Need some constructive criticism. First folder sheath.

[Omega Leather Works]

Hey guys. It's been quite a while since I made anything for myself. I've been carrying a fixed blade since I made my first sheath and kinda missed my folders, especially the 810 Contego.

Had some scrap leather and decided to give this a go. I'd like your honest criticism mainly because if I ever plan to sell them I need it, but also because it's my first and I need to know where to focus.

In terms of the things you cannot tell by looking... The retention is too strong. I cannot easily retrieve the knife which makes the clip a better choice unless you need pocket space (that's the boat I'm in). The shape seems a bit odd, but it does mostly follow the shape of the knife.

I really should have (re)read the excellent folder sheath thread but I just threw this together. I do like the colors and different threads.

Edit- oh yeah, I have some 4/5oz coming. This stuff is on the thick side of 9oz. The definition, or lack of, is a consequence of the thick leather.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

I think you hit on the issue, too thick of leather formed too tightly, so it retains it too well, for vertical sheaths I use 7/8 ounce leather is as thick as I'd go. When I first read your problem with strong retention, my first thought was it was sewn too tightly to the contours of the knife, an easy enough thing to think to do, but yours seem ok you don't need to sew to the exact contours, as the leather needs room to stretch as the knife goes in and out.

Other than that looks great, I know you'll have a better time with slightly thinner leather!
G2

 

[Eldergeek]

The sheath looks good , If I may add some comments all based on what I've learnt here ....

Belt loop - might be too narrow for a tight fit, all the folder sheaths I've created I wear a lot before I deem the design saleable or ready for gifting, wiggling sheaths are not great when you want to get the folding knife out fast with one hand, and a good grip prevents it slipping out of your fingers.

Belt loop is not a flush fit around the belt , Gary's design where you wet fold the loop over a blank piece of belt works a treat, again this helps with tight retention for easy and quick deployment of the knife.

Belt loop is too high (more suited for fixed blades with longer handles), if you apply the wet form process above then your belt loop can be lower, allowing the knife to extrude so it's easy to grab with two fingers

I've used the thicker leather like you have and it worked fine , the wet form is more difficult initially but once it's dried a bit it becomes more pliable, of course one gets different leather and here in Africa our cows are different breeds....no expert but the leather you guys work with is so smooth

Here is my first folding sheath , you can see how the knife protrudes enough to grab , it's a bit battered as I've worn this one for 2months now, and the finish is somewhat tardy being my first creation.

 

[Eldergeek]

How thick is the leather, the batch I'm using is 3mm/ 0.118 inches thick.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

I think you hit on the issue, too thick of leather formed too tightly, so it retains it too well, for vertical sheaths I use 7/8 ounce leather is as thick as I'd go. When I first read your problem with strong retention, my first thought was it was sewn too tightly to the contours of the knife, an easy enough thing to think to do, but yours seem ok you don't need to sew to the exact contours, as the leather needs room to stretch as the knife goes in and out.

Other than that looks great, I know you'll have a better time with slightly thinner leather!
G2

I just received the W&C 4oz. Far too thin, but it'll be great for the inlay work that I bought it for. I do have some veg tanned pig for lining, maybe the 4oz lined would be okay. In any case, I've been using my 4" belt sander to thin leather (sure would be nice to have a splitter!) and I'm confident that I can get a perfect thickness with effort (and a huge mess!)

Thanks for your comments. I really value them.

The sheath looks good , If I may add some comments all based on what I've learnt here ....

Belt loop - might be too narrow for a tight fit, all the folder sheaths I've created I wear a lot before I deem the design saleable or ready for gifting, wiggling sheaths are not great when you want to get the folding knife out fast with one hand, and a good grip prevents it slipping out of your fingers.

Belt loop is not a flush fit around the belt , Gary's design where you wet fold the loop over a blank piece of belt works a treat, again this helps with tight retention for easy and quick deployment of the knife.

Belt loop is too high (more suited for fixed blades with longer handles), if you apply the wet form process above then your belt loop can be lower, allowing the knife to extrude so it's easy to grab with two fingers

I've used the thicker leather like you have and it worked fine , the wet form is more difficult initially but once it's dried a bit it becomes more pliable, of course one gets different leather and here in Africa our cows are different breeds....no expert but the leather you guys work with is so smooth

Here is my first folding sheath , you can see how the knife protrudes enough to grab , it's a bit battered as I've worn this one for 2months now, and the finish is somewhat tardy being my first creation.

