A custom sheath for a custom knife

Lorien

Nose to the Grindstone
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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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A knife without a sheath is a sad thing, but unfortunately many knife makers don't really seem to like making sheaths. Fortunately, I love making them!
And the best part is, I can tailor the sheath to my own specs.

I thought some of you might enjoy seeing some pictures of the process behind the sheath I made for Jason Knight's 'Sooke Mountain Chopper'...

the darkened areas are sealed with beeswax compound, and will keep the inside of the sheath from taking on water. The Tecloc is held on with glue and four Chicago screws. The back panel of the sheath is two layers, laminated with glue before wet shaping. It's very stiff and I think will be quite safe for rugged use.

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The face of the sheath was then sewn by hand. I use a Dremel tool with a small drill bit to make all the little holes and if I don't say so myself, I'm getting pretty good at lining everything up finally. The thread is waxed polyester.
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The extra panel at the bottom of the sheath is for reinforcement. I used up the last of my decent leather on this sheath, and had to use 7-8oz for the face instead of 9-10oz which I'd prefer.
The sheath fits pretty good!
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And finally all waxed and ready for use!

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Fun, eh?
 
ver impressed,the leather is classy and then the ease of use with the teck-lock.great job
 
Nice idea , but I don't think I could trust the 4 rivets on the leather , a piece of .060 kydex between the rivets and the leather would distribute the pull from the tec-lock pretty well.
 
real nice!! I am going to start making my own sheaths, as its just more satisfying sending a knife out that is ready to be carried immediately upon arrival.
 
real nice!! I am going to start making my own sheaths, as its just more satisfying sending a knife out that is ready to be carried immediately upon arrival.

Good! :thumbup:
 
Very Nice!! I was thinking at first you were going to add a nice 'skin' to the front of the sheath and then saw you just ran out of the heavy duty leather. I like how this one turned out. I have been thinking about giving my hand a try at making my own sheaths.

Like you said, a knife w/out a sheath is a sad thing. However I would rather the knife makers are better at their steel work than their leather work. I can always get a sheath f/someone...
 
that's for the kind comments and suggestions guys.

As for the tecloc, let me tell you that it wasn't my first choice. But, I forgot I had it and decided to try it out. It's bolted to two layers of 8oz leather, glued and pressed together, so I'm pretty confident that its physical attachment to the sheath will be sound over time.

Initially I was going to install a brass d ring like I did on the sheath I made for my Chris Moss knife, ( http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=681050 ). But this knife is way heavier and I want to carry it on my belt more than in my pack. I was thinking the tecloc would mount really well to the belt on my pack, and the easy removal from the belt is a handy thing.

As for the bolt heads touching the blade, yes at least one of them is. I countersunk them as much as I dared, as I did not want to remove too much material, or compact the leather too much. But the cool thing is that they are perfectly smooth and the hammer marks rub against them and make a neat sound as I draw the knife.

The knife fits perfectly and locks in to the sheath with a 'thunk'!
I'm itching to get out into the woods finally:)
 
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