Sheath making!
I use Rubbermaid trash can plastic. It's tough, cheap, resists solvents and UV and is easy to work with. It outlasts leather and costs less. If only it looked better and could be molded like Kydex. :-(
This is a welted sheath. That means that there is a layer of sheath material, cut out for the knife blade, that acts as a spacer between the front and back of the sheath. The thicker the welt, the easier it is to draw and replace the knife. The thinner the welt, the tighter the sheath holds the blade.
The photo above shows both a leather rivet and staples. I make the "staples" from large paper clips, which I darken with gun blue after installation. On the back side of the sheath, I use needle-nose pliers to bend the ends of the staples back inward until they touch the plastic, then I seat them by tapping gently with a small hammer. Staples are narrower than rivets and allow a narrower sheath.
The strap that the female half of the snap is attached to is leather in this example. It attaches to the back of the sheath with a leather rivet. To keep the rivet from scratching the knife, I dent the back of the sheath outward just a little bit. I heat it in a warm, not hot! oven with a piece of wood under it. You should experiment cautiously to get the plastic just warm enough to mold slightly but not hot enough to melt or burn. I started at about 150 degrees F., increasing the temp a little at a time. On my oven, 200 degrees F. is warm enough. YMMV. I made a dent with a ball peen hammer in the wood the sheath back sits on, and when I take it out of the oven, I use a smaller ball peen to press the dent into the plastic. Any rounded object (not your thumb!) would work.
The steps:
(1)
Make a pattern for your sheath by tracing around the blade on some paper. Decide how much of a margin you need around the blade for rivets or staples and draw the outer shape of the sheath. You'll need a back and front for your sheath, as well as at least one welt piece. For my welt, I used one layer of plastic that's about 1/16 of an inch thick.
(2)
I mark the plastic by placing the pattern on the plastic and punching holes through it with a small awl or push pin. To cut out the parts, I just "connect the dots."
(3)
Make the dent in the back piece as described above.
(4)
Glue the sheath together with contact cement. Roughening the contact areas first with coarse sandpaper helps.
(5)
Try fitting the knife in place. You may need to take the sheath apart and trim the inside part of the welt. Use this chance to decide just how the strap will have to be positioned, then peel the back piece off, use a drill or awl to make the hole in the middle of the dent, and rivet the strap in place. Don't worry about the female snap half until later. Using some more contact cement, reassemble the sheath.
(6)
Drill holes and install rivets or staples. I also make extra four holes in the sheath (see photo). The two near the end are used for a beaded "dog tag" chain.
(7)
Decide where the female snap half should go and install it on the strap. Trim the strap as necessary.
You're done!
I wear this sheath as a neck knife, or I loop the chain through a belt loop and carry the knife tucked in my waistband in front, or in a pocket. The thickest part of the knife/sheath is at the snap: 5/8". The sheath is 7/16" thick at the point where the strap is riveted on the back. Most of the sheath is just 1/4" thick, as is the cord-wrapped part of the knife.
Best wishes,
Dirty Bob
hehehe.
