Good day for an AK

Darth I made me a wood sheath for my WWII. I made a post or a thread about it here but gosh durned if I can find it now. Mr. Steve Tall my resident historical expert can probably find it in 4- seconds, don't know how he does it.

I used a soft wood, mahogany I think only because it's what I had on hand. Almost a veneer, not very thick. I just cut some soft wood strips to make the spine, to allow for the thickness of the blade. I remember I used chopsticks on the blade side glued into the corners to keep the blade centered and also act as a guide to put the blade in the sheath. My plan was to cover it with leather at some point but I never got around to that.

I put a couple washers inlaid into the wood to attach a camera strap too and it works well. I got lucky and the blade kind of snaps in and is rock solid.

I may still have some pictures some place, I'll have to look around some.
 
Sounds good! I have quite a few hardwoods that have blown down in years past, the issue is getting them from where they've fallen. Quite a few fell into other threes and they've stayed there. I got a four foot chunk of maple but the way it grew was weird as heck, must have got a scar when it was younger and it has a patch where the tree grew over itself. I could probably take it down with the draw knife but...well...nah. I have a longer chunk down in the woods but I still need to get it.
 
Here's a couple pics of mine. Thought I have some better. You can see where the one washer fell out, bad adhesion apparently.


 
Got the maple out safely, and chopped up into two pieces.
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And all three contestants lined up. Two pieces of maple, and a paper birch on top of the one patch of grass that was exposed from shoveling.
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I'll probably section each of these out with a saw and see which ones I like most, after that it's to the drawing board.
 
You'll know better than I but those look awfully green to me. Maple and many other woods have a horrible habit of cracking and warping as it dries. I'd hate to see you put forth a bunch of effort only to have it crack and warp on ya.
Picture might be deceiving too, maybe it's drier than it looks.
 
Hey Bawanna I can't find your thread on making the wood sheath either but I would love to read it. That thing is cool. Looks like a fun project.
 
Dry as a bone, been dead for a few years now and just...hanging out. It isn't frozen, just a bit of snow on the outside. From what I've done with maple I haven't had any cracking on the few bows I've tried besides my first, and that was because the handle was too thin and the stress went right to that.
 
I looked some more for it no luck. I'll have to look for more pictures. I know I took some while I was putting it together. It was a fun project.
 
philllll said:
Hey Bawanna I can't find your thread on making the wood sheath either but I would love to read it. That thing is cool. Looks like a fun project.
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I don't recall that Bawanna ever posted a thread about that wooden sheath, but I looked for it anyway and struck out.

Old Jimbo posted some instructions for making wooden sheaths, like a 3-layer sandwich, with a strap or cord for retention:

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from http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/edgewise/woodensheath.html

I tried a different method because I thought a one-piece base would be stronger (without a separate welt piece) and I wanted the retention to be similar to a sword's scabbard:

496b_1_1.jpg


From this thread: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/982627-Make-a-Wooden-Sheath-%28with-no-electricity-and-few-skills%29

I used wood scraps (including a piece of thin plywood), which is easier than carving one totally from "timber" (and I think Darth's plans are commendable).
 
Well I need a project to keep me busy when I'm not smithing (well hammering out knife like objects) .
 
Mr. Tall, that's close enough. That's near exactly what I did only he did a much prettier job on it, and thanks for kicking in the stag handle eye candy too, I do love stag.

I don't think I did a thread it was like a post in an ongoing thread. Right about the time I got the RR WWII. Oh well, it'll show up someday when archiologist are sorting thru computer stuff wondering what primitive kind of stuff we were up to.
 
I have some ply wood and such in the garage but I think it'd be more cool and feel more rewarding doing it from the woods current status, that and I need to give the Mora and Draw Knife a good workout.
 
DarthTaco123 said:
I have some ply wood and such in the garage but I think it'd be more cool and feel more rewarding doing it from the woods current status, that and I need to give the Mora and Draw Knife a good workout.
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Well your certainly putting "made from scratch" in it's truest and purist form, that's for sure. Very much rewarding.
 
Great wealth of info Steve! Another month of reading:thumbup: Thanks!
Cant wait to see what you come up with Darth! Im planning a wood sheath for my KLVUK but im spread too thin lately on projects. Keep us posted!
 
Beautiful picture, thank you for sharing
 
Great pix, thank you all for sharing
 
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