Sheath Design Critique

Trout Hound

Trout Hound

Joined
Sep 28, 2014
Messages
693
Howdy Y’all,

I am working on my very first sheath project, and I figured that, before I start cutting leather, I would ask some of you who have a lot more experience to look over my shoulder in the design phase.

The knife is a Nessmuk that I made a few months back from a Green River buffalo skinner blank. My plan is to make the sheath from 7/8 oz. Hermann Oak veg tan, rough out. (I intend to really take this knife into the woods and use it, and I like how a rough out sheath shows less wear with hard use.)

I made a pattern from craft foam. (Don’t judge my pink foam, it was on hand!) I realized, after looking at it, that I need to extend the welt up to the top of the pouch (duh). Also, the belt loop will need to be longer, but I ran out of foam.

Other than that, I would really appreciate any critiques on the design, to help me avoid any unanticipated road blocks.

3C881549-21E7-4894-95CE-46D6C6E2EC74.jpeg
6CBBB008-A1FB-4172-B3CD-8B7421345CC7.jpeg

Do I assume correctly that 7/8 oz., being thicker than craft foam, will “come up short” when folded over on this pattern? I figure I can use my divider to scratch the pattern out a little “fat” and then trim as needed. I started to glue two sheets of foam together, but I didn’t have enough, and I’m snowed in today (hence the leather project.)

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
Good to see you put a welt in the construction.
Yes, you will need a bit more leather to be on the safe side if you are going to use the same 7/8 oz. leather for your welt. You need to take the thickness of your stag handles (They look pretty thick) into consideration when doing a butterfly style sheath.
Will you be wet forming the leather around you stag handles ?
 
High Standard said:
Good to see you put a welt in the construction.
Yes, you will need a bit more leather to be on the safe side if you are going to use the same 7/8 oz. leather for your welt. You need to take the thickness of your stag handles (They look pretty thick) into consideration when doing a butterfly style sheath.
Will you be wet forming the leather around you stag handles ?
Click to expand...

Thanks, yes I thought I might wet form around the handles. I also might pick up some split leather for the welt, or maybe use a remnant of lighter veg tan. I’m planning to skive the welt down to zero to help reduce bulk.
 
I would use the same leather you're using for the welt for the simple reason of the look/finish on your final edges of the sheath. It will be more consistent. You can keep the welt at it's full thickness at the handle area and then start your skive once you start getting into the blade area. Having the welt at full thickness will help make up for some of the thickness at the handle area once everything is glued and stitched. I wouldn't skive down to zero like you mentioned at the areas of the cutting edge. You want the welt to protect the thread from being cut when pulling the knife in/out. You can skive the little section (the "V") down to zero on the spine of the blade behind the tip towards the fold.

Another option (preferred) is using a full welt for the entire length from the mouth of the sheath to the tip on the cutting edge side. You can then cut another piece of leather (spacer piece) 1-1/2 inches or so and add that to the welt from the mouth of the sheath down. Then skive that little piece down to zero as you start getting into the blade section. This additional piece will help with the handle thickness at the mouth once glued and stitched.

Paul Long (sheathmaker) has fantastic sheath making DVD's. All DVD's show him taking you through the process step by step.
 
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High Standard said:
I would use the same leather you're using for the welt for the simple reason of the look/finish on your final edges of the sheath. It will be more consistent. You can keep the welt at it's full thickness at the handle area and then start your skive once you start getting into the blade area. Having the welt at full thickness will help make up for some of the thickness at the handle area once everything is glued and stitched. I wouldn't skive down to zero like you mentioned at the areas of the cutting edge. You want the welt to protect the thread from being cut when pulling the knife in/out. You can skive the little section (the "V") down to zero on the spine of the blade behind the tip towards the fold.

Another option (preferred) is using a full welt for the entire length from the mouth of the sheath to the tip on the cutting edge side. You can then cut another piece of leather (spacer piece) 1-1/2 inches or so and add that to the welt from the mouth of the sheath down. Then skive that little piece down to zero as you start getting into the blade section. This additional piece will help with the handle thickness at the mouth once glued and stitched.

Paul Long (sheathmaker) has fantastic sheath making DVD's. All DVD's show him taking you through the process step by step.
Click to expand...

Okay, let me make sure I understand. I was under the impression that I should leave the welt full thickness on the side closest to the blade, but then skive it down toward the outside, where the stitching will be, to reduce bulk along the edges. Will this not provide adequate protection for stitching? Thanks, I’m new to all this, and I really appreciate the info!
 