Thanks for your thoughtful reply!

I'm not sure I understand everything you're saying, but some of it certainly hit the mark.

The loop is actually the widest loop (1.5") I've put on a sheath because I usually do danglers, but two inches (or even more) may have been better.

I was unsure about the loop height. It does look like a hybrid loop and I agree, it should have been lower. I considered a separate loop like I did here-

Maybe that would have worked better. I don't like anything digging into my side while driving which influenced my decision, but thinking about it, my high riding multi tool sheath doesn't bother me. Wet forming the loop is nice too. I read about it in the case making book by Stohlman.

Your sheath looks better thought out. I like that the knife sits with less depth into the sheath. When I do a well fitted fixed blade sheath I always go for a nice "click" when it seats, but also for easy retrieval. This sheath doesn't seem to get either right. I think it's nice, but it definitely needs some work to be sellable. At least the knife won't be lost. I'm hoping that the retention will loosen over time.

Funny how picky you get when you make things yourself. If I'd bought this a few months ago I'd have probably been very pleased with it. It's true that you see every flaw when you make them yourself!

Last thing, I realized after looking at the pics that I didn't do all of the sanding and burnishing that I usually do. That's not representative of the work I sell. I just did this as a down and dirty design exercise.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Couldn't stand it. Just didn't work at all.

So...

Big thanks to you Elder. It's definitely not the most elegant solution, in fact, I tried to do a couple of different things but this was the best outside of breaking it down all the way. As mentioned, this was an exercise in learning and I learned a lot. It works perfectly well now. Knife draws easily because it's tight on the belt.

Thanks for your help guys.

 

[Horsewright]

On the contrary Buddy I find it an elegant solution and you carried it out well. There is a perception amongst many that thicker is better, a sign of quality. This is not so. I'd of built this out of 6/7 oz probably. Give your sheath a squirt of silicone spray and you'll fix up your overly excessive friction problem. Build ya a stick and wet mold that loop and it'll be rockin'. Liking the black edge on the front.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Hiya Dave, good to hear from ya.

Thanks for the kind words and tips. I have some silicone spray and that sounds like a fantastic idea although I think it's almost dialed in, I'll give it a little shot. I think it'll help. It certainly won't fall out.

More importantly, the leather. I really wish that you didn't have to buy such large pieces. I just got a large piece of 4oz W&C and it'll work for some things but it's pretty thin. I have plenty of thick 9oz and a shoulder of super soft 1/2oz but nothing right at the sweet spot I keep aiming for. Probably need to order something between what I have.

 

[Horsewright]

Was neck deep in alligators and then had the zombie apocalypse last week on top of that, so been busy. Average weight at slaughter is 1200 and change pounds. Leaves ya 20 to 25 foot sides usually. Big chunks. Realign your thinking Grasshopper. Its not that I need that whole side to do that. Its wow, look at how many of thats I can get from that side! As one of my mentors in the horse world said: "You need to do less sooner, you're always doing too much late." See, cowboyese for: realign your thinking Grasshopper. I needed to do more sooner so I could do less later. Same with the leather get what you need (I know its spendy at the time), but it will pay for itself and more later.

 

[Eldergeek]

Hi Strig,
Nice mod there, this is what I meant about wet form around a blank belt, instead of a belt loop, there are other makers here that use this concept.

Today I wore my other EDC sheath, having a sheath that doesn't budge is important, and it was my cross draw folder sheath, so the thicker leather kept the knife from sliding out, even with a slightly thinner belt thickness, btw I'm in and out of my van all day so the sheath needs to be comfy too.
I also use the knife so it does get deployed to do work, another reason for the 3mm leather (not sure the ounce rating?)

My next projects are to do folder sheaths that are enclosed with a snap, this is to stop curious eyes in summer, in winter my pullover/jersey covers the knife.

 

[Rick Lowe]

Anthony you're really moving on and doing well. Good "fix" on the belt loop and you've just learned a number one lesson on how to make an error fixable and look like you meant to do that from the get go. Like the guys are saying, get the lighter leather. For most any of your knife projects the 7/8 will be all you'll need and make your work so much easier. Save the 4/5 for inlays, straps, etc. Take a look at the source I sent you for double shoulders. Less cost and just about all is usable. That source will split to any thickness you want at no charge. Saves time on the sander!

