Something a bit different (for me....)

Wild Rose

Wild Rose

Joined
Aug 23, 2002
Messages
1,398
While waiting on the parts for the next WildGoo combo (the Frambo, a BIG effing Bowie http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=586968 ) - I put this sheath together.....
I call this a neo-Frontier Sheath, since the knife is a "modern" style made by Muela albeit a variation on a Bowie (I did age it though per the customer's request.) while this style sheath would be not be out of place for the mid-1800's.......
knife-sheath-Cales-muela2-1.jpg


knife-sheath-Cales-muela2-2.jpg


knife-sheath-Cales-muela2-3.jpg


It's deer rawhide over a vegtan liner decorated with a bit of scratching and tacks on the lower part, a few spots on the belt loop, a German Silver concho, some lacing, and fringe on the cuff .......kind of "plain" for me I know :D , but it makes for a real nice change of pace (it took hours instead of days!)...
It's going bear hunting next month along with the owner's new C Sharps Arms M74 in 45-70.......

I also must to give a nod to that grand sheath maker, Karen Shook - I stitched up the edge seams in a variation of her inimitable style......
 
That's a sweet looking combo Chuck :thumbup:

I notice that on many sheaths you post you mention using one type of leather over another, in this case, "deer rawhide over vegtan liner". For my sheaths I use 9-10 oz. vegtan (quite heavy). Do you use lighter weight leathers when you stack them in combination like this one to end up with a finished sheath that comes in at ~ the 10 oz. mark ?

Again, Beautiful work !!! Thanks for the great pics :)



:thumbup:
 
WOW....That is just amazing!!!!!:eek:
 
Glad ya'll the look see - rawhide the the 18th and 19th century kydex :D

notice that on many sheaths you post you mention using one type of leather over another, in this case, "deer rawhide over vegtan liner". For my sheaths I use 9-10 oz. vegtan (quite heavy). Do you use lighter weight leathers when you stack them in combination like this one to end up with a finished sheath that comes in at ~ the 10 oz. mark ?
Click to expand...

David - the final thickness of my sheaths depends on the size of the knife and other factors rather than a general finished thickness such as 10 oz. The strength/stiffness/hardness of leather is dependent on more than just thickness alone. Many custom combat holsters for instance are made of thinner leather and maintain their shape well over time, even with the weight difference of the guns (2-3 lbs in most cases as compared to a pound or less for most knives) and the usage seen - i.e. holstering and re-holstering of the gun....
I often use harder rolled 6/7 or 7/8 oz for most blades under 5-6" ask at Wickett and Craig - they will do double or triple roll your leather at no extra charge - you can start with their 8/10 oz - the rolling compacts the fibers producing a denser leather. FWIW - Sandy Morrissey uses 7/8 oz standard weight/rolled for the vast majority of his sheaths and his output now numbers over 12,000 - yes that's right over 12,000 - at least 6-7 time my output! The harder rolled leather is plenty good regarding safety concerns and decreases the bulk which I prefer. There are also techniques for hardening leather that allow one to use thinner standard rolled leathers when appropriate yet still have a properly made sheath with all the safety concerns covered yet again without the bulk...

When using rawhide cover (which is technically not leather since it's untanned hide) I generally use a standard 5/6 or 6/7 oz weight for the liner up to a 10-12" blade and then wrap with 2-5 oz deer or elk rawhide since when the rawhide drys out (it must be worked wet and with a few other specialized techniques thrown in) it is iron hard and as stiff as you would ever want. Too thin a liner can buckle/distort as the rawhide drys. While the end product in this case produces a final thickness of 7-12 oz (I usually end up about 8/9 oz) it's again not the thickness alone, but rather the other qualities that give me the desired end product.......

hope this explains it........
 
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Amazing work I really like it. You would be a hit at the rendezvous over here.

Rawhide is in some ways superior to Kydex. Rawhide shrinks as it dries and can really suck stuff together. I have seen some amazing repairs with rawhide. My grandfather had some chairs with rawhide seats and you couldn't have made the chairs any tightener and they were way old. I also saw a old rifle with a cracked stock that the owner had made a rawhide sleeve for and it was very very solid. You used to come across all kinds of rawhide repairs in Montana when I was a younger, many of them made years before I ever saw them.
 
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