Leather Sheath help

J. Hoffman

J. Hoffman

Joined
Jan 1, 2011
Messages
1,798
I have been making Kydex sheaths for all of my knives, except for the last one, which I brought to a local Amish Tack shop. The nice Amish man made me a sheath for the knife for only $10, unfortunately it is a very crude piece of work. I was not planing on making sheaths, but I'm at the point where I will need to start. I'm looking at suggestions as to what kinds of leather to buy, and any special tools I may need. I'm looking at getting a stitching awl, and a groover. What else will I need? What kind of thread?
 
You might want to check out the sheath subforum.

With that said.

Wicket and Craig for leather
Tandy Leather for supply's.
 
Thanks for the responses. I tried searching in the Makers Forum, and didn't realize we had a sheath forum. Thanks again.
 
Ian Atkinson video channel on youtube is a good place to start. He's a very skilled sheath maker in the U.K. who makes very well thought out and helpful videos. The second video is one he made specifically about the general tools you'll need/ want to have for leather working. You can get away with fudging some depending on your skill level. But his long list seems pretty accurate on what you need to make quality leather work. A lot depends on what you want to invest, if you're not planning on $100-$200 in tools and supplies you may not be happy with what you are able to create. I wasn't until I got most of what's on his list. Once you watch his or similar videos you will have a better understanding of what separates really nice leather work from serviceable leather work. One of the biggest things I've noticed is investing in the array of leather conditioning and finishing products allows for a much better end product hands down. Leather work is a much more time involved passion than kydex, pros and cons both ways.
good luck

http://www.youtube.com/user/satansbarber

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1pAMZQpYFA
 
The sheath making subforum here is great. For more leatherworking questions you can check out the leatherworker.net forum.
 
I'm sure you'll see it in the videos, but an overstitch wheel, 5 or 6 TPI, really cleans up your stichwork and brings it all together. Even the $8 ones from Tandy are worth their salt.

Sam
 
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