Making a pouch sheath - Apprentice Thread.

Just a quick note on the Tandy needles. What pistonsandgears has seen is to be expected. Those needles will break at the eye very quickly. Best to have a full pack, even for one sheath. Do a search for Osbourne harness needles, I'll see if I can find a link and post it. I've used one set for three years, and who knows how many sheaths, with no problems.

Tip on hand sewing- Use bandaids on your little fingers to prevent cuts when you pull the thread on each stitch. The thread needs to be pulled down tight and even. If you plan on several sheaths or other projects with sewing, invest in a pair of golf gloves. Tough, light leather, will protect the fingers and still let you have normal "feel". Get the least expensive, they work just as well as high dollar.
 
Thurin,

Your taper is a great concept. One I wish I would have adopted when I first started making sheaths. Here is what I suggest on size. Cut out the template. Trace it to another Manila folder (so you have it preserved) and see how it fits.

When you put the knife in the pouch - it should wrap around the handle and look straight when closed. Meaning. The outside line from top to bottom should not bend in too much toward the top of the handle or you need a little more room.

However, remember you will have a welt in the sheath so the dgs of the pattern don't need to touch when testing. Also, you can add a second thickness of welt at JUST the handle if it is a bit too thin. Simply cut another welt, cut it to the length of the handle, and then skied it down to a point so that the welt transitions evenly.

Lastly, when in doubt, make it oversized and you can always cut a bit off the leather. Remember too that a thicker pattern medium, like bubblewrap, will give you a good idea of how you are doing.

TF
 
Here is a picture of my first effort at sheath making. Simple pocket sheath for a small fixed blade of mine. Not perfect but I am happy with how it came out.

childress%2003.jpg
 
Nice job, pistonsandgears; I've seen a lot of sheaths that were nowhere near that well stitched. I like the dye-job, too. Well done!
 
pistonsandgears: that looks sweet! Nicely done.

And so it begins. Getting ready to tinker with a scrap cut from the shoulder so I can practice some before screwing up and wasting a lot of material.

IMG_2941_zps8c410d1f.jpg
 
Talfuchre said:
Thurin,

Your taper is a great concept. One I wish I would have adopted when I first started making sheaths. Here is what I suggest on size. Cut out the template. Trace it to another Manila folder (so you have it preserved) and see how it fits.

When you put the knife in the pouch - it should wrap around the handle and look straight when closed. Meaning. The outside line from top to bottom should not bend in too much toward the top of the handle or you need a little more room.

However, remember you will have a welt in the sheath so the dgs of the pattern don't need to touch when testing. Also, you can add a second thickness of welt at JUST the handle if it is a bit too thin. Simply cut another welt, cut it to the length of the handle, and then skied it down to a point so that the welt transitions evenly.

Lastly, when in doubt, make it oversized and you can always cut a bit off the leather. Remember too that a thicker pattern medium, like bubblewrap, will give you a good idea of how you are doing.

TF
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Thanks TF!

Another question: For making the gouge to make the fold better at the blade end, could the Safety Beveler be used to thin it out, or is the V-gouge the way to go?

I'm having fun with this so far. Thanks again for taking the time to put all this together!
 
I think anything that thin's it will work. I used to use a small sanding drum on my dremel. It isn't imperative that you do that - but it will help.

P&G: Well done man. What is your feedback? How did stitching and dye go? The stitching looks great. I can see a few errors (like a stitch groove going a little long at the base) but all of that is totally learning curve. I am REALLY happy with your result. You have a lifelong sheath that works as intended that YOU made! NICE!

Great going everyone.

TF
 
Thanks for doing this. I just ordered some supplies from Tandy except for the dyes and edge dressing. There was a warning that freezing temps would ruin them. Is that really that big of a concern?
 
Talfuchre said:
I think anything that thin's it will work. I used to use a small sanding drum on my dremel. It isn't imperative that you do that - but it will help.

P&G: Well done man. What is your feedback? How did stitching and dye go? The stitching looks great. I can see a few errors (like a stitch groove going a little long at the base) but all of that is totally learning curve. I am REALLY happy with your result. You have a lifelong sheath that works as intended that YOU made! NICE!

Great going everyone.

TF
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Thanks TF for your posts that helped me get it put together. I did run into a few snags along the way while making it. I used some needles from wallyworld to drill the holes just because they were cheaper than the Tandy needles. The first time I drilled the holes I didn't get them big enough so I had to go back over them with a bigger needle. The stitching went pretty well but I did manage to break the eye on 3 Tandy stitching needles by pulling too hard with the needle nose pliers. Also I didn't quite get the sheath lined up the first time I drilled the holes so I have a few extra holes on the back side of the sheath. One thing I was tempted to try on the next sheath was to glue the welt in on both sides before I drill the holes to make sure things line up right and to keep the edges more uniform. Is there any reason that might not be a good thing to do? Hopefully the next sheath I do I will eliminate some of the clumsy errors I made on this one. It was a fun learning project, thats one reason I started off with this smaller sheath to kind of get things figured out before I try a more complex sheath. The dye job could be a little better I think, maybe a bit more even, not sure what to do to get that better. I sprayed the sheath with alcohol and wiped it down before dying. I only went over it once with the wool dauber and dye though, do you usually go over it more than once with the dye? The person at Tandy suggested using a sponge to apply the dye rather than the wool dauber. Have you ever tried that method?
 
P&G - one coat is certainly the issue. Check out the video that I posted - it ends with me dying a sheath. Check that out when you get chance.

