sheath leather

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Check out thift stores for used briefcases, purses, weightlift belts etc. depending on weight you can get useable leather for pennies. In some cases you will have to double up on thickness. Check out oold cowboy boots at the same place. Great design patterns and you can get two pouch sheaths from each boot, front and back(be creative here). Again depending on the weight of the tops.
 
I pick out all my leather by hand. i have a leather worker that has a store by my house and i hand pick it all so it's nice. I only use horse belly any more, i had to many problems with the cow hide.
 
I hardly ever post here but I'll add to this thread. I've been doing leather work for many years and I wouldn't recommmend Tandy's vegtable tanned leather to any one. Even in the days before they went bust and disappeared their leather was always one grade thinner than listed and if you ordered from them you could get some sorry quality leather. Now that they are back as a completely different company I don't see much difference.

I like to order from Jantz because they deliver quickly and stand behind their merchandise. I have ordered leather from them three times. I got an excellent piece the first time. The next was much thinner than it was supposed to be. They replaced it but that piece was half good and half bony.

There is a leather store in Lubbock, TX named S & D Trading Co. LLP that sells only Herman's Oak leather and it very good leather, as good as I've ever used in fact. He also sells all of Tandy's merchandise and also Hidecrafter's. He has a website and will ship. His website is www.sdtradingco.com. Fortunately I live close enough to Lubbock so I can drive over and pick out what I want. He's a nice guy to boot.
 
There is a lether supplier in colorado springs and it is called Colorado leather goods and they do mail orders and i think they have a web sight.
Just my 002 hope this helps.
 
Try Siegel of California. Good prices on some stuff, and they carry veg-tanned horse leather at a very reasonable price.
 
Bruce, Ohio bag is the best supplier of snaps and finding that I have found in my 50 plus years of doing leatherwork. For what its worth.
 
I have been buying from Wickett-Craig for a couple of years, but have just bought from another source that seems to be better. Just got two double shoulders from RJF Leather in Elmira, NY. Best leather I've gotten in a long time. Cuts easy, dyes very well, clean and even throughout. The owner is Roger Folmar and you can reach him by phone at 607-742-8969, email fjlea@aol.com and web site is www.rjfleather.com. His prices are ...ay who feels the same as I about the leather.
 
Springfield Leather sells 10 oz. Hermann Oak sides for IIRC less than $6/sq. ft., I bought some recently from them and it's great stuff and good customer service. You don't have to buy a whole side either, they will sell you as little as 2 sq. ft. Just Google them.
 
+1 for Springfield Leather. These folks deliver on all counts. I received an order from them a few weeks ago that included some of the Hermann Oak vegtan Salem mentioned. Nice stuff. Great service too - just call and talk with them first as not everything they carry is on their web site. They are quite happy to serve the small shops too - a huge plus in my book. (Just saying, heatbath parks...)
 
Quality wise I love the WC sale section, most of the stuff is usually returns from very high end places from what I understand, basically they get to choose from the actual cream of the crop sort to speak. HO from springfeild is pretty good, if you could afford to buy in the large quantities from HO it would probably be far better but most of us cant afford 10 sides at a time.

One thing thats nice about WC is you can get backs for a decent price which means just about all of it can be used for sheaths. If you making alot of sheaths that would be the way to go. However most of the guys here arent really making that many so springfeild is a great place and Kevin and his staff are always willing to help you out with what you need.
 
Wow, seven resurrections in six years. That may be a record. Clearly a popular topic.

Don't overlook the knife suppliers for a small order of leather. A 12X24 sheet may be more expensive per Sq.Ft. than a whole shoulder, but the total is much lower. If you only want one steak, no need to buy a whole cow.
 
Thank you so much. I ordered some leather and am waiting delivery.

Does anyone know someone that does knife grinding? I'm looking for somewhere to mail my knife blanks to get the initial ruff grinding done, or someone that does ruff grinding and sharpening would be even better. I am not a good enough grinder yet to do my own knife grinding.

Thank you
Ray
 
Rick Lowe said:
I have been buying from Wickett-Craig for a couple of years, but have just bought from another source that seems to be better. Just got two double shoulders from RJF Leather in Elmira, NY. Best leather I've gotten in a long time. Cuts easy, dyes very well, clean and even throughout. The owner is Roger Folmar and you can reach him by phone at 607-742-8969, email fjlea@aol.com and web site is www.rjfleather.com. His prices are .... Glad to hear Sandy passed on the word......
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Sandy and I had the same problems with our last source. He told me that you had suggested Roger and I'm glad he did!
Thanks Chuck!
Rick
 
Ray, You probably won't find too many makers who do the grinding for others.
It really isn't that hard to shape the bevels, and a file will do the work if grinding isn't your thing. The knife will have to be Heat Treated and then sanded/ground to the final finish afterward, too. The stickies have a good tutorial on making a knife from start to finish.

Several good options might be available to get the grinding done and learn how to do it, but since you haven't filled out your profile info, there is no reason to go into them.
 
Thank you all for you great suggestions.
As for the grinding, I will just serface grind my CPM-3v flat, hand file it to the edge I want. Send it out for hardening and then hand sharpen it. I will practice with shape grinding knife edges on some cheap steel before going for a real blade.

Thanks again.
Ray


Ray
 
quick question, do i need to get Hermann Oak or can i get a sholder imported from south America for half the price? I dont do any tooling mostly just basic pouch sheaths.
 
Nebulae said:
quick question, do i need to get Hermann Oak or can i get a sholder imported from south America for half the price? I dont do any tooling mostly just basic pouch sheaths.
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Will the cheaper sides work, yes. I have made quiet a few things when I first started out buying cheaper leather and it worked. Personally I got tired of the various bad things that came from the cheap imported leather (some imported leather can be really nice) like the flesh side turning into a wholly mammoth and not dying worth a crap. Having various defects covered up somehow that made themselves apparent when you starting dying your project. Having a heck of a time wetforming the leather. Once I tried the nicer leather be it herman oak, wickett, or whoever else I never thought about trying anything else unless I got a good recommendation from someone like Wild Rose,
 
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