Leather Help

Chris Crawford

Chris Crawford

Joined
Apr 14, 2001
Messages
380
I'm needing to make a couple of basic sheathes. I primarily make folders, so when it comes to sheath making, I have little experience and know nothing about leather.

What is a good source for leather, and which leather do they offer that would be good for a basic sheath for a hunting knife?

Thanks -chris

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Chris Crawford Knives

 
Vegetable tanned,IMO, would be the best. It moulds well. It also does not promote rust nearly as much as chrome tanned leather does, should it get wet.
I use anywere from 8-12 OZ for fixed blade sheaths. For folder sheaths, I would think 5-6 OZ would do it.
You might want to check with Gary Graley here on that, as he makes a lot of them.
 
Chris----vegetable tanned cowhide in 7/8 ounce weight is my preference in the natural (tooling and carving) 1leathers. It can be found at Siegel's of California, the Leather Factory, Weaver's and many other suppliers. Shop around,the prices vary greatly
 
I agree, veg tanned works well. Usually, the bellys are cheaper and not so big making them easier to work with.
 
Here are little tips if you have not made sheaths before.
If your hands are black from metal dust and grinding peroxide and soap makes them clean so that you don't get black on the leather.

I mark the stitch holes then put a large needle into my drill press
and drill the stitch holes. The needle by itself will drill through
with pressure. I then hand stitch when all the holes are done.

Once stiched I grind the exsess leather of the outside of the stiches with a new cause belt. I then wet the edge and rub a pieces of smooth bone or plastic along the ground edge of the leather it makes it have a nice smooth edge. Try it on a couple of bit of scrap. I have used the back of a tooth brush before I found the smooth bone.

I hope this is of some help.
 
A regular table fork makes a dandy tool for making nice even stitch spaces. Use the table fork to mark the stitch positions, then use your drill press to make the stitch holes.
 
Yes veg tan is the best and for folders 5/6 oz (an oz is 1/64 of an inch. I would recommend dbl or single shoulders and you can get these in B/C grade from Tandy or Leatherfactory at theri on line sights. If you are really interested in learning how to make sheaths I recommend two books by Al Stohlman bot available from the above "The Art of Making Leather Cases, Vol 1" and "The Art of Handstitching Leather". I have been working leather for over 40 years and still learn something everytime I browse these. Also for marking stitches I recommend getting a stitch marking wheel(6 stitches to the inch). If you get the book on handstitching it will have complete directions. Good luck and if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
 
Folder sheaths, I use 6/7 oz for best forming and secure fitup and get my leather and materials from Weaver Leather very good people and will help you out.

Depends on the sheath style you want to make, I use the bubble wrapping material, small bubbles, and lay the knife in that and wrap it around the knife to make a template to use to cut the leather out, the bubble wrap being about the thickness of the leather and thereby not losing any length as you wrap around. I also wet form the leather which also stretches the leather and removes some of the give so it retains it's shape for a long time. I wrap the knife in plastic food wrap to prevent moisture from transferring onto the knife, then while the leather is drying, I'll put the knife back beneath the leather and form around the knife, repeatedly, using a Bone folder tool, a stick of nylon tool.

The best glue I've found is Barge Cement, excellent stuff, Tip:Make sure you rough up the surface of the leather before applying the glue so it has a chance to sink in to create a strong bond.

Also Fiebings Professional Leather dye with Oil is also TOPS in the field, when you apply it, let it set and allow it to spread evenly through the leather, don't rush it!

For a finish I use the Atom wax also from Fiebings, rub it on and then brush it to a nice gloss with a shoe brush.

Sewing, you can use the two needle method, me, I use the Awl n Awl, basically regular sewing, bring thread through the leather, and half the thread on the other side, then as you put the needle through the hole and pull back slightly, slip the one side through the loop and pull it tightly down into the leather, works well. I use a four prong tool to space my holes out and then a sharpend small screw driver that I pound through the leather to make sewing easier. If you drill...it looks drilled...when you reach the end of the sewing, sew back over a couple of holes to lock the thread into the sheath. No need to try to tie a knot.

Good luck, it's fun to do but is very time consuming!
G2
Nice looking folders you have there!

AND Sandy...your email isn't working?
 
Thanks Sandy, maybe Spark or someone can fix that for you?

I received a couple emails asking about the stitching method I use, below is a scan, pardon the wax build up on the Awl-n-Awl...
Take a piece of thread a little more than twice the
distance around the sheath you’re stitching, practice will tell you if you're too long or too short...err on the too long side!
Pull the thread through the sheath so that there are
equal amounts of thread on both sides.
Then when you push the needle through, pull back slightly
to create the loop, slip the top side thread through the loop
and then pull it into the leather tightly, so that the knot is
About midway into the leather, and sew on and sew on…;) excuse the pun...

G2
 

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Gary,
I've got one of the needles on a handle but I keep getting confused as to the 'back' of the thread. So, I wind up trying to tighten the wrong side. I gave up and have been using the 2 needles. Your method seems much faster. Can you help?
Thanks, Lynn
 
Originally posted by Lynn
Gary,
I've got one of the needles on a handle but I keep getting confused as to the 'back' of the thread. So, I wind up trying to tighten the wrong side. I gave up and have been using the 2 needles. Your method seems much faster. Can you help?
Thanks, Lynn
Click to expand...

Lynn, I put the thread through the GOOD side and the needle has the thread that is on the Awl side out the side of the needle that has the groove cut down it's side, just keep it that way and when you push the needle through, have the smooth side facing to you so you know which side to use the loop on the top and to place the thread through that hole, I look as I do that to make sure I don't see the groove section of the needle...

On my vertical sheaths, I sew down to near the bottom edge, then pull the thread back out onto the top of the sheath, then glue the folded down belt loop to the bottom of the sheath, then use an awl to hammer through the holes into the back piece of leather, make the hole big enough to thread the one piece of thread back through and to the other side and then continue as before around the bottom of the sheath, also back stitch a few to anchor it in place...
See the stitching along the side of this sheath...
G2
 
Thanks for the help Gary. I'll get out that old needle and try it. I like the looks of your sheath. The last folder sheath I made I wear every day. I put a clip on the back and clip it to the top of my pants. Works good but I made it too fitting and it's tough to get out. I'll wet form it again, when I get 'aroundtoit' ie. one of these days.
Thanks again, Lynn
 
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