My First Sheath :)

richtrix

Gold Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2000
Messages
344
Here's my first sheath for my first knife :) I hope it's OK to post these "first" pictures. I'm just excited and I don't really have any knife making friends close by. The forumites have been a great help just reading all the posts so I consider you folks my knife making buddies. The sheath is 8/9 oz first grade leather, hand stitched. Now it's time to start on my second knife :D :D :D Richie


994564506185_a1sheath.JPG

994564505935_a1sheath2.JPG
 
It looks really GOOD to me.
I wish I was doing work like that 9 years ago on my first knife....
Bruce
 
Great job on your first sheath, or hundreth for that matter. It is perfectly fine as it sits.

However (come on you knew it was coming), you might want to try a few things sometime down the road.

First, you can decrease that bulge at the riccasso by tapering your welt. Start out your welt at full thickness (the thickness you need at the throat for the handle). Then start thining it down as you go towards the tip.

Second, round over your edges. I used to think that a nice crisp edge looked more finished. But after looking at some of my sheaths after a few months of use, those nice edges were torn to shreds. Every little bump of scrape was magnified. Rounding your edges over helps to keep your sheaths looking newer longer.

Third, burnish your edges. I simply wet the edges and rub them really quickly with the wooden handle of my overstitch tool (or whatever). I stop when the edges are glass smooth and then coat them with Edge Coat.

Just thoughts, your sheath does look good. No flames please.
 
Thanks for the suggestions R.W. I will definitly try the tapered welt on my next sheath. What's the best way to taper?....I guess I could do it on the platen? I did burnish the edges and put about a 1/8" radius on them...If I put more radius on the next one should I move the stitching in further?.......Richie
 
Howdy There....!
Great looking work, I certainly wished my first and the last sheath that I made looked that good. Looks also lik you have spent some time at the grinder. Keep up the good work, you have got a good start. Also drop me an email, want to talk to yu about joining the nc guild.

Later "Possum":eek:
 
Looks like somebody did some homework before hitting the steel to the tools! Wow! I'm VERY impressed. That looks like a nice all-around knife/hunting knife. Keep up the good work!
 
You can thin the welt on your platen very quickly (just watch those fingers). You may find that you need to add an extra piece to the welt up by the throat. Just play around with it from sheath to sheath.

You would need to move your stitching back a little from the edge to do the round overs. I tried several tools to do the round overs, but found it was best to just use my belt grinder. On your sheaths you can work right on the platen. On sheaths like mine with some curves in them you need to move to a small wheel. I start with 220grt and then move to 400grt. I don't know what raduis I put on, I just stop when I think it looks right. You can also speed up burnishing if you put a LITTLE water on your edge and run over it again with the 400 belt. Then move onto the hand burnishing.

You can also cut down on the bunching by wet forming before you assemble. The Loveless video shows this in detail. Basically - cut out all parts to size, wet form to knife and let dry. Dye inside and outside of sheath, sew belt loop, fit welt and glue in welt, glue sheath shut, grind edges true and to final shape, stitch it up.

I used to do my sheaths like that. But after a started to fully tool all my sheaths, I switched to another method.

When you wet form after stitching the extra leather around the riccasso has no place to go. So it just bunches up like that. When its wet formed before assemble the extra leather can be pulled out towards the cutting edge. When you glue in your welt you just leave the extra leather long over the welt. You will get a nice smooth area over the blade.

You can see one of mine at the link below.

Thanks, looking forward to your next one.

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1663783&a=12749586&p=51195147&Sequence=1&res=high
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1663783&a=12749586&p=50695368&Sequence=5&res=high
 
Originally posted by richtrix
I'm just excited and I don't really have any knife making friends close by.

Richie,
You live less than 45 minutes from Phillip and I. We live in Danville, VA. Stop by and say Hi sometime.:cool:

That is a gorgeous knife / sheath combination. You definitely did a wonderful job on both.

BTW, There used to be a very good knifemaker named Walt Harless living in Stoneville. Ever hear of him?
 
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