Sheath Making - Second Attempt

mckrob

mckrob

Gold Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
Messages
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I made this one this morning for my Lightfoot Woodsman, my second attempt at making a sheath to date. It's a little big but it fits the Game Warden as well. I'm not quite finished it yet, I have to die the edges and install a snap, and polish it a bit, but it does the job. Luckily leather is dirt cheap down here (less than $2 sqft) so if I mess up a cut or two it's no big deal!

The retention strap is intentionally left extra wide, I will narrow it a bit once I can track down some high-quality snaps (I have no idea how wide the snap will be).

My third will probably not be for a couple of weeks, I'm going to attemp a big hanger type for my FFBM.


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nice job! it looks pretty good for only your second attempt. do you plan on wet moulding it?
 
Looks mighty fine to me!! :thumbup:

Good job, I would have never guessed it was only your second sheath.:cool:

Nick
 
Awesome job! Your sheath posts are inspiring.

I'd like to try my hand at sheath making and, one of these days, knife making.

I think I might try to make a sheath for one of my Ratmandus.
 
Good job, very nice. Stitches nice and straight and clean. What did you use to make the holes for stitching?
 
I hope you can take some constructive criticism from a sheathmaker.

The retention strap you have on that sheath isn't really going to keep the knife in the sheath. After the snaps are installed I can almost guarantee that the knife will slide out of the sheath easily without undoing the snap. It may get hung up a bit but it will slide out. With knives of this type a deep pocket wet-molded pouch sheath works best. There is little to no bottom guard for the strap to hold on to. The only way this might work is if the width of the belt loop is narrower than the handle of the knife. The larger knives have a considerable bottom guard and depending on how you plan out the sheath a single back to front strap (snap on strap and on the front of the sheath) will work.

You have the basics down but you need to layout and test fit a bit more to see what works.
 
mfaster7 said:
Good job, very nice. Stitches nice and straight and clean. What did you use to make the holes for stitching?
Click to expand...

I used my compass to trace the outside contour of the curved edge 3/16" back from the edge, then marked the stiches with a ruler at an interval of 3/16" (5.3 stitches per inch). I used the point of the compass to pierce a tiny guide-hole (and to see it easier), then using a dremel mounted on a dremel press I drilled them out with a 3/64" bit. I then cut a thread groove front and back with an olfa box cutter, then stitched it with a two needle saddle stitch.

When I get back to civilisation I plan to invest in a good groove cutter and an overstitch wheel.

Has anyone used snaps from Tandy Leather? are they half decent quality ? How about tools and other hardware from Tandy ?
 
Ken C. said:
I hope you can take some constructive criticism from a sheathmaker.

The retention strap you have on that sheath isn't really going to keep the knife in the sheath. After the snaps are installed I can almost guarantee that the knife will slide out of the sheath easily without undoing the snap. It may get hung up a bit but it will slide out. With knives of this type a deep pocket wet-molded pouch sheath works best. There is little to no bottom guard for the strap to hold on to. The only way this might work is if the width of the belt loop is narrower than the handle of the knife. The larger knives have a considerable bottom guard and depending on how you plan out the sheath a single back to front strap (snap on strap and on the front of the sheath) will work.

You have the basics down but you need to layout and test fit a bit more to see what works.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input. I agree, the retention strap is way too wide and does not fit in the curved recess to allow it some holding power behind the guard. I will narrow it considerably once I locate some snaps, this should constrict it a bit more behind the guard.

I would like to try a wet molded puch, but I think this leather may be a bit too thick and stiff (1/8" thick shoe leather).
 
mckrob said:
Has anyone used snaps from Tandy Leather? are they half decent quality ? How about tools and other hardware from Tandy ?
Click to expand...

I use those snaps. They are ok. They sell a very compact and cheap tool to put them on too. It works fine for home brewers. I have seen others that I liked better posted in pics but dont know where they came from. (they had screw heads to hold them on)
Deeper and formed to fit would be better but I bet you could mould it some anyway and unless you hang upside down or run, that knife probably isnt going anywhere.

