Shaping factory-made leather sheath

[Carl64]

First, I know absolutely nothing about working with leather.

I have a nifty little Puma hunter which came with a fairly nice looking leather sheath. But the sheath is just folded over and stitched together (as usualy for many production sheaths).

I would like it to be more stretched to fit the handle. so it has an obvious stopping point when the knife is inserted (like all those fancy custom made sheaths). Is there any way to do this besides years of storage? Will soaking it in water and drying it work, or will that mess up the leather?

 

[Wild Rose]

Will soaking it in water and drying it work......

Bascally yes - but you don't have to get it sopping wet, in fact that's counterproductive......just dampen it inside and outside and let it set in a plastic bag for an hour or so. Either wrap the blade well with plastic wrap or oil well, use something like olive oil. Insert the knife and then with your fingers and/or tools such as antler tips, or some such to mold it to shape. Hang it in front of a fan with the knife still in it for about a half hour to an hour, turning it to get the air on both side. Then take the knife out and continue to let air dry. DO NOT use heat unless you know what you're doing...........
After completely dry apply a LIGHT coat or two of leather conditioner........

 

[Carl64]

Dang, that worked better than I expected! In fact, it worked a little too well. I need to find a gentler tool next time. I left a lot of little marks along the area I was shaping. I tried using the back end of a toothpick knife and pushing in one spot at a time. That was a mistake because it leaves shape indents at each step. I guess a finger would have been good too, but I like the sharp outline of the handle. Maybe some kind of small wheel device would be good.

I am happy with the overall result though, because other than the small marks the actual shaping worked out perfectly. I also flattened the whole area which hold the blade and flattened the belt loop. It's the kind where the whole sheath is a single piece, with the belt loop folded over. I like the simplicity, but the loop is always bulged out.

Thanks for the tips.