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Was neck deep in alligators and then had the zombie apocalypse last week on top of that, so been busy. Average weight at slaughter is 1200 and change pounds. Leaves ya 20 to 25 foot sides usually. Big chunks. Realign your thinking Grasshopper. Its not that I need that whole side to do that. Its wow, look at how many of thats I can get from that side! As one of my mentors in the horse world said: "You need to do less sooner, you're always doing too much late." See, cowboyese for: realign your thinking Grasshopper. I needed to do more sooner so I could do less later. Same with the leather get what you need (I know its spendy at the time), but it will pay for itself and more later.

Gators and Zombies? Were you watching the Walking Dead marathon in Florida?

But no, I see what you're saying. Just gotta let a little ching build up in the PP. Ordering a big shark hide today... The spending never ends but that's okay.

Hi Strig,
Nice mod there, this is what I meant about wet form around a blank belt, instead of a belt loop, there are other makers here that use this concept.

Today I wore my other EDC sheath, having a sheath that doesn't budge is important, and it was my cross draw folder sheath, so the thicker leather kept the knife from sliding out, even with a slightly thinner belt thickness, btw I'm in and out of my van all day so the sheath needs to be comfy too.
I also use the knife so it does get deployed to do work, another reason for the 3mm leather (not sure the ounce rating?)

My next projects are to do folder sheaths that are enclosed with a snap, this is to stop curious eyes in summer, in winter my pullover/jersey covers the knife.

Probably doesn't look like it, but belt blank forming was what I was showing in the pic above. Definitely a good method, only one small part of why the Stohlman cases vol 1 is such a smart purchase. Lots of valuable information in there.

Keeping nosy eyes off the contents. Smart.

Anthony you're really moving on and doing well. Good "fix" on the belt loop and you've just learned a number one lesson on how to make an error fixable and look like you meant to do that from the get go. Like the guys are saying, get the lighter leather. For most any of your knife projects the 7/8 will be all you'll need and make your work so much easier. Save the 4/5 for inlays, straps, etc. Take a look at the source I sent you for double shoulders. Less cost and just about all is usable. That source will split to any thickness you want at no charge. Saves time on the sander!

I'll be doing just that. I was actually just looking at our old emails in order to find the source for thread you recommended a while back. All of the Tiger thread guys have long distance (or time) shipping and I need some .8mm stat.

 

[darkmatter35]

Try Ludlow Leather Supply Co. he's out of Indiana. He sells Tiger Thread.
John S.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Thanks John! I had a "sources/suppliers" thread a while back for just this kinda info but it didn't go anywhere.

I ordered a whole shark, some thinner thread (than my usual) will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

I did these for a fine gentleman Benchmade lover.

Much better than my first one. I'm really liking doing these and next I'm gonna try doing one for my tactical flashlight and multi tool.

 

[GrizzlyBear]

Here's my first little folder sheath. You can see in the pic I made the back go all the way down so there's no ridge. I skived it down to reduce thickness. At the 2" mark from the fold, I've sewn the loop together on top of gluing from that point down. Works well for a pocket sheath or belt. I found that bringing the thread over the end of the top piece and into the back in the beginning stitches keeps the top from wanting to seperate after repeated use.

 

[Skystorm]

Strig, If you need some leather split down to a certain weight all you have to do is contact me. I have 5 colors, a foot square die and can split to whatever weight. Anything more than 7-8 when your trying to tightly form things and get definition is very difficult to do.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Nice one Grizz. I like the design a lot.

The customer gave plenty of leash (love that), but did spec a belt loop that was flush with the top, and a specific dimension for his edc belt. I thought about a couple of ways to do the loop, but in the end this made the most sense to me.

Thanks for the offer Skyler. You've been very helpful. I've been trying to reach out and help certain guys with a piece of material here and there and that's because of the great example that you've set. I just need to buy at least a double shoulder of 6/7 because I definitely plan on doing more of these.

 

[Mossyhorn]

The finishing is excellent. I always preferred a separate belt loop sewn onto the back of a sheath or holster. I made a few holsters in the past and used a piece of aluminum bar stock to mold the loop attachment and sewed it to the back before assembly and finishing.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

The finishing is excellent. I always preferred a separate belt loop sewn onto the back of a sheath or holster. I made a few holsters in the past and used a piece of aluminum bar stock to mold the loop attachment and sewed it to the back before assembly and finishing.

Thanks! Forgot to show the edge, both are the same.

I thought about doing a separate loop because I like them too. Only reason I didn't was to keep the loop at the same level as the top.