Sheath repair

R

Radrunner

Joined
Mar 6, 2006
Messages
234
I got a Tamang Khuk a few weeks back off a dotd. Absolutely love the knife, and the sheath (save i'm still trying to figure out the best way to wear it, since it appears designed to be tucked in a sash, rather than on a belt), and after putting it away today, noticed a tiny problem... that turned out to be a much bigger problem. The sheath is starting to split in half. I would say its because the wood got dried out and split since the climate i'm in is so dry, but none of the other Khuks I have (BAS and UBE) have had this problem.

Regardless, the underside of the sheath, along the blade edge, has split a good 3 inches. The second the wood split, the knife sliced through the leather on the same side. I've not got a three inch long slice in the wood part of the sheath, and the leather over top (though i imagine the wood split could run further).

So, I am not wondering about repairs. I could just run some tape around the thing, but that seems somewhat... disrespectful to the craftsman ship that went into such a nice sheath.

Any ideas?

On a side note, this is why everyone should read the safety threat. Had I been holding the sheath the "wrong way" when I put the Tamang away, I would have nicely sliced open my hand.
 
The wooden part of the scabbard is not split by climate etc.... they are made in two halves and the leather covering is glued and sewn on to keep the two halves together. That is why you should always follow the instructions in the safety thread about insertion and withdrawl from the scabbard. (hunting knives have sheaths, khukuri have scabbards).

The only way to not have a noticable defect in it now is to have it recovered. Sadly the only person i know of who used to do this type of work (Sarki Shop) is no longer in business. You can tape it, wire it, glue it or make a nice camo cover for it. You could also contact Auntie to see if she has any extras that might fit.
 
I think if you carfully removed the leather, a repair would not be that hard, some glue and clamps, or even some shrink wrap (if you can find it that big) Would make it good as new.

I remember somewhere someone removed the karda loops from a standard khukri, was a pretty good write up on taking it apart.
 
Karda is right. The scabbard of a khuk is in two pieces held together by leather. If you think about the climate of Nepal, this makes a LOT of sense. As you move from region to region you can run into a dozen different types of weather/humidity. This design allows the wood/leather to swell and shrink as needed:thumbup:

That said, they CAN split. If I were you and the split is thin enough, I'd take some wire and wrap it tightly around the offending part. If you think the blade might slip out and gouge itself on the wire, cut a piece of 6-8oz leather (dye it if you wish) and place it between the cut and wire as you wrap it. Make sure it laps up on each side of the scabbard an inch or two so it stays in place. This will act a sort of "weld" for the blade to rest against instead of metal wire.

Orrrrr....you could take this time to try your hand at leather work. For about 10-15 dollars and a couple hours of thinking, you could fashion a leather sheath that your khuk would be very happy to live in:) Trust me, if I can learn how to do it, anyone can:thumbup:
 
+1 on the leather sheath. I got a naked BAS awhile back and had to make some place for it to ride. I was skeptical, but a quick draw style leather sheath really goes well with a khukuri.
 
Here's one I did for a little Chainpuri. The disadvantage of this design is that you must be careful re-sheathing the blade to keep from cutting the retention strap.
100_4453.jpg


100_4454.jpg
 
mike. l. hi
could you give me a brief rundown on the tools used as im thinking of having a go at that myself
thanks mick
 
Sharp knife to cut the leather. Stiching wheel (marks the stitching spaces)
an electric drill (to put holes through 3 layers of thick leather), heavy waxed thread and heavy sewing needles, leather dye, snaps and snap setter.
A small drill press would make drilling the holes a lot easier. Some sandpaper to help smooth the edges of the sheath before dying and finishing. Oh, and some good ole grease of the elbow!
 
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mike hi
it seems i have most of the tools required to do the job even down to the gizmo that marks out the stitch holes(bought cheap on ebay) all i need is the needles for leather work looks like i'll be checking out ebay again lolmust get some decent leather tho.
thanks for the info
mick
ps what thickness/weight of leather do you use
 
8-9 oz.

The biggest challenge for me in making mine was getting the holes straight through several layers of leather. A drill press would have made it so much easier, but alas...
With sheaths for "normal" knives this is not a problem.

OH, be sure to make a pattern from cardboard before you start cutting leather.
Cardboard is cheap, leather isn't. ;)

There are folks here who have forgotten more about leather work than I know.
Maybe some will chime in.

This also may get moved to the Cantina, since it it not strictly an HI topic.
 
..well... it did start as an HI related topic. Now we all know more about HI sheaths :)

I doubt i'll have a go at the leather working - don't have really any of the tools, though i'd like to get into it someday. I'll probably wrap it, since i need to wrap some cord around it anyway to make it easier to carry. i will keep up dates coming as i figure out what to do.
 
Radrunner,
I had saw this web site some time ago, mostly looking at pistol holsters:
http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/index.php?cPath=41 I have a holster with a Kydex face on a leather backer.
Kydex is fairly easy to work with, however, you would be mixing a Hi-Tech solution to "Old World Craftmanship" :confused:
You may also search "para cord" projects, there's tons of stuff on para cord knife handles, covers, etc. Lots of colors too. :)
 
many south east asian countries use two part wooden scabbards held together by bands or rings, with no glue on their knives/swords. on the low end these can be braided rings of rattan or bamboo fibre, string, etc. as you get fancier they become metal bands, of iron, brass, silver or even suasa (a gold alloy).
Garab003.jpg


anyhow, if you are going to use paracord, one more decorative option than a simple spiral wrap is to use it as shown in steve furguson's picture series HERE. the knotting is a variant of the turk's head boy scout neckerchief slide knot most of us ex-scouts learned how to make way back when...

there are a number of decorative knotting techniques you can discover on the internet, or find an ex-navy bosun :)
 
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