it first before cutting & gluing it??

Trying to work it dry & hard will just lead to dull blades, and terminal frustration!!

Casing leather:

http://jorgensonleather.com/?p=199

Casing is not only absolutely necessary for tooling, but for cutting, forming, sewing, and molding/boning to fit a knife or a gun..

It's the leather equivalent of heating Kydex plastic sheet hot enough to mold it around the knife or gun!!!

rc
 
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A personal preference of mine when dealing with sheaths and holsters that are worn a lot is to place a Chicago screw at the mouth, so that the stress is on the screw rather than on the stitching. I've had to reinforce more than one sheath or holster because stitching came unraveled.
 
I guess?

But if the mouth of the holster or sheath stitching became unraveled??

Either the welt or the thread, or the quality of the stitching is suspect.

A proper made holster or sheath should have the stitching holes rip out of the leather like a zipper before the stitching becomes loose or 'unravels'.

Old machine stitched cheap holsters & sheaths that were sewn with cotton thread and no welt sometimes rotted out, or were cut by the knife edge.

But now?

No way I will put a rivet or screw anywhere near where a knife edge could possibly contact it to prevent cut stitching.

Done correctly with a glued in welt, and nylon thread, it simply isn't necessary.

Chicago Screws are sometimes used to adjust tension on holsters and mag pouches.

But not to keep stitching from being cut, or unraveling.


rc
 
I made most of my knives on Loveless patterns and also the sheaths.
Using 7 to 9 oz. leather I got to where I could produce a hand stitched, heavy duty sheath in just over an hour prior to wet forming which I did with wooden forms resembling the knife hilts.
At the time, a Tandy outlet store was located locally and supplies were readily available.
 
Looks pretty darn good for a first try.

You might skip the dye next time.
 
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