Sheath Pics

J

JasonSCarter

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Dec 20, 2008
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These sheaths represent a few firsts for me. first time i ever tooled leather, and MADE my own leather punches :) :thumbup: I bought some 12"x24" 8-9oz chrome tanned leather from Tracey Mickley's site. and made a pattern and used the wet form method. The punches I made were out of a junk short 13mm 12 point 3/8"s socket and a Torx T-30 bit. the Socket I ground the lip off the front so the points would show. Then ground the other 5 half away so it makes the half circles. I used black leather shoe dye, and black Kiwi shoe polish on a buffer to make them shine :thumbup: Hope ya'll like it

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Oh and a lil tip... if you leave your knives in the sheaths over night to wet form, make sure you put packing tape around the blades and use a zip lock bag. or you'll wake up to a VERY rusted blade! :foot::barf::thumbdn:;):rolleyes::( Doh! cant believe I forgot that!


Jason S. Carter
 
Jason, do you mean vegetable (not chrome) tanned leather?

You should check out Landwerlen Leather Co in Indy. They're a really cool leather place to ask questions. They helped me understand some of how I can utilize what I already have, instead of urging to purchase more. I picked up a bunch of thick leather scraps that will work for very sturdy sheaths from there for not much money.

The dyes that they sell are also cheaper than Tandy's discounted prices.
 
Thanks Mike I'll check them out.. No it's Chrome Tanned, lol

http://www.epa.gov/ttnchie1/ap42/ch09/final/c9s15.pdf

9.15.2.2 Chrome Tanning -
Chrome-tanned leather tends to be softer and more pliable than vegetable-tanned leather, has higher
thermal stability, is very stable in water, and takes less time to produce than vegetable-tanned leather.
Almost all leather made from lighter-weight cattle hides and from the skin of sheep, lambs, goats, and pigs is
chrome tanned. The first steps of the process (soaking, fleshing, liming/dehairing, deliming, bating, and
pickling) and the drying/finishing steps are essentially the same as in vegetable tanning. However, in chrome
tanning, the additional processes of retanning, dyeing, and fatliquoring are usually performed to produce
usable leathers and a preliminary degreasing step may be necessary when using animal skins, such as
sheepskin.
Chrome tanning in the United States is performed using a one-bath process that is based on the
reaction between the hide and a trivalent chromium salt, usually a basic chromium sulfate. In the typical onebath
process, the hides are in a pickled state at a pH of 3 or lower, the chrome tanning materials are
introduced, and the pH is raised. Following tanning, the chrome tanned leather is piled down, wrung, and
graded for the thickness and quality, split into flesh and grain layers, and shaved to the desired thickness. The
grain leathers from the shaving machine are then separated for retanning, dyeing, and fatliquoring. Leather
that is not subject to scuffs and scratches can be dyed on the surface only. For other types of leather (i. e.,
shoe leather) the dye must penetrate further into the leather. Typical dyestuffs are aniline-based compounds
that combine with the skin to form an insoluble compound.
Fatliquoring is the process of introducing oil into the skin before the leather is dried to replace the
natural oils lost in beamhouse and tanyard processes. Fatliquoring is usually performed in a drum using an
oil emulsion at temperatures of about 60E to 66EC (140E to 150EF) for 30 to 40 minutes. After fatliquoring,
the leather is wrung, set out, dried, and finished. The finishing process refers to all the steps that are carried
out after drying.
Click to expand...

Jason
 
I think the reason everyone is making an issue out of wether it was crome tanned of veggie tanned is that chrome tanned is not worth a squat as a knife sheath. The "chromium sulfate" they use in the process of tanning will ruin any knife sheathed in it in short order!
That's why you want to use vegtable tanned leather!
 
My apologies guys , I assumed (proof again of the old adage of when you assume something... Dang I'm racking up the duh points fast...) it was chrome tanned becuase it turned my water dark blackish purple. I've never had that happen before with vegetable or brain tan leather. anyway I'm sure it was veg tanned, if Tracy said it was.

Jason
 
Weird. Could he possibly have sent some chrome tanned by mistake? I need to go open my box and see what he sent me. I ordered the same piece 12x24 and it arrived saturday, just haven't opened my box. If it's chrome tanned I'm sending it back.
 
Sweet! I had not thought of making my own stamping tools. What a great idea, and saves lots of bucks too. Thanks for the ideas and pics!
 
mine says veg tanned too. I emailed Tracy to let him know the issue. if anyone else knows a simple test to tell the diffrence between the 2, Please speak up!

Edit: found a test from Mr Mickly himself. luckily mine came out gray :D wonder what the blackish purple stuff was though ?

how to tell vegetable tanned from chrome salt tanned leather

If you are making a knife sheath or gun holster -- or anything that will come in contact with metal, you want vegetable tanned leather. Chrome or Chrome salt (same thing) tanned leather, when wet will stain and eventually corrode and leave deep black marks on even stainless. I learned this the hard way.

Always, always make sure you are getting vegetable tanned leather (it's all I will sell) when buying but how do you confirm what you got?

Take a small thin piece and burn it. The ash residue of Chrome tanned leather will turn a distinct green when it cools. Vegetable tanned leather ash will turn grey.
Click to expand...

Jason
 
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Hmm, wonder why your water acted all weird? You on well water with a lot of softeners added or anything like that?
 
actually yea Really high Iron, I posted on another forum with the same problem, the consensus was my high iron water. they recomended wood bleach and distilled water to clear that up. no big deal alls well over here now :) (thank God!)lol

Jason
 
JasonSCarter said:
actually yea Really high Iron, I posted on another forum with the same problem, the consensus was my high iron water. they recomended wood bleach and distilled water to clear that up. no big deal alls well over here now :) (thank God!)lol

Jason
Click to expand...

also, straight lemon juice works well.
 
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