Need Leather?

Joined
Jan 6, 2003
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115
Found this site and ordered some leather for a combination frog. I was planing on making a frog from the 8 to 10 oz leather (horse butt) found on this page. It may wiegh a ton but I'm gonna see if I can make a frog that will handel a 18" ak and a Pen knife. This would sub as a axe field knife combo for camping.
 
I've used the horsebutt from Siegels and it is excellent to work with. Molds and carves well, does everything veg tanned leather does and is supposed to be more durable. It also takes dye well.
 
Originally posted by mattjerom
It may wiegh a ton but I'm gonna see if I can make a frog that will handel a 18" ak and a Pen knife. This would sub as a axe field knife combo for camping.
Glad to see I'm not the only one with this "crazy" idea... :rolleyes:

I've actually changed my setup now (the 18" AK proved to be too small - for me - but a good size otherwise).

I'm going to try to set it up as a "karda" for my 22" GRS. :eek:

Same type setup as on the puukko/leuku sheath that Yvsa and Sarge have been talking about. (vs. putting it in the karda/chakma position)

Please send pics when you've got it finished!
 
If you piggy back the back on one frog to the face of the second with a opening for the laces on the back of the belt side frog you could make the rig adjustiblr for any 2 ak's or whatever.
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The rig I'm probably going to end up doing this time is going to be all leather - at least 10 oz. to keep it sturdy. Maybe if that work, I'll wrap it with some nicely patterned 2-3 oz.

The wood panels are nice, but do add weight to an already heavy setup.

In this setup, the Pen Knife would ride low against the blade of the GRS (vs. having the handles at a similar height).

The stitching will be a pain, but what do I need fingertips for? :rolleyes:
 
I must admit to being terribly jealous...

My current plan involves small drill bits on the press...:rolleyes:
 
That would work great plus you could use a heavier Waxed thread than would fit threw a sewing machine needle.
 
there are other threads...?:confused:

:footinmou

I've never used anything besides waxed thread. Guess I deserve the pain...:o
 
"The wood panels are nice, but do add weight to an already heavy setup."

:confused: Maybe think again, Pen. The wood panels allow a thinner covering of leather to be used without sacrificing stiffness. I think that they result in a lighter weight scabbard. Seems a strange way to try to save weight to me. Spruce or bass wood is very strong for weight, think old airplane construction. Control surfaces on some WWII bombers were still canvas over wood.

My 18" AK rig weighs out at:

bare scabbard 196 g How much is chape?
frog 82 g
khuk 863 g It's a light weight 18"
K & C 86 g

I It could be argued that a very heavy leather sheath without wood would be tougher, since theres no wood to split, or flatter in shape. If one is willing to use modern materials for the wood lining, I think both of these arguments could be addressed. Cold-molding of thin wooden veneer over a form could provide an extremely strong and lightweight scabbard. This done essentially like laying up fiberglass, but using wood veneer instead of glass fiber mat. Porous woods like cedar and thin epoxies designed for this job have produced top performing ocean racing yachts. Until the introduction of boron and graphite fibers, this was a preferred way to get a very strong, lightweight hull.

One could wrap a bit of carbon fiber abound and probably save a layer of veneer or two. Finish with a fancy veneer on the outside, and you don't even need a leather covering. Or you could skeletonize it in areas where the point couldn't catch and cover in a thinner leather, especially half-tanned, which would dry hard.
 
I think we need to send the sarkis some carbon fiber. It would look great with the yellow naugahyde! :D
 
Originally posted by pendentive
there are other threads...?:confused:

:footinmou

I've never used anything besides waxed thread. Guess I deserve the pain...:o

I recommend............
Mid-Continent Leather Sales Co.: Oklahoma, 1-800-926-2061. Mail-order or store at 1539 S. Yale, Tulsa. Leather and hardware.
They have a multitude of supplies of all sorts and ship all over the country.
Thier vegetable tanned leath is very comparable to the "Live Oak" that Tandy used to, (may still?), handle.
I understood they had a website, but I'm not finding it. We buy our commercial deer and elkskin from them as well as the partial cowhides that I like to work with when someone can get me to do it.:D

Dan there's a multitude of threads out in the market place. I generally use what's known as artificial sinew. It's a waxed nylon thread in straight fibers that can be pulled apart for multiple sized threads.
You can strip it down to the size of regular sewing thread if you so desire.
It also comes in several colors, but the light tan is closer to what real sinew appears and is the most popular.
I also have a couple of spools of dark brown and one spool of purple that have been gifted to me.
Spun flax used to be "The Thread" to sew leather goods with and it lasted many, many years, but it took care to do that.
The nylon threads of today are the best IMO.:)

Dan the sheath in the top left is a good example of a leather sheath.
I used 4 layers of 8-10 ounce leather for the welt on the spine side and one layer of welt on the edge side.
The khuk slides in and out with just a little drag, which is what I prefer.
When you have your sheath designed lay it exactly out with corgugated cardboard and rubber cement the edges and welts together.
The finished cardboard sheath will tell you how the khuks will fit pretty dayumed close.:)

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=1413890
 
Originally posted by pendentive
I must admit to being terribly jealous...

My current plan involves small drill bits on the press...:rolleyes:

Dan I'm not fortunate enough to own a drill press so I used my Ryobi to drill the small holes in the sheath I posted above.
You will need to drill the holes quite a bit bigger than you first think in order to get the needle and two thicknesses of thread to pass through.
Don't worry, the thread will fill up the larger hole nicely. You most certainly do want to use the double needle method of sewing on any knife sheath though.
That way if one thread should happen to get cut the sheath will still hang together until it can be repaired.
 
The all-leather sheaths I've made were all lighter than the wooden scabbards. Perhaps Terry Sisco could add his experience with all-leather sheaths. I'd be interested to see what he says.

I actually have dreamed up a way to sheath a khuk in kydex without making it look stupid...:rolleyes:

It's not pretty yet, but soon I'll have it down.

Basically, it's similar to a regular kydex sheath but with 2 important differences:

1 - the back is "let out" to allow removal of the knife...:rolleyes:
2 - the kydex is covered in a soft leather that is contact-cemented to it. Since there is are several edges, there is no need to stitch it up the back (can you see why I came up with this idea now?:D ).

It'll be super sturdy, lightweight and look nice (provided I don't mess up the leather).

I've already made one with rabbit fur on the outside (when I finally clean it up, I'll post pics).

We'll see what happens next...:eek:
 
Yvsa,

Thanks for the info and good advice. I hope I don't forget it "in the heat of the moment"...:rolleyes:
 
Drill leather? I stitched up this little dangler sheath last night out of vegetable tanned cowhide for my most recent homemade knife. Used an awl to go through all three thicknesses of leather (front, back, and welt) at one shot. I reground the point of my awl to a proper triangular cross section (like a three corner file), and honed it on an Arkansas stone. Pierces even thick leather with not much effort.


Sarge
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