Question about softening a sheath

[Jakob Schutz]

I just finished a stained and stamped leather knife sheath. As I was sliding the blade in I got concerned that the blade is slightly too thick for the sheath and it might start to peel the top and bottom of the sheath away from the welt. Is there a way to softened the sheath now even though it’s already stained and stitched so that when I slide the blade it is a little more forgiving and hopefully won’t cause the welt to separate? Thank you for any thoughts/suggestions!

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Without seeing this in hand, my first thoughts were;

Make a mockup of the blade out of wood, of course make it slightly thicker than the blade is now so when you go to insert it will open the leather up a bit.

Run some hot water down inside the sheath, not for a long time, just a minute or so to get the leather into a more pliable state.

Insert that mockup knife and work it into the sheath, once you have it inserted, let it set there a spell so the leather will give and open up some.

G2

 

[Jakob Schutz]

Thank you for the advice! I'll try that this week. Hopefully it works because I really like how the sheath turned out.

 

[w.deast]

Pull 1 or 2 inches of thread and glue in a leather " shim" making the welt thicker.
Or
Wrap sand paper around a stick and sand out inside of sheath.