sheathmaking Hand stitching

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Ilovetoolsteel

Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Messages
1,617
Practice makes perfect, I have just reached a milestone in sheath making. I hand stitch my sheaths. I use a saddle stitch (Chas Clements from rec.knives recommended I try it) It makes a stronger stitch so I can't justify spending $1000 to buy a machine that will make an inferior stitch just because it's faster. My problem to this point has been that the stitching on the back side never looked as good as the stitching on the front. Lines would get wavy on the back or some stitches would miss the groove. Well it never looked as good until the other day. I made a sheath and then an ammo belt pouch and you can't tell which side I worked from. I used to dread sheathmaking because I would spend a couple hours and end up with a sheath that looked amateurish on the backside. I'm feeling pretty satisfied with myself right now I don't mind saying.
 
Ilovetoolsteel said:
Practice makes perfect, I have just reached a milestone in sheath making. I hand stitch my sheaths. I use a saddle stitch (Chas Clements from rec.knives recommended I try it) It makes a stronger stitch so I can't justify spending $1000 to buy a machine that will make an inferior stitch just because it's faster. My problem to this point has been that the stitching on the back side never looked as good as the stitching on the front. Lines would get wavy on the back or some stitches would miss the groove. Well it never looked as good until the other day. I made a sheath and then an ammo belt pouch and you can't tell which side I worked from. I used to dread sheathmaking because I would spend a couple hours and end up with a sheath that looked amateurish on the backside. I'm feeling pretty satisfied with myself right now I don't mind saying.
Click to expand...

yeahup if you put the holes in first and
then put the grove in the back side that will help..
how did you overcome your problem?
this show how I do it by hand.
http://www.knivesby.com/dan-sheath-tutor-1.html
there are more guys here and their ways..
http://www.knivesby.com/knifemaking.html
 
Dan Gray said:
yeahup if you put the holes in first and
then put the grove in the back side that will help..
how did you overcome your problem?
Click to expand...

Technology! I was using a stitching awl by hand to pierce the leather. Just like the Al Stohlman book says to. Making the holes before you groove wont help if you can't stab the awl through the leather at 90 degrees every time. You will still get wavy lines. I had a brain storm and took the blade out of the awl in put it in my drill press and gave it a try, (didn't turn on the press) Straight every hole! The hole in the table of the drill was too big though. The blade pushed the leather down into the hole and you can't pierce near the ends of the sheath. I used a square of micarta with a 3/16" hole in it on the table. That fixed that problem but the micarta embossed a small circle around each stitch. I glued a piece of leather on the micarta.

I tried it out on some scrap and it worked perfectly. Then I went to harbor freight and bought a small cheap arbor press. Drilled a hole in the face of the ram for the awl blade and a drilled and tapped a hole in the side for a set screw to secure the blade. Attached my micarta plate to the base and voilla!
 
I think sometimes in this day and age we get too caught up in perfection. Personally I rather like the small imperfections of something truly handmade including the off stitching of a hand sewn leather sheath. It is kind of nostalgic and shows we are only human and it is a sure sign of a lot of time to do the job from the heart. There is nothing wrong with shooting for a straighter line so it isn't sloppy so don't get me wrong. I just think the hand made look is far more appealing when it shows human error in it but then I've always preferred the uniqueness of homemade vs handmade and/or mass produced machined items.
 
anvilring said:
stitching saddle does wonders... although your idea is novel and, quick perhaps??


I made this one for cheap:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=328713
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I use a similar setup to hold the sheath while I am stitching, The device I built is just to pierce the holes for the stitching and keep them straight and uniform. I make all the holes then I place the sheath in the clamps and stitch away.
 
Ilovetoolsteel said:
Technology! I was using a stitching awl by hand to pierce the leather. Just like the Al Stohlman book says to. Making the holes before you groove wont help if you can't stab the awl through the leather at 90 degrees every time. You will still get wavy lines. I had a brain storm and took the blade out of the awl in put it in my drill press and gave it a try, (didn't turn on the press) Straight every hole! The hole in the table of the drill was too big though. The blade pushed the leather down into the hole and you can't pierce near the ends of the sheath. I used a square of micarta with a 3/16" hole in it on the table. That fixed that problem but the micarta embossed a small circle around each stitch. I glued a piece of leather on the micarta.

I tried it out on some scrap and it worked perfectly. Then I went to harbor freight and bought a small cheap arbor press. Drilled a hole in the face of the ram for the awl blade and a drilled and tapped a hole in the side for a set screw to secure the blade. Attached my micarta plate to the base and voilla!
Click to expand...
Technology
well you made a sewing machine without the threading..
that Technology has already been done ;)
I back up my leather with some maple and the drill makes the hole the drill bit size, so It leaves no marks on the back of the leather..

where I'm using some Technology too, I turn my drill press on.. :D
 
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