Leather/kydex sheath for Busse!

K

Krav Dragon

Joined
Sep 7, 2004
Messages
64
I got a Busse Natural Outlaw E about a month ago and decided to replace the sheath with something of my own! Here is how I did it… Thanks to rbmcmjr for instructions on how to post pics, and to my GF for being so understanding and putting up with me, my knives and my crazy ideas…! :eek:

This sheath was made with the most basic of tools, I used only what I had at home, which was a Dremel, my GF-s home made flower press, scalpel, pliers, sewing needles, pens, rulers, compasses sandpaper and an oven. Materials used were rawhide, kydex, a metal ring, waxed thread for leather stitching, shoemaker’s cement, leather oil and neutral shoe wax. (I might have forgotten some things, but these were the most important.)

Step one was the kydex inner sheath. I had never worked with kydex before, so I was in for a treat! I wrapped the knife blade with tape and warmed the kydex in the oven while I set up my GF-s flower press that I had lined with the remains of an old foam mattress. (It soon occurred to me to cut down the piece of mattress to fit the size of the knife as closely as possible in order to get the maximum amount of pressure concentrated on the area of importance. When I deemed the kydex warm enough (about 5-6 minutes at 75 degrees C) I quickly wrapped it around the knife and put it in the flower press and then stood on it for awhile. I let the kydex set in the press for about an hour, but curiosity was a killer during that time. It took two tries to get it right; on my first try I overheated the kydex and ended up with a shrunk, warped little piece of black plastic that I kept for laughs.

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That kydex looked really good after cutting it to shape with the Dremel…

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Next, I made a template for the rawhide out of newspaper, pattering it out using the kydex inner sheath.

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I marked the rawhide and cut it using a scalpel, not very efficient, but it worked.

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I made a front whetstone pocket by wet-forming a piece of leather. However, my first whetstone pocket got discoloured by something, and I ended up discarding it and making a new pocket. I used compasses to measure out the length of the stitches; I found that 6 mm was just about perfect. The Dremel was used to drill the holes. Using waxed string (something like dental floss but a lot thicker) and two needles, I stitched on all the details, like the whetstone pocket and the belt loop. To be continued...

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Next, I soaked the rawhide and glued it onto the kydex using shoemaker’s cement, again using the flower press for enhancing the adhesion and definition. After drying the sheath was ready for finish shaping.

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I then cut off the excess kydex and leather around the edges using the Dremel. The initial plan was to rivet the edges of the sheath with hollow rivets. Problem was that even rivets of substantial size were not long enough to pass through the kydex/rawhide combo, so I decided to drill holes with the Dremel and sew the edges together with regular double stitches instead. However, I was worried about messing up the stitching on the back by drilling with the hand-held Dremel. The problem was solved by making a template out of paper on which I marked the holes to be drilled. I then aligned the template with the edge of the sheath, and pierced the markings on the paper with a needle leaving small pin-holes in the leather along the edge. The process was repeated on the reverse side using the same paper template, and I could only hope that the holes would line up after drilling. They did, and sewing was no problem. Only a final clean-up remained, I then oiled the sheath using leather oil, in order to darken it and make it more water resistant, and let it dry for a few hours. Finally, I rubbed the leather with neutral shoe wax to further waterproof it, and to make it shine! :rolleyes: :D

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Very good pictures and explanations. And a very nice sheath in the end!
That's the kind of stuff that makes me think I might actually have a go at it myself.

As a fellow Swede, I'd be interested in where you got the kydex and the rest of the material? Nordell?

Again, very nice job and informative post!

/Roughedge
 
Excellent work!!

Funny how you seem to see plain leather, or plain kydex, or kydex + cordura, but not kydex+leather. Seems like the best of both worlds to me. I think you're onto something!
 
Great work Krav! :D And yep Gryffin, he has the right idea for sure, I've been making leather/kydex sheaths for several years and they are the "best of both worlds" I dont mold the kydex in mine, rather I use it flat and line the interior with leather.

