Buying leather and stiffness

[Nsled]

I just bought some leather online and its super pliable, not stiff enough for sheaths.

By what measure is the stiffness of leather gauged? What should one look for?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Vegetable tanned 7/8 ounce to 8/9 ounce shoulders.

 

[Ken H>]

Leather also has a "temper" rating, such as semi-soft, firm, Very Firm, etc. I'm not knowledgeable enough to know which is best. I did get some that was "very firm" that was harder/stiffer than I desired.

 

[Horsewright]

I just bought some leather online and its super pliable, not stiff enough for sheaths.

By what measure is the stiffness of leather gauged? What should one look for?

Where are you located?

If you received very soft and pliable leather chances are it is chrome tanned which won't work well for sheaths. Its not designed too. As Stacy mentioned you do want vegetable tan leather for sheath work. this will always be fairly firm stuff unless you get milled veg tan. But thats pretty rare stuff. I have a preferred leather that I use so the weights (thickness) of the leather Stacy mentioned vary a little, because of how it comes. I use 6/7 oz and 8-10 oz. If I could reliably get my leather in 7/8 oz that would be my preference. I use the 6/7oz on sheath styles that fold over and the 8/10 oz on any tooled sheaths or sheaths for larger knives. I use Wicket and Craig russet skirting leather. I love this leather, it cuts well, tools well, molds well, oils well and is very consistent from side to side. Also I find that the yield from the side is better consistently than the other major tannery producing veg tan. I also do some things to help firm up the leather as I'm making the sheath. Ya might find this tutorial I did helpful:

Pancake Sheaths and how I go about them. (PIC HEAVY)

I'd had a couple of requests about more info on how I build Pancake Sheaths. I had one to build for a knife I'd already sold and the customer wanted this sheath instead of what came with it. Thought I'd pictorially document the steps I go through. Here I've grabbed a front and a back...

www.bladeforums.com

This current thread will be helpful:

Your preferred method of drying leather?

I use a lot of casing techniques along with water based dyes but dry times are really stunting my work flow. In my experience, nothing beats direct sunlight on a dry day, but outside of that how are you drying your leather? Just bought a really strong box fan today and it definitely helps...

www.bladeforums.com

So chrome tanned leathers for soft items:

Veg tan for firmer items like sheaths and holsters:

The lighter weight for folded sheaths:

Leather also has a "temper" rating, such as semi-soft, firm, Very Firm, etc. I'm not knowledgeable enough to know which is best. I did get some that was "very firm" that was harder/stiffer than I desired.

I've had sides a while back, from the other major tannery that were almost impossible to cut. I think it was a QC thing because some of this leather was still rawhide inside. I mean to the bandsaw tough to cut. Another reason I like the Wicket and Craig, consistent, consistent and consistent. Did I mention the stuff is nice to work with?

 

[Tom Lewis]

Thanks, Horsewright, I always enjoy the information you give and the pictures. Beautiful work!

 

[12345678910]

Wickett-Craig is a great source and info source

Check out their distributor page, they cover the world.

The videos by Paul Long are great.

There's a whole sheath forum here on BF

 

[Horsewright]

Thanks, Horsewright, I always enjoy the information you give and the pictures. Beautiful work!

You're welcome Tom and thanks for the kind words.

 

[JV Knives]

I'll also throw my hat in the ring for Wicket and Craig leather. What I have bought (not a huge amount by any means though) has all been high quality and great for sheath work.