Skystorm Scout sheath Kit WIP thread *NOW DONE*

crimsonfalcon07

crimsonfalcon07

Joined
Dec 27, 2010
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Welp, I finally got a start on mine. Honestly, it's a pretty pathetic start, because it's literally taken me this long to both have the time and to figure out how the heck it's supposed to work. I've never worked with snaps before, and let me tell you, if that's true for you too, it's a bit intimidating. And it turns out I'm dumber than I thought I was, and that's just sad. We'll see as I progress whether I bit off more than I can chew...

Anyways, here's what came in the package:


I separated it out, and there's 6 snaps, which each take a stud, socket, cap, and eyelet, so there's a LOT of hardware. I'm fine with rivets, but snaps were a bit of an eye opener. There's also 3 needles, some thread of various colors (which I may not use, as I want it to match my holster and mag carriers, and I used artificial sinew for those), some stretchy cord that has a name that I don't remember, and the leather pieces.



Well, at least PART of it is easy to figure out, and that's where the welt is supposed to go. At least that was obvious:


I started by applying contact cement to one side of the welt, and to the sheath part. As you can see, I'm dumb, and put some higher up than I needed. That's okay for me though, because it's going to be inside, and I'm fairly good at dealing with that sort of issue since it happens to me all the time, and I'm too lazy to learn from my mistakes. But, I'll tell you all about it so's you can laugh at me, and hopefully not make the same mistake when it comes time for you to do the same. I apply the glue and let it dry for a good 20 minutes before flipping the welt pieces and gluing the other side too. I'm not taking pictures of that, because it's pretty self explanatory.



More to come later. I think I have the snaps figured out, but that just means I actually don't, and will screw this up somehow. Hence why I haven't started this until now...
 
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Attached the welt pieces to the sheath piece, and folded it all together. I used the middle part of each piece with that convenient curve as a reference point for fitting it as closely as possible.



I also think I'm supposed to attach the straps for the belt loops, so I planned out my location for those:


Then I applied glue.


I'm not going to fit them yet, however, because I need to fit part of the snaps to the leather BEFORE I attach the straps. Once those are on, I can start sewing it all together. I think...

The one strap with the firesteel loop will be harder. I don't even have a firesteel, actually, so that's going to be hard. I may use a pen or something to space it out. It's going to be very difficult to alter things once I've gotten to the final steps, unfortunately, so I really need to plan ahead.
 
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I don't actually think the belt straps get glued to the sheath, I believe they snap in place so you can change orientation on the sheath. I may be wrong but that was what I thought.
 
I had no idea how that one would go together. I'm definitely interested in seeing how this one works.
 
I think you are on the right track, as you only have 6 snaps (2 for your retention strap and 2 each for the belt straps. I remember seeing that Hedgehog uses screws and posts to secure the belt straps to the sheath. Not sure how Skystorm does it, but I would skive the ends and sew then with the welt.
 
cschol said:
I think you are on the right track, as you only have 6 snaps (2 for your retention strap and 2 each for the belt straps. I remember seeing that Hedgehog uses screws and posts to secure the belt straps to the sheath. Not sure how Skystorm does it, but I would skive the ends and sew then with the welt.
Click to expand...

Yep, that's my plan. I'm probably only going to use one snap each for the belt loops, and maybe 2 for the retention strap, but probably 1. That way I have extras when/if I screw them up. I already messed up one pair snapping them together to figure out which piece was which. Can't get them apart again. I'm pretty sure they're not snapped onto the sheath, although I suppose I could have done it that way. I think this way is better though.
 
crimsonfalcon07 said:
Yep, that's my plan. I'm probably only going to use one snap each for the belt loops, and maybe 2 for the retention strap, but probably 1. That way I have extras when/if I screw them up. I already messed up one pair snapping them together to figure out which piece was which. Can't get them apart again. I'm pretty sure they're not snapped onto the sheath, although I suppose I could have done it that way. I think this way is better though.
Click to expand...