Again, Great work! I wanna see more, be sure to post em as you make em! :D
 
Great work, Krav Dragon!!! :thumbup: There is lots to like in that pair of leather/kydex pants. It does offer the best of both worlds -- the durability of kydex and the good looks of leather. Very nice fit 'n finish on the workmanship. You did well, Grasshopper! :)

Also, the very high comfort and utility of those dangler sheaths with the rotable ring between the belt loop and the sheath pouch are hugely under-represented in the market. I suspect it's due to the easier/cheaper construction of simply forming a fixed belt loop from a folded-over extension flap of the sheath body material.

The only concern I had on your very nice sheath was that the stitching looks like it may be in danger of cutting by the edge as the knife is resheathed. Putting the fold of the kydex along the spine of the knife means there isn't a layer of kydex between the edge and the stitching. Placing the fold of the kydex along the edge would place a barrier between the edge and the stitching. (I realize that the rigidity of the kydex against the primary bevel of the blade may be sufficient restraint to keep the edge away from the stitching. But as a professional pessimist and worrywort, I'm morally bound to fret about such things. ;) )

The graphic below shows what I have always thought of as being the way to construct a leather-kydex sheath that would prevent the edge from contacting the stitching. The kydex would only have to cover the straight part of the edge, since the rivet you've got at the top of the sheath should keep the NO-E from sliding far enough into the sheath to make contact with the stitching at the belly/tip area of the blade. Epoxy would work well to fasten the layer of kydex to the leather.

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The main issue I see with molding the sheath across the edge is the curvature of the blade side. Its still possible, but it might make for an unusual shaped sheath. The molding around the handle area where it locks in place might be an issue as well, I'm thinking in terms of molding leather as I havent molded kydex as of yet.

The best cure I can think of is to make a welt out of either kydex or leather, it will make the sheath slighly thicker but a bit safer as well. Another might be to put a couple more rivets down the sewn line to act as a further barrier.
 
Guys, thank you all for the kind words.

RoughEdge, I did not get the kydex or the leather from Nordell. A relative of mine picked up the kydex for me when visiting the USA a few years ago. I have had it in my tool/materials drawer ever since. I bought the leather, the string (sentråd) and the metal ring at Anderssons Läder in Stockholm. I say, buy what you need from Nordell, and then go for it bro!

Cliff, a special thanks to you. I have learned a lot from your posts.

Gryffin and leatherman, I came up with the idea of using both leather and kydex for this knife because it would mirror both the "sofistication" of a semi-custom and the ruggedness of this particular knife. There is also a practical consideration, in as much as kydex alone would turn brittle in severe cold - and this knife is going to be a user on cold-weather hikes. Besides, I just like how leather looks, smells and ages... :)

RokJok, that would be a very valid point with most knives, and definitely something I will have to consider if I decide to make kydex sheaths for other knives in the future (which I will! :D ). I was actually concerned about this problem as well untill I was finished molding the kydex and saw how tight the fit was. But in this case we're talking about a knife that is 6 mm (.25") thick and flat ground - even without the stiching it would be next to impossible to force the edge out due to the stiffness of the tightly molded kydex.
 
You should definately consider making them, Kydex by itself has severe problems for heavy use knives because it is very brittle compared to leather. The outside leather will not only absorb some of the impact, it will also keep the sheath together even if the Kydex is shattered.

-Cliff
 
Cliff Stamp said:
The outside leather will not only absorb some of the impact, it will also keep the sheath together even if the Kydex is shattered.
Click to expand...
Also, for non-stainless knives, it keeps wet leather away from the blade. That's what got my attention, since I just picked up a Bark River in A2 that is pretty much begging for a sheath like that...
 
M3LEE/GRANT: No problemo, I enjoyed reading the comments. I thought this thread was dead anyway. I actually worked on it for several weekends, but that's because this is my first attempt at sheathmaking, and I had to figure out what to do next all the time. Also, when I realized I needed some material or another, I had to get it from the store before I could continue. Total time making the sheath was approximately 6-8 hours.

Texgunner1: Thanks bro.
 
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