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Sheath?

David Loukides

David Loukides

Joined
Mar 17, 2006
Messages
1,363
Hi,
What kind of sheath is the best suited for a swept point blade:confused:
When I make this shape of knife it has a tendency to poke thru or atleast chew up the inside of the sheath:mad:
Thanks
 
Dave,
How about PM'ing me a pic of the knife you are talking about?? that would give my an idea of what to tell ya

Is it similar to the Sharpfinger in design?? If so they are known for being sheath cutters!
 
Dave I make for them the welted style better know as the traditional style
and tell the customer to be very watchful in the way he resheaths the knife.
on the knives I make if they are upswept I drop the point down just a tad..
to help..similar to this one..
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A lot depends on where and how the upswept portion is made and located. A picture would be very helpful. Trailing point and upswept blades are a sheathmakers nightmare. The most difficult are the long slender blades such as a fillet blade that is several inches long with the trailing point being rather abrupt in the last two or three inches. They can be satisfactorily sheathed using a spine guide to prevent the tip from touching the spine of the sheath. This requires a sheath that is much deeper than a straight blade. For the life of me, I have never been able to find any necessity for a trailing point or where it might have an advantage over a straight blade. Nice appearing but no more functional than any other blade. Some of the moderately trailed or upswept blades can be altered minutely in order to lessen the tendency to puncture the spine of the sheath. You can check this by laying a piece of leather on a flat surface, flesh side up. Position the knife with the spine side of the blade on the leather and with the handle of the knife resting on the leather, push the blade in the direction of the point. Invariably the sharp point will start to gouge or penetrate the leather. A quick fix that will NOT affect the lines of the knife or its cutting abilities is to chamfer lightly a rounded tip from the spine to the blade tip. This will not usually require a rounded portion any more than a 64th of an inch. You can test it by again pushing the blade on the leather. When the point glides smoothly over the leather without cutting or gouging it will do the same in the sheath. Damn shame that more knifemakers fail to realize that the sheath is part of the package. It is rarely that the knifemaker is held to task when a sheath is perforated. Probably it could be shared by the maker who does not check with a sheathmaker or the sheathmaker that is NOT a sheathmaker. Both are in plentiful supply.
 
My 2 cents....

Stablize the area in question with thin CA glue. The leather will be hard plastic for all intents and purposes. I've not used this method for this specific purpose but it seem like it might help.
 
Although I have never done it myself (not liking leatherwork much), one solution that I have seen is to line the sheath with another harder material.

Kydex comes to mind, it is rigid, lightweight, easily formable and still stitchable. Wood, aluminium channel, sheet and other materials may be used. Look at some of the tactical cordura sheaths. Often they are lined with a Kydex liner. (It may not be “pure” or “traditional” enough to suit your style, but the liner material can be laminated inside the sheath between layers of leather and therefore not visible.

A similar problem of snagging and wear from the undercut front sights in pistol holsters is addressed by integrating a full length U channel to guide the sharp edge in and out.

Try posting in the sheath makers’ forum, or send the job out to several sheath makers and see how they each solve the problem differently.

Best Regards

Steven
 
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I'm sure you get the picture! :p I appreciate all your suggestions. These have been fun knives to make but a real bear to sheath to my satisfaction.
 
I would made a sheath that has a welt on both sides instead of a pouch style that is only welted on the edge side.
 
Thanks again for the many ideas,
The swept blade has recieved a lot of good comments.
Now its time to inprove the sheath:thumbup:
 
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