Nice job by the way!
 
mckrob said:
Thanks for the input. I agree, the retention strap is way too wide and does not fit in the curved recess to allow it some holding power behind the guard. I will narrow it considerably once I locate some snaps, this should constrict it a bit more behind the guard.

I would like to try a wet molded puch, but I think this leather may be a bit too thick and stiff (1/8" thick shoe leather).
Click to expand...

If you trim out and narrow the belt loop you should be OK. You should have no problem wet-molding 1/8 leather. I mold leather thicker than that. It's what the leather is molded to on the inside that matters. The outside of the sheath doesn't have to look as though it shows every line of the knife. If you wet the leather enough (not too much that it is dripping) it will mold to the knife nicely.
 
That is a very nice sheath for working in a hut in the jungle with almost none of the tools most sheathmakers have. :D

An edge beveler would clean up the edges really nice buy a number 2. Some of the Tandy hardware and tools are ok, some are good and some arent very good.

Their line 24 snaps are pretty good snaps, make sure you buy the little kit with the anvil and setter its only around 8 dollars, then you only need to make a hole (drill or punch) and a hammer or rock to bash the snap setter.

Do you have access to wet dry sanpaper in fine grits, like 400 or 600. If so sand the edges dry with 400 grit first and then switch to 600 grit and dampen the sides and edges with a wrung out paper towel or rag, you just want to get it damp not soaking and the rub it quickly with the 600 grit, you will see that it will start to burninish, it will give you a nice shiney edge.

Ken is right about the retention, I think you can fix it though with a little work. Also it is not too thick to wet mold, the water wont hurt the leather at all so dont worry.

Post pics of your next one. :D
 
This is a little closer to what I had in mind, I narrowed the retention strap to 5/8" which is wider than any snaps I could find around the house, and I narrowed the back a little, the guard will no longer pass under the strap, although not perfect at least now it doesn't fall out. Next time I'll try wet-molding. Thanks for the advice !



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The Game Warden fits in friction-fit perfectly, maybe I'll remove the strap all together and use this one just for the Warden !

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I think you've done a fine job considering you do not have tools that are ideal for the job. That strap should work if you mold the belt strap enough. I'd like to see what you do with the right tools
 
i just "finished" my first knife and would like to know about handle and sheath options. i would like to show a picture of it and get some feed back. can anyone tell me how to post a pic on here?
 
Chuddy Bear said:
...Some of the Tandy hardware and tools are ok, some are good and some arent very good.
Click to expand...

Chuddy, thanks for the info.

Any recommendations for other tool brands and/or places to buy tools or hardware that might be better than Tandy? There is a Tandy less than an hour from my home-town in Ontario so it is a convenient place to shop.
 
I really don't think you need to wet mold that sheath at all. Just be sure to to snug up the keeper strap as close as possible. It will stretch out over time. If you think it's too snug then it's perfect.

Good job. :D :thumbup:
 
mckrob said:
Chuddy, thanks for the info.

Any recommendations for other tool brands and/or places to buy tools or hardware that might be better than Tandy? There is a Tandy less than an hour from my home-town in Ontario so it is a convenient place to shop.
Click to expand...

If you have good sharpening skills then almost all of Tandy's stuff will work great for you, some of them dont come very sharp. I have had pretty good luck with everything I ordered from Tandy with the exception of leather :thumbdn: . I bough a couple pieces of leather from there and I wound up using it for linings and fillers and such, it wasnt very good stuff.

Your sheath is actually very nice considering that you dont have all the tools you really need to finish it. An edger and some burnishing will put it in the great sheath category. The difference in a good sheath and a really nice one is in the finish work, I can remember where, but I remember reading a comment another sheath maker made.

He said " Edges arent everything.. they are much more important than that"
I remember that every time I finish a sheath.

Oh ya, if you get an edger from tandy get the one that says its the Old belt makers favorite, it has a cutting edge that will be easier to use when you first start out, trust me on this one.:D
 
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