Some sheathmaking questions

[Daniel Moore]

I wanted try making a 3/4 length sheath for a Swiss Army Knife. The idea is to make a sheath that can clip to the inside of my pocket and keep the knife readily available and separated from the contents at the bottom of my pocket. I'm not sure where the best leather supply site would be for ordering small quantities of leather, and I also don't know which type I should buy.

Since SAK's don't have any prominent profile features (they're pretty much flat on the sides) and there would be nothing to hold them in by, I'd need to get a snug friction fit, so I also need to know how to shrink leather. I've read about soaking in vinegar and heating to contour sheaths, would this work? It doesn't need to be extremely tight, but tight enough that I don't suddenly realize it wandered off

 

[singteck]

Can't help you with the design or the hardware to clip it inside your pocket but I can answer some of your question.

if you want to form the leather, then you have to get vegetable tanned leather. Not sure where to get them in US. You can't shrink the leather but you can expand it slightly. Never heard about vineger or heating. I would think that both are bad for the leather and if you don't get the vineger out completely, then bad for the knife too.

I think all you need to do is stitch the leather up, soke it in water for a few second, takes it out of the water. Not too long. The just stuff the SAK into the sheath and leave it to dry. Then it should hold it's shape.

Or you can make them like these

singteck