Adjustable Sheath-Latch

P

Paw-bah

Joined
Mar 10, 2007
Messages
67
Hay guys
I have a knife and sheath construction method for keeping a knife in a leather sheath without the need for keeper straps.

The handle is fully exposed to grab on to without re-adjusting your grip
just grab and pull.

And the user can choose and change the amount of pull required to get the knife out of the sheath,,,from just a few ounces of pull all the way up to 15 pounds of pull.

I am trying to freely share this construction method with everyone,,
not trying to make a buck on this,,i just think its a cool idea and if i can figure out how to post a picture on this form I'll share pictures as well
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Go to photobucket or some other picture site, and post the url in between IMG and /IMG, both in brackets.
 
How Sheath-Latch works:
It is a two-part system that is so simple it is almost undetectable in photos.

Part 1: [when constructing the knife with bolsters]
On a full tang knife, after the bolsters are fitted to the sides of the blade and the holes are drilled for the pins, remove them and chamfer the leading edge of the bolsters that is closest to the blade.
The chamfer should be about 45 degrees this will assist the knife when inserting it into the sheath.
After the bolsters are affixed to the knife and the handle slabs are installed, shape the handle as you normally would.

Then by using a 3” inch diameter wheel on your belt sander sculpt the area just behind the chamfer with a concave cut on both sides.

Part 2: [when constructing the sheath]
The belt loop and sheath pocket will be two pieces. Lay the knife on a strap of leather with the point at one end. Draw around the knife. The strap should be 1-1/2 the length of the knife.
Trim the leather away from the strap where the blade and bolsters are drawn, leave the rest of the trimming for later.

Prep a piece of leather that will be wet-formed over the knife.
With the spine of the knife ticked into the center of the leather like the fold of a book, each side should fold closed over the blade and bolsters and extend about an inch beyond [about ½” inch beyond the point]

Soak the leather in warm water for 30 minutes. Use the knife as a form. Make sure the strap that is trimmed to the shape of the blade remains under the blade while forming [the other end of the strap and handle will stick out of the formed leather]

View the pictures I put on the link it might fill in the blanks.
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http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=43483
 
on the link the first picture in the center is a cartoon drawing of the sheath.
it is a side view cut-away.
The green dot in the cartoon is the key to this. what it actulay is,,,
it is a small cloth or hyde shim it can be rolled or folded or removed.
It is placed behind the belt loop just inside of the sheath pocket,,
it "pinches" on the knife right at the bolster area.

to put the knife away,,drop the blade into the sheath,,don't force it,,it will drop in,,
then witha slight push on the butt of the knife,,"POP" the knife snaps in the sheath
 
Ok now that youre seeing how simple it works,,
notice that the leather strap that goes down inside the blade pocket,,
it holds the knife blade to a different plane then the sheath stitching,,
this elimanates the need for a "welt" along the stitching seem,,giving a narrower profile on the sheath,,

the bolsters form a blade-stop in the sheath so the knife can't be pushed in too far.

I have tested this design with a 50 pound fish scale and have acheaved 15 pounds of pull on a regular basis.
over the years,,as the leather relaxes,,just roll the shim into a larger roll.
now you can go moto-cross on the worst trail,,but when you reach for your blade,,grab it and pull,,no straps to come unsnapped or get in the way when you put away your knife.
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Pics hosted on my photobucket so everyone doesn't have to register on the other forum, there.

..If it's a problem, I can take them down, just thought I'd help :D

ex1.jpg

ex2.jpg

ex3.jpg

ex4.jpg
 
oh,,thank you for the help,,i'm not computer compleat yet please leave them on,,
and thank you to the other guys for your support,,
if you can use the ideas to build on,,go for it,,whee haw
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