Rattle Snake Hunter

[Wild Rose]

Here's a little change of pace. This is the third sheath I put together for the upcoming Custom Knife Sheath how-to video from Center Cross Instructional Videos.
The rattler skin inlay is courtesy of fitzo. The inlays are sewn in at 10 stitches per inch with Barbour's fine quality 2 oz Hemp Thread, courtesy of Mark Williams.- Thanks guys! The sheath is fully lined with calfskin so that no stitching is exposed. The main seam and belt loop are sewn at 6 SPI with Barbour's 5 cord Linen Thread.
The knife a - Bullnose Hunter - is by Chris Daigle, of Houston, TX - here's his description "pattern forged of 1084 (oil quenched, triple tempered). OAL is 9 1/2" and the blade is 4". The guard is 416SS, the spacer is buffalo horn, and the handle is Osage."

 

[allan lanigan]

Simply outstanding, probably the nicest sheath i,ve ever seen. Nice job on the knife also..

 

[peter nap]

Stunning as usual Chuck. I don't understand how you can get all those layers in with out it becoming bulky or fat.

Just beautiful.

 

[Bruce Bump]

Gorgeous sheath Chuck. Artistry at its best! Love the rattle snake inlays.

 

[happycat]

Beautiful work Chuck!

 

[Mark Williams]

Hey Chuck,
Since the thread is hemp, you could call it "sweet leaf" stitching. A real beauty for sure Brother.

 

[tmickley]

Great looking sheath there Chuck. Looking forward to picking up that video.

 

[J. Neilson]

Beautiful sheath Chuck. I really like the additional touch of the inlay on the belt loop. It's the extras like that that make all the difference to me. Great work, I look forward to the video.

 

[indian george]

Very nice

 

[John Andrews]

Beautiful sheath, and knife. Rattlesnake never looked so good!

 

[Wild Rose]

Thanks all!

Peter this is a three layer sheath, well with the snake skin four layer, but it's pretty thin. The trick is to use the proper thickness leather - I used two layers of 3/4 oz leather: the cover & the liner and then a center layer of 2/3 oz through which the inlay was sewn. The edges of the liner were skived to a paper thin edge so that they didin't add bulk to the main seams. Using this method you don't get a lot of bulk and the inlay stitching is completely covered so there is no wear/fraying, at least on the inside.
Frankly it is my comsidered opinion that anybody who is really serious about doing quality leather craft of any style really needs to have a selection of different weights of leather. If you're going to do inlay work like this than you alos need different thread weights since inlay stitching always looke better when done at a tighter stitch per inch with a finer weight thread.
Although I've got to say that 10SPI can be a booger (There are museum pieces that are stitched at an amazing 60 SPI! - don't ask me how! ). For stitching around larger inlays 7SPI with 3 cord thread looks good along with a main seam at 6SPI and 5 cord thread