In concern with the needles - I use Tandy needles as well - when pulling the needles out - simply pull as straight as you can - don't rock the needle back and forth - that tends to break the needle at the eye.

So - push the needle through -make sure it doesn't split the thread already in the hole - if it gets stuck push on it (on the table) from the back side and then grab the needle with a pair of needle nose pliers. A great example of this - and frankly of anything hand stitching - is seen by Nigel Armitage on his videos. Check this one one at about 22 minutes. He uses a pair of Dentist's pliers: http://youtu.be/ffI76U9UyS8

TF
 
Completed my first sheath. This was fun. Thanks TF for the tutorial! You guys (Tal, Rick, Heber) make this look too easy. My Hat's off to you!

Pouch sheath for Kephart. I went for a rustic look - aka I used the roughest section of my shoulder for the first sheath as practice. I plan on making another for this knife with what I learned. It's not great by any means, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Some pics, and then below some notes/things i learned.

IMG_2969_zps7090a17b.jpg


IMG_2973_zps00cd1a17.jpg


IMG_2974_zps938d560b.jpg


Some things I learned:

My stitch groove wasn't deep enough. Instead of using a drill - I don't have a drill press and don't have enough confidence in myself to keep a hand held one straight enough - I used a set of Thonging Chisels to punch the holes (a tip I picked up from another tutorial). A deeper stitch groove would have helped with the punching more and helped seat the thread better.

Need more room between the edge and the stitch groove. It looked good, until I had to start sanding down the edge to get the welt flush. Now it's a little uneven looking and close.

Be sure to burnish the edges of the belt loop and opening before stitching the loop. I forgot, and ended up marring the back of the sheath trying to do it after the fact.

I need to process the belt loop more. It's too furry. I sanded with 60 and then 150 and thought it was smooth, but as soon as some dye hit it, the fuzzies popped right back out.

My thread broke while back stitching the end of the sheath on the bottom. Fortunately I had a couple already done, but it broke coming out the front and doesn't look the cleanest. Not sure what I did to break the thread, I guess just yanking too hard getting it through the hole.

I used a double welt at the handle. I was worried the fit would be too tight after fitting it up on the dry run. Worked out good and fit is nice. Safety beveler worked great at skiving the welt.

I need the adjustable V-groover. Using the safety beveler worked for thinning out the fold at the blade end, but it wasn't as crisp as I'd like. it would come in handy other places as well, like deepening the stitch groove if needed and adding decorative touches.

Wear gloves whenever you so much as look at the dye. I made the mistake of opening the jar once without the gloves and now I look like I had issues wiping.


I'm sure there's plenty of things I missed and all sorts of stuff that can be pointed out where I messed things up. But I'm pretty happy for my first attempt.


All in all, it was a great experience. This old dog learned something new. Thanks again Tal for the tutorial and for everyone with their questions and input!
 
Beautiful job! I like the rustic and mottled look of the dye. What color did you use? (I have some of Feibings medium brown and it is way darker than I would have thought)


I like it a lot!
 
VASticks said:
Looks great Thurin!
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Thanks VA!

schmittie said:
Beautiful job! I like the rustic and mottled look of the dye. What color did you use? (I have some of Feibings medium brown and it is way darker than I would have thought)


I like it a lot!
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Thanks schmittie! It's Feibings Lt Brown, and I had just rubbed some neatsfoot oil and snapped some pics before I had to head to work so part of mottled look might be due to it not being totally dry yet (especially on the backside where it looks really dark). But the rough hide definitely contributed to the look as it handled the dye differently.
 
I aint point out NUTHIN' Thurin - you said it all - and then some.

1) Your stitching looks GREAT. I am really proud to see THAT good of stitching out of your first attempt. Well done. Hey - stick with the stitching prongs - they look damned good and Nigel Armitage uses them. He is a master at hand stitching.

2) Your dye job looks AWESOME. Great selection on the leather and great use of the neats foot.

3) Likely the broken stitch was due to pushing one needle through the other and then pulling - it happens. If you have a long stitch going - just work back about 4 stitches and you have enough thread to backstitch a few and then start again. It looks fine.

4) The grain popping back up a bit on the burnishing can be helped by using friction and heat. In other words - rub it hard and fast - yup - I said it. Use Gum Trag if you have it - if not - saddle soap - if not that - talk to me and let's figure it out. Honestly though - some of the fuzz will come back out with use. It is a down side of this design - but the upsides more than make up for it. I honestly think it fits your rustic look.


I don't know man - I just don't have much to say. I think it looks like you have been doing this a while. The little (and I mean it is LITTLE) stuff I see you already addressed as wanting to correct.

Well done man - you did us proud! I am really proud and smiling here! :)

TF
 
Wow TF, I'm not sure what to say other than thanks! I feel like I just got an "A" on my report card. :) Thanks for being a great prof! I would never have tried it without your tutorial and vid.

I have some Gum Tragacanth but totally forgot to use it. Guess that goes into my "fix it next time" list. Good tip on the broken thread.

If anyone is curious about the punches I used, this is what I bought: http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/search/searchresults/3008-00.aspx Be warned, they're really cheap. The head kept pulling out and I'd have to use the pliers to pull it out of the leather. I used beeswax on it to help. I'll probably invest in a good set of fixed punches. I punched both front and back and the welt, being careful to start in the same spot of course so everything lined up. I then used a bunch of the extra needles to line up the holes while gluing together. Here's a pic of what it looked like after punching:

IMG_2955_zps61b26a3e.jpg


I'm excited for attempt #2. Maybe something a little more fitted this time.
 
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