Some times if you take scissors, and close them on the loose snaps, you can pop them apart. Just be really careful not to cut yourself.

bh322-1.jpg
 
Okay, next step is to plan out the location of the snaps. I want to do the one part of the snap, and then I can start sewing it up, assuming I manage to do it correctly. I laid out the snaps and used a pen to sketch on a hole location. I'm gonna bring the rivet-like part out to my shop so I can drill the right size hole.


Next I needed the snaps. I wanted the male part of the snap in the newly drilled holes, which were 5/32", based on my calipers. Here's the two pieces I needed:


I thread the rivet part through the back, then place the other part on top, as so:


Then I used my arbor press and rivet setter to curve the rivet part down and lock that snap into place.


Unfortunately, I got too aggressive on the second one, and screwed it up. Good thing I knew in advance I was going to screw it up, and am only using 3 snaps for this design!


Carefully removed that piece, and redid the snap. Here they are completed:


Then I glued the straps on. Remember I'd already applied the glue where I wanted it to be, so that was a quick and easy step.


Next I'm getting out the overstitch wheel, so I can get a rough guesstimate of where I want to drill the stitching holes. I'll be using the overstitch wheel for more than just its usual purpose, so I strongly recommend getting one if you want to follow my process exactly...


I also tried Lethal's trick, which worked fine. Good thing too, as I ruined 2 snaps trying to get them attached.

More to come...
 
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After using the overstitch wheel to rough in a line for me to put the holes, I used a drill press and a 3/32 bit to drill the holes. Ends up looking like this:


Then I grabbed some of the thread. There were 3 colors, black, white, and brown. I tried the brown, because I'm going to be using a brown dye. Here it is ready to sew:


I usually do three knots, which won't fit through the 3/32 holes.


Then I stitch and stitch and stitch, and...

Oh crap! Turns out, for whatever reason, there's not QUITE enough thread for me to tie it off. I'm not sure whether I did it wrong, or what, but it wouldn't hurt to have about 3 more inches.


I ended up pulling out all the stitching and using the sinew I normally use. Here's what it looks like all stitched up.



Now I want to attach the rest of the snaps. So, out I go, insert the 5/32 bit, and do some more drilling:


Then I planned out where to put the parts. They need to go in the appropriate side, or they won't work. Before, I put the rivet part in the rough side. Now I'm putting it through the smooth side.


Here they are all connected up:


Check it out! They snap up! I discovered at this point why Sky uses 2 snaps per loop: to prevent the loops from rotating on the snaps and moving about. Oh well. I don't have any more snaps to affix, having ruined the rest of them, so... This will have to do. I've also thrown on the snap for the retaining strap.


Next I wet the sheath so I can mold it to the shape of the handle. This is going to be important for fitting it later. When you wet it, all of the flaws where you got glue, or set your project down into something gross, etc, become obvious.


Then I use the back part of the overstitch wheel (remember I said we'd use that again) and the back part of a Sharpie to mold the leather to the shape of the handle. I rub, and rub, and it takes on the appropriate shape. I wet it pretty good, so it will stay moist enough that I can continue molding as I continue on.



It comes out looking like this:


Then I sit down and I watch a movie. After the movie is over, it's dried enough for me to apply some more glue to the sheath and to the retaining strap piece.


I glued it on, and then drilled some holes carefully, using a scrap piece of wood to be sure I didn't drill through the rest of the sheath.


