Fileworked rope pattern on edge of sheath

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knifeleather

Knife/Sheath maker
Joined
Jul 14, 2012
Messages
412
Hey guys, I was at Johnny Stout's hammer-in this past weekend, a knifemaker by the name of Peter Oppermann brought a sheath he made for his knife with this fileworked pattern. I'd not seen anything like this before, it was very interesting. He basically soaked the edge with superglue, then used a chainsaw file to shape it.



 
I like it! I've seen some similar work through the years but that is outstanding. :)

I call it thinking outside the box, and its a good thing. :D
 
I call it acrylic impregnation. I do it to all of my ferro rod handles since I realized that it super stabilized them. I wasn't getting enough stability from epoxies or jb weld. Very little chance of the leather washers separating, or the handle breaking free of the rod. I do a bit of shaping after the soak, but I haven't tried sculpting them. Very cool.

At the hammer in, did they have a sheath workshop? I'm hoping they will here at the HI in October. If not, maybe I can teach one one day. ;)
 
It's definitely different. I do wonder how prone it might be to cracking with superglue-soaked edges if it flexes though.
Anthony, they do have a sheath workship occasionally - I taught at this one, it was a blast!

edit: Sorry Anthony, keep calling you Strig...
 
Aw, he will always be our little Striggy! :p

I wonder, once upon a time in a craft long ago we used a very thinned epoxy to impregnate leather where impact resistance and stiffness was needed. It flexed but never cracked. I still have the test piece, that stuff was as stiff as kydex after we got done. It was messy, and stinky, and a pain to work with, but the results cant be argued with.

This same idea could effectively stiffen the sculpted areas and it wont flex easily if at all afterwards. Files and grinders could be used easily to do the effects.

This I will be working with for future costume ideas. These cosplayers will spend big bucks for good/realistic work.
 
That looks amazing. The wear on the high spots give it a really good look. You can tell that thing has been worn.
 
Strig is good with me. :)

I buy tiny (around 4oz) lidded containers by the 10 pack at the Dollar Store. I get multi packs of the little tubes of CA at HF and squeeze one into the little container then use an acid brush to apply it to the leather. The brush gets very stiff nearly immediately, but it doesn't really matter and I haven't found a better way. I use Insta-Set to harden the glue. You can either sand it to remove the white surface, followed by buffing with white (plastic) compound, or you can sand it back a bit to get a slightly more natural finish with no buffing. The leather is so hard and tough, I'd be surprised if it cracked or broke by anything but a very hard hit.

I imagine that you must be an ABS member to teach? I'm sure that I'm a few years away from being able to teach, but I really think it would be fun. I hope they do a leather workshop here. I don't think they've released an itinerary yet. Did you teach the use of sewing machines, or sewing by hand? Both?
 
I'm not an ABS member (yet). I know most of the knifemakers teaching there are, if not all of them.
I used my 2 machines. That was the only pain in the butt, hauling them back and forth...but worth it!
 
Interesting Knifeleather. The ABS doesn't have a membership for leather workers do they (more statement than question)? I talk to a lot of fixed blade knife owners. It's interesting to me that many of them will tell you that a good sheath is as important as the knife. I never agreed with that until I had a couple of hand made knives sitting on my dresser unused, and also a poorly designed sheath from a factory at the same time. :)

Samek, that's an interesting look. Almost looks like a combination of a braided edge and saddle stitching.
 
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