Horsewright
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2011
- Messages
- 14,008
Hadn't done one of these WIPs in a while. Thought I'd take a few moments to outline how I build this kind of sheath.
Lets get started:
First off I turn my leather upside down and place the guard or front of the handle against a previous cut straight edge. For a right handed sheath you want the edge down for a left handed sheath the edge is up. Then trace around the blade with a pencil.
Using a pair of dividers add a 1/2" to your blade outline. This is the secret to getting a good fit on these types of sheaths, a half inch bigger than the blade. I then rough cut around the shape.
I then do the finish cutting to the lines drawn with the dividers at another work bench on a cutting board.
I will also cut out any needed shields at this time if the sheath is a Bowie type. These are traced from over sized patterns. Having over sized patterns really allows you to adapt to different sized knives and their sheath easily. I usually don't do shields on Slip type sheaths.
This particular Bowie sheath was going to have a belt loop so I cut that too as well as the shields. All pieces have been dampened and slicked, the belt loop is creased and edged and the shields have been edged where needed and the hole for the brass stud punched on the upper shield.
Skive the ends of the belt loop. I go to about 1/3 thickness for an inch and a half or so.
Time to burnish the edges of the shields and the belt loop. Here we have dampened the top edges and applied paraffin.
Starting to get a nice edge.
Looking good. I'll put some finish on these burnished edges now too.
I'll install the brass stud now, with a drop of Loctite on the threads.
I'll mark where the shields are gonna go on the body of the sheath. Be careful to have your pencil mark a little under the edge of the shield so that it doesn't show once they are installed.
Stitching grooves are made from just inside the shields on both sides.
Do your tooling next if any. I tend to always do these type of sheaths with a camo border stamp.
Don't forget your makers mark!
Glue on your shields and trim to size. Run your stitching groover all the way around the shields. I guess I don't have any pics of it but you can cut out the back piece of the sheath now too. Always cut this over sized like the shields as it will be trimmed later. I edge and burnish the top edge and crease it as well. Mark center with a small pencil mark near the top.
I glue the last inch or so of the belt loop together and then mark where I'm gonna stitch that on to the sheath back.
Sewing. We are gonna stitch the top stitch line and the interior line of both shields. We will not stitch the exterior lines at this time.
Here you can see what was sewn on the shields. I will melt the strings off with a soldering iron. I've glued the belt loop on and it is sewn at this time too.
Glue is setting. You will use your center mark on the back to not only line up the belt loop but to keep the front centered when glueing it into position. This is critical not only for looks but also you must have enough room on both sides of the belt loop to sew the perimeter lines on each side of the sheath. Also something to consider when you decide on how wide to make your belt loop. We'll continue this WIP shortly as we have reached our pic limit for one post.
Lets get started:
First off I turn my leather upside down and place the guard or front of the handle against a previous cut straight edge. For a right handed sheath you want the edge down for a left handed sheath the edge is up. Then trace around the blade with a pencil.
Using a pair of dividers add a 1/2" to your blade outline. This is the secret to getting a good fit on these types of sheaths, a half inch bigger than the blade. I then rough cut around the shape.
I then do the finish cutting to the lines drawn with the dividers at another work bench on a cutting board.
I will also cut out any needed shields at this time if the sheath is a Bowie type. These are traced from over sized patterns. Having over sized patterns really allows you to adapt to different sized knives and their sheath easily. I usually don't do shields on Slip type sheaths.
This particular Bowie sheath was going to have a belt loop so I cut that too as well as the shields. All pieces have been dampened and slicked, the belt loop is creased and edged and the shields have been edged where needed and the hole for the brass stud punched on the upper shield.
Skive the ends of the belt loop. I go to about 1/3 thickness for an inch and a half or so.
Time to burnish the edges of the shields and the belt loop. Here we have dampened the top edges and applied paraffin.
Starting to get a nice edge.
Looking good. I'll put some finish on these burnished edges now too.
I'll install the brass stud now, with a drop of Loctite on the threads.
I'll mark where the shields are gonna go on the body of the sheath. Be careful to have your pencil mark a little under the edge of the shield so that it doesn't show once they are installed.
Stitching grooves are made from just inside the shields on both sides.
Do your tooling next if any. I tend to always do these type of sheaths with a camo border stamp.
Don't forget your makers mark!
Glue on your shields and trim to size. Run your stitching groover all the way around the shields. I guess I don't have any pics of it but you can cut out the back piece of the sheath now too. Always cut this over sized like the shields as it will be trimmed later. I edge and burnish the top edge and crease it as well. Mark center with a small pencil mark near the top.
I glue the last inch or so of the belt loop together and then mark where I'm gonna stitch that on to the sheath back.
Sewing. We are gonna stitch the top stitch line and the interior line of both shields. We will not stitch the exterior lines at this time.
Here you can see what was sewn on the shields. I will melt the strings off with a soldering iron. I've glued the belt loop on and it is sewn at this time too.
Glue is setting. You will use your center mark on the back to not only line up the belt loop but to keep the front centered when glueing it into position. This is critical not only for looks but also you must have enough room on both sides of the belt loop to sew the perimeter lines on each side of the sheath. Also something to consider when you decide on how wide to make your belt loop. We'll continue this WIP shortly as we have reached our pic limit for one post.
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