Pictorial account of the Birth-Life-Death of a Seb sheath

[harronek]

I play around with leather for fun and give away most of my creations .
But I got a Small Seb recently and decided to make myself a sheath for it - Just for me .
Well it appears I'm a picky customer , because this is the second one that's gone in the bin .
I'm just not happy with the design , but I have a new idea totally different from the previous attempts , maybe it will be the " One "
Maybe the journey is more exciting than the destination ?
So I thought I'd show the " Birth - Short Life - Death " of a sheath

















Ken

 

[Gary W. Graley]

That's enough to break your heart right there, where was the issue? the fold over portion? maybe use snap closures instead, pretty neat idea I think and of course, solid clean work my friend!!!

G2

edited to add, if the trash man hasn't picked up yet, you might be able to salvage this and turn it into a vertical one, making a slot on both sides making it what they call a Pancake type sheath, the 'ears' will need to be trimmed down closer to the sheath but I bet it would be a handy one!

 

[Loosearrow]

Nice clean work.

 

[jlubas]

Beautiful work. I second G2's recommendation, pancake sheaths with ears are my go to style.

 

[harronek]

That's enough to break your heart right there, where was the issue? the fold over portion? maybe use snap closures instead, pretty neat idea I think and of course, solid clean work my friend!!!

G2

edited to add, if the trash man hasn't picked up yet, you might be able to salvage this and turn it into a vertical one, making a slot on both sides making it what they call a Pancake type sheath, the 'ears' will need to be trimmed down closer to the sheath but I bet it would be a handy one!

That's a good idea about the Pancake type sheath salvage option , but its gone and to tell you the truth I would never have be happy with that sheath if I'd done it .
I'm not unhappy about throwing that sheath away , I still learnt a few things making it and will put them to good use later on .
The reason it got binned was the design . I know what I want in my head , but making it happen out of leather doesn't always match
I can't slim that design down enough to be proportionally correct for my eye .
The lines don't flow and its to clunky and chunky . Maybe I'll drag that design out of the hat again one day , but for now I have a brand new idea thats totally different and I'm experimenting with it to try and get around a couple of challenges its presenting .
Please don't think I'm annoyed about those couple of sheaths because I'm not , they just didn't quite achieve my expectations, but I'm actually enjoying the process of trying to satisfy the most pedantic person I've encountered " ME " it's really making me think and view with a critical eye every step of the process , which in turn has really helped in a number of areas .



Ken

 

[sheathmaker]

Ken, I applaud your decision and your overall attitude. You cannot be "almost pregnant" and there is no such thing as "almost perfect" In either case your either are…..or you are not.

As I viewed the thread initially, I thought, "man, that is really neat work, beautifully finished". Then I viewed that last couple of photos and the fat, clunky, lost its flow thing popped up. You were right and I bet you find a way to correct it. If not, I have a couple of fixes I'll share with you privately.

You are really good at what you do and you will only get better!

Paul

 

[harronek]

Ken, I applaud your decision and your overall attitude. You cannot be "almost pregnant" and there is no such thing as "almost perfect" In either case your either are…..or you are not.

As I viewed the thread initially, I thought, "man, that is really neat work, beautifully finished". Then I viewed that last couple of photos and the fat, clunky, lost its flow thing popped up. You were right and I bet you find a way to correct it. If not, I have a couple of fixes I'll share with you privately.

You are really good at what you do and you will only get better!

Paul

I really appreciate those comments .
I knew my decision was the right one , but having you back me up and agree has really made my day . I do this for fun and giggles but having someone of your stature in the leather world tell me I'm headed in the right direction means a lot to me .
Thankyou .


Ken

 

[Gary W. Graley]

No argument there, and a backer like Paul, words to live by! Regret is not something good to have, I remember one sheath I had made, the knife didn't quite snap in as well as it should, some don't but this one should have, the top of the sheath wasn't up high enough on the knife, so, like you, I tossed it, except I took the opportunity to slice it in half first I'm always cutting something! looked neat being able to see inside like that!

G2

 

[harronek]

No argument there, and a backer like Paul, words to live by! Regret is not something good to have, I remember one sheath I had made, the knife didn't quite snap in as well as it should, some don't but this one should have, the top of the sheath wasn't up high enough on the knife, so, like you, I tossed it, except I took the opportunity to slice it in half first I'm always cutting something! looked neat being able to see inside like that!

G2

You bring up a very interesting topic when you mention retention and that lovely popping - clunk noise as the knife settles into its resting place .
I struggle to achieve a consistent result in that regard , so its interesting to hear that you to have struck differences between sheaths . So far all of mine have been OK but some are certainly better than others . The funny thing is, this sheath I binned was one of the better ones for that solid lockup pop .

How's the Ankle ?

Ken

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Ankle/walking is up and down, not literally but feeling wise. Somedays I can walk with out the cane, today, I felt I needed the cane, just in case I became tipsy...

Here's a shot of that rascal 110 sheath, the leather fell lower than I like, while it would still hold, I didn't like it and so I gave it a conviction cut across the middle like so

now the sheath wasn't completed, as I found out the fitup was off after it was stitched up, so you'll see the wider area outside the threads and there isn't a wax coating applied yet, didn't see the need to go further

G2

 

[harronek]

That's a cool picture

Ken

 

[Horsewright]

Ken, I bet you could come up with a real svelte design for a fixed blade!

 

[Omega Leather Works]

I've never been a fan of clip-on folder sheaths. If you plan to sheath carry, is there a reason why you don't put a crk blank in the clip recess? Just curious.

I started making a sheath for my micarta inlay large with the clip-on and ditched it right away. Seems like a popular way to sheath carry a folder though.

 

[harronek]

Ken, I bet you could come up with a real svelte design for fixed blade!

It funny you mention that .
I have meet a group of local guys who are knife makers . They got in touch with me through our Australian knife forum and the question was raised as to would I make a sheath for a fixed blade knife that one of them has made for a upcoming knife show here in Aus . He has made some sheaths for it but has had no experience with leather before .
I would be a pleasure to try and help him out and it would be a good excuse to have a go at a fixed blade sheath design that I've been designing and pondering over in my head for awhile .
All I'll say is that its a bit different from the beautiful fixed blade sheaths that I usually see here .
I wouldn't know where to start when it comes to making sheaths like that .


Ken

 

[harronek]

I've never been a fan of clip-on folder sheaths. If you plan to sheath carry, is there a reason why you don't put a crk blank in the clip recess? Just curious.

I started making a sheath for my micarta inlay large with the clip-on and ditched it right away. Seems like a popular way to sheath carry a folder though.

It's a good question , and one I don't have an easy or quick answer too .
You have got me thinking now


Ken