rawhide sheath

SDS

SDS

Joined
Oct 22, 2007
Messages
1,389
Following Mr. Cohea's tutorial I made this sheath. I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I used red heart glass beads, blue glass and amber glass beads, one larger piece of amber, and some brass beads with copper cones. I used ferric chloride on the copper cones and brass beads.

Here is a link to the other thread

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6112407&posted=1#post6112407

SDS

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Thank you very much. I had most of the stuff here at the house already as I've been interested in this type of sheath for some time. Your tutorial just really helped explain a lot of details that I'm sure took a long time to figure out by trial and error.

I didn't have the copper nails when I took those pictures but they are on the sheath now. I also added another layer of polyurethane and it is drying. Tomorrow I'll do the final sanding on it and get it delivered.

Thanks again,
SDS
 
Your welcome SDS. Your right, it took me a few years to figure it out to get my sheaths to look like they do now, and the whole purpose of the tutorial was to shorten the learning curve for anyone who might like to take a shot at it. If you would, post a couple of more shots before it goes out, and include a shot of the back, if possible.
 
Very Nice!!

John, very generous of you to share your knowledge, I cant thank you enough. :)
 
Still waiting on the last coat of finish to completely dry but here are the latest pictures. The buyer is picking it up tomorrow.

One question, did I do the copper nails correctly?

Thank you again for the help with this one. I'm constantly amazed at the generosity of people in the knife making world.

Suggestions and criticisms always welcomed.
SDS

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You did fine SDS. The only thing I do different on the tacks is to clip the shanks and peen them, but what you did will work. The clipping and peening just maks it look a little neater.
 
I think I'll use your method on the next one. The rest of your ideas sure worked out well enough.

Thanks again,
SDS
 
Heard about this one at coffee today. Shawn you really did an outstanding job on this one. Wish I had a chance to see it. Mike
 
Thanks Mike, I'll be making more like this one. It seemed to get a lot of attention.

The customer picked it up today and was VERY pleased with it. Instead of giving me a lot of specifics about what he wanted he just let me do whatever I wanted to. I enjoyed this one all the way around.

SDS
 
Shawn, you are developing a relatively exclusive talent. There are a lot of sheath makers out there, but only a very few capable of working with raw hide. Great work!!

Paul
 
Thank you very much for the kind words. It's always nice to get compliments from anyone but getting them from people who do this for a living is very nice indeed.

SDS
 
Nice Job SDS!

Working with rawhide can be frustrating as all get out (my hair is getting a bit thin on top after all the years I've worked with it :D ) yet at the same time it can be extremely rewarding.......IMO one of the best things about it is when done you have a virtually "bullet proof" sheath! - it takes a real klutzoid to run a blade through the side of one, even when they pout the knife in wrong......

BTW - as an alternative to the copper tacks - look for the square shank iron ones - they come in various lengths and give a real old time look when aged up a bit....
 
Wild Rose, I was able to find some copper upholstery tacks. I think on the next one I do I will try the ferric chloride on it before putting them on. I'm sure they will get marked up a little when I put them on the sheath but I can touch that up.

I learned an awful lot from making this one. Your right, rawhide can be a pain. It's not nearly as uniform as veg tan and a lot harder to work with. It sure looks cool wihen it's all done though.

I love they way your stuff looks too. I'd love to find some kind of reference book that has pictures of this type of sheath or other equipment. I know I'm going to be looking for a lot more museums when I'm on trips from now on.

Thank you again for the comments,
SDS
 
I'd love to find some kind of reference book that has pictures of this type of sheath or other equipment
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This particular type sheath is in many ways an original creation of Karen Shook. While there are original rawhide and rawhide covered sheaths (usually done as a repair over an exiting sheath), there are in fact very few 18th century knife sheaths of any style in existence, and especially frontier styles are virtually non-existent, except for a fair number of Indian made and quilled sheaths. Karen may have some sources I don't know about which she has used to inspire her work.

There are quite number of existent 19th Century sheaths (which most of my work is inspired by), both of Indian and "white" manufacture so there is a pretty fair amount of research resources available for them.
Several books are available showing 19the Century sheaths, in particular John Baldwin's, Early Knives and Beaded Sheaths of the American Frontier.as well as websites such as www.splendidheritage.com, www.bbhc.org, www.longrifle.ws, and several of the antique/old west auction sites such as www.Cowanauctions.com and www.aawt.com to browse.

As for this type sheath and the ones that I make which are not copied exactly from originals, I think of them as "Period Possible" - gear inspired by the materials, workmanship, and style/look of documented period gear, but which are not exact copies or which can't be documented.

What other type gear specifically are you interested in? I should be able to point out some other info for you........
 
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