A few new projects...

Andrew Colglazier

Andrew Colglazier

Joined
Sep 14, 2006
Messages
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I've been working on a few little things these last few days. See below -

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The knives are, from top to bottom; the file knife with osage orange scales I made my wife, from an earlier thread; a modified R-9 HI knife I got on a DOTD before Christmas, and; a small knife I put together from a kit.

I made the sheaths for all three. Middle school leatherworking class was a long time ago!

The R-9 is the one I'm enjoying most at the moment. I couldn't find the pic of how it looked originally, but the modifications I made to it are, I shortened the handle by about an inch, drilled out the back pin and put in a copper tube lanyard hole, and opened up the cho to make a choil out of it. I took off the shiny finish that was on the handle and just left it matte. This little/big knife now rides in that pocket holster in my front right pocket.

The sheath I'm happiest with is the sheath for the little kit knife. That is also and EDC knife I've been carrying everyday.

The sheaths are all very simple, they all have little flaws, but they are also very well made and will last a long time.

My wife is very happy with her sheath. She just wanted something sturdy that she could put her knife in and carry in a pocket. This one has a belt loop, but she doesn't wear a belt, so it goes unused.

I'm having a lot of fun with this stuff! I need to order some more dye, and some tooling stamps. The finish on the sheaths is just wax, nothing fancy.

Anwway, thanks for looking!!

Andy
 
Looks good to me. Got some close-up?

Personally, I'd get the corners a little rounder, but that's about it.

Good work, keep it coming!

Blessings,

Keno
 
Wow, Andy, great stuff. Love the mods to the R knife, and drilling out that back pin was gutsy! The sheaths look good. They've got nice lines. I like that kit knife too.

I wanna see pics of your edges so I can make sure you're putting whelts in on the edge side. Whelts will keep your stitches, and possibly more, from getting cut. They'll also make your work last longer.
 
Thanks, guys!

Richard, when I made the sheaths I didn't have access to my sander. I smoothed the edges out with a file and some sand paper. I actually meant for the top and middle sheaths to have corners, as they were meant to be carried in pockets. The bottom sheath I did quick because I was on a roll and just wanted to get it done!

Andy, the top and bottom sheaths have whelts on the edge side. The middle sheath was the first one I did, and it has no whelt. It will likely need one! But so far it's holding up OK.

The sheaths lack most any kind of refinement, which is what makes a good looking sheath, along with quality workmanship. The sheaths I made will last, but I would never give them to anybody else as they have too many little "oopses" to give away.

I like that R-9 knife. It is sturdy, as one would expect from an HI product, and it also took a killer edge! I don't care so much for a shiny blade, so I matted it with sand paper. I figured if I screwed up the handle by drilling out the lanyard hole, I would just rehandle it. Luckily that worked out OK though.

Andy C.
 
Its cool Andy. When you wanna add the whelt just rip her open, sand off the glue residue and reuse the same sheath.

A tip I got from Mike Tea on edges. Wet them as you sand them. I start with a file also. Then wet the edges when I move to sandpaper. continually rewet them as the process moves along and they get dry. Mmmmmmama. Trust me that if Mike Tea suggests it, its a good idea.
 
Good tip, thanks! No glue residue on that one either, something else I did wrong on the first sheath. The other two are glued up properly.

Andy C.
 
Andrew Colglazier said:
Richard, when I made the sheaths I didn't have access to my sander. I smoothed the edges out with a file and some sand paper. I actually meant for the top and middle sheaths to have corners, as they were meant to be carried in pockets. The bottom sheath I did quick because I was on a roll and just wanted to get it done!
Click to expand...

Tell me about it, I dont even *have* a sander [yet]. :p

You could cut the edges a bit rounder with whatever you used to cut the sheaths in the first place, and the sand whatever corners you have left over by hand. That's how I do it anyway.

Whelts, as Andy said, are a must.

Blessings,

Keno
 
I love the mods to the R-9 knife Andrew. Very impressive. Are whelts glued in strips of leather?

I can attest to Andy's advice about wet-sanding the leather edges. I did it to one edge of one of the first sheaths he made for me, and it turned out great. The leather did permanently darken slightly though, and I think it's because of the paper I used. (Wet/dry that I had previously used to sand metal! Oops.)

Norm
 
Norm, I cut the strips of leather to fit, then glued them into place, then sewed them. BTW, the R-9, now shorter and riding in the paddle sheath, has become an EDC. It just slips into a front or back pocket, depending what I am wearing. If wearing a jacket or vest or longish shirt, back pocket. If just a T-shirt or similar, it slips into the front pocket, rides very flat, and the handle is now short enough it doesn't show at all.

Andy
 
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