I personally prefer my welts at full thickness. If a wedge is used/needed I will skive that down, but otherwise prefer the conformity of the the pieces being the same on the edge. (and it seems like a lot of unnecessary work to skive it down on the edge.....that's my two cents and opinion, for what it's worth.).
 
The only place I would skive the welt would be at the junction where it fits into the fold of the butterfly sheath. Can ya show a mock up pic or two of the knife going into the sheath. Widest part of the blade at the throat basically.
 
Horsewright said:
The only place I would skive the welt would be at the junction where it fits into the fold of the butterfly sheath. Can ya show a mock up pic or two of the knife going into the sheath. Widest part of the blade at the throat basically.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Dave. You mean like this?

8173BE10-168D-4853-9449-50D77EB71C4A.jpeg 85EE7D50-129A-4BE0-960D-230A215470C7.jpeg
 
Nope sorry my fault. Open with the blade interacting with the welt at the opening. Dang that was fast.
 
Ok that looks alright. Ya might think of trimming the inside top corner of the welt at a small 45. With that kind of shape a guy needs some room for the blade to kind of rock into place. How wide is your welt and are you planning one row or two rows of stitching?
 
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Horsewright said:
Ok that looks alright. Ya might think of trimming the inside top corner of the welt at a small 45. With that kind of shape a guy needs some room for the blade to kind of rock into place. How wide is your welt and are you planning one row or tow rows of stitching?
Click to expand...

Right now the welt is about 7/16” at the mouth, a tad wider near the tip. I was just planning on one row. Is the welt too wide for that? Thanks.
 
Yeah I'd probably trim it some. Ya get the inside edge too far from the support of the stitching and after time that inside edge may start to lift a little and allow the blade to slide under and into the stitching. Especially so many of those Green River blades are pretty darn thin, which is a good thing, what makes em cut good. I like how the hump of the blade contacts the welt at the top prior to the tip contacting the welt. I would relieve the welt some more in the tip area to give that greater clearance. Then the hump contacting the welt will act as a stop when inserting the knife.
 
Trout Hound said:
Okay, let me make sure I understand. I was under the impression that I should leave the welt full thickness on the side closest to the blade, but then skive it down toward the outside, where the stitching will be, to reduce bulk along the edges. Will this not provide adequate protection for stitching? Thanks, I’m new to all this, and I really appreciate the info!
Click to expand...

Don't skive to the outer edge. Leave the full thickness and the full width of the welt running the entire length from the mouth to the tip. You can skive the entire width of the welt at where the "V" is to thin it down towards the fold once your sheath is folded and stitched, you will have a nice thin transition into the fold. I hope you understand.
 
Here's a drawing
XoTYCEa.jpg
 
Slight correction. You might not want to go all the way down to "0" at the "V" on the welt. A little thicker would reinforce the area of your stitch where the two 1/2's will meet when folded.
 
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Horsewright said:
Yeah I'd probably trim it some. Ya get the inside edge too far from the support of the stitching and after time that inside edge may start to lift a little and allow the blade to slide under and into the stitching. Especially so many of those Green River blades are pretty darn thin, which is a good thing, what makes em cut good. I like how the hump of the blade contacts the welt at the top prior to the tip contacting the welt. I would relieve the welt some more in the tip area to give that greater clearance. Then the hump contacting the welt will act as a stop when inserting the knife.
Click to expand...

Is this better? Thanks!

DC077250-F337-481B-B1F9-97989BD6E53F.jpeg
 
One other thing I noticed. That knife has an extreme hump on the back-spine. Before gluing and stitching, make sure you allowed enough space towards the welt so you're able to pull the knife out once it's folded. If not, the cutting edge will start to cut into the welt when forcing that hump section in and out. That hump will be putting too much pressure at the folded side, therefore, cutting into the welt.

Imagine drawing a parallel horizontal line from the top of the hump to the section of the handle that will be inside the sheath.
 
Here's a photo of the sheath I'm currently working on.
This is how I set-up my welt. Notice the section of space that's at the back-spine of the knife and my welt. This particular knife has a trailing tip which sweeps upward a little bit. The little space on top allows the knife to be pushed in and out with a real nice tight fit that won't cut into the welt. I'm allowing for the tip with my welt the entire length of the extraction.
Also, you can see 2 skived spacer pieces on this particular sheath. This is a real thick knife at the handles. This sheath happens to be a 3 piece stacked sheath, not a fold over. But, the basics are the same with the welt and fitment of the knife.

I would bring the welt closer to the tip at the cutting edge and false edge on your knife. Not like you have it.

I'm no expert, but, this is how I make mine. Following my photo should help.

I'm going back to work now, so won't be at the computer until tonight.

hHrKRLj.jpg
 
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