Then I sewed that up using the sinew. The advantage of having my own thread becomes clear :)


Here's what it looks like now:


Next I took it out, and used a 600 grit belt at high speed to burnish the edges a bit. I'll be doing more work on them later, but I want to true up the edges a bit more:


Here's what she looks like now:


After that, I redo the molding a bit, and start thinking about decoration. I'd planned on doing some tooling, but realized that the design doesn't really lend itself well to that. Instead, I drill a few more holes to give myself a bit more of an aesthetic touch, since I've got a lot of welt space to work with. A little more sewing, and I've got myself a little mountain range stitched in:


After that, I call it quits for the night. I'm going to need to let it dry completely before I can start dying it. I still also need to figure out how the heck to use those eyelets and shock cord or whatever it's called on the retention strap. Honestly, once I complete the build, I'm not going to NEED the retention strap at all, because I've got a sneaky way of getting great retention out of molded leather. But hey, I have the parts, so I've got to give it a good effort, right?
 
Good job.did the kit have any instructions? Too bad about the snaps.im sure you could buy acouple to keep the straps strait
 
Nope, no instructions at all. I probably could pick up a few more snaps next time I'm getting leather. We'll see how much it bothers me.
 
Welp, the shock cord thing was easy. I started off by drilling some holes for the eyelets. The eyelets appeared to be 11/64". I put two in the top, as there's already a little space, and I figured I'd have the knots holding the shock cord on the inside against the handle. Then I drilled some other holes in the middle of the retention strap above the snap.


Then I fitted the eyelets and set them with my arbor press, and rigged the shock cord. I used the short piece that came with the kit. Here's what it looks like holding the retention strap open:


Okay, now it's time to put my own personal touch on the sheath. I got the impression that most of the leatherworkers on here don't wax harden their sheaths. I've had a lot of success with it with some of my projects. The wax hardening process stiffens the leather, so I can actually get good retention from just the molded parts of the sheath, much like kydex. It also darkens it a bit. I brush my dye on and leave it a little lighter than I actually want, because the wax hardening darkens it a bit, and gives it a rustic look that I really like. It also has the side benefit of making the leather virtually water proof. When I'm finished with the process, water will run right out of the sheath without absorbing, particularly as Sky's kit is designed with a little hole at the bottom of the sheath.

Here's how this works. I use a heat gun, some briwax paste wax, and something to keep the wax off the floor. I just used the envelope that the kit came in.


I wipe a good coat of wax onto the outside of the sheath, staying away from the straps as I want those supple, not stiff. Then I use the heat gun to keep the wax melted, and run it over the leather.


The wax will give it a glistening look as it melts. You may be able to see that a little in this picture:


You want to keep applying the temperature (and I keep refining my molding as I go), until the wax absorbs into the sheath, and it no longer glistens. Be careful with the temperature, and don't let it get too hot. This process will take a few hours. I usually add at least 5 coats this way, depending on the thickness of the leather. The end result will be fairly stiff. If you add enough, you can actually get it almost as stiff as kydex, and just as water resistant. It may soften in the sun, but if you've gotten it absorbed well enough, you won't have problems even in really hot weather. Here's my semi-finished product. I haven't done the firesteel loop because I don't actually own a firesteel, so I can't say how much space I'll need. Other than that, however, it's about done.



As you can see, the retention, even without the strap, is superb. It doesn't budge at all, even if I shake it.


With the strap on, you can't pull it even a millimeter out of the sheath. It's in there solidly, with no slippage. I think this is a fantastic kit, and I learned a lot from the process. I would improve it by adding in a few extras for those who are clumsy like me and break stuff, and make the thread a little longer so it can be tied off properly if you follow the same process I did. It's a lot of work, but you get a very cool product at the end, and I thank Skystorm for the opportunity. Incidentally, I don't really think both welt pieces were necessary. Just one would work fine, particularly if you mold it like I did. Sky's pieces don't seem to be molded quite as tightly as I did on mine, but I'd say it's worth doing, particularly if you're going to wax harden, because then you don't even need a retention strap.

I'll try to take a few more beauty pics tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed following along as much as I enjoyed doing this project.
 
Nice idea with the wax. I am still trying to decide if I want to oil or wax mine. The wax hardening looks like a good way yo preserve it, though.
 
Those are some NICE rocks man... But dude, you need to do something about that knife in the way, I can't see all the rocks!
 
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