The challenge, a one piece straight knife sheath

Gary W. Graley

Gary W. Graley

“Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 2, 1999
Messages
27,430
As most of you know, I only do folder sheaths any more, but, every now and then
a long time friend will beg a favour, in this case I've known this guy for very long time
and the knife he has was made by another friend, Tim Zowada, so I could hardly say no.
Although once I got it home from Ashokan and started looking at it, I had MANY
second thoughts.

Here is the knife and you can see how it would be challenging, as he
wanted to carry it at an angle on his belt, behind him so he can draw it with
his right hand.

Tim Zowada SHARP beauty of a knife;

IMG_2366.jpg


IMG_2368.jpg


as you can see, no guard, no handle scales, no contours you could use to help
with retention and he didn't want a flap...

So I thought of an idea that I wanted to share, in case you guys/gals may end up in a similar situation.
I used a small piece of elk skin, the kind used for moccasins. It's thick and spongy in texture.
So I wrapped that onto the knife when I wrapped the knife with plastic wrap.
Also, in order to keep the blade UP while I use the bone folder to shape the top section
of the sheath, I cut out a piece of leather the same shape as the blade and
set that beneath the blade, so when I pressed down, the blade didn't also go down.

here is the opening of the sheath, you can see the piece of elk skin that is
glued up inside the top section of the sheath;

IMG_2365.jpg


When you insert the knife, the leather will have a wedging effect as the knife
compresses it. On these I recommend to keep the knife out when not in use but
if it ever became too pressed, you can easily replace that small bit.

IMG_2362.jpg


IMG_2358.jpg


I left a small rounded end near the opening to help aid getting the knife back into the sheath
and it also runs the full length of the knife, so there are TWO layers of leather beneath the knife, just in case!

IMG_2359.jpg


He had looked at my wife's uncle's sheath I did for the Tim Wright knife and wanted
something similar but not as steep an angle. and able to removed the sheath
off your belt without taking your belt off, so along the bottom are two snaps

The back side, I left the front lower side just a little bit longer than the back
so you can grip that and pull the snaps apart.

IMG_2364.jpg


So, there ya go, man it's a nice snug fit, I just got in some snaps and that small
star there, he goes to a lot of western old timey things, so this will fit in some what.

Thanks for looking, hope it sparks some ideas for you guys,
G2
 
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wow! I love the lines on that sheath, it really matches the knife well. The knife is amazing as well.
 
I like it all... Love the knife and the sheath... Both stellar pieces of work... And it all goes well and looks like it'd carry very nicely.

DM
 
Thanks guys, it is a pain to make, for several reasons;

1. as pointed out, nothing to grip on the knife
2. even as small as it is and narrow a blade, that sucker is SHARP!!!
3. you have to set your holes and finish both edges BEFORE you glue it
down to the belt loop piece, as you can't trim it once it's in place

A tip about the stitching, to make it come out looking even at the tip
I start my stitching forks from the tip and go up to the opening, that way
you can 'fudge' where you end near the top, BUT no matter what you have
to go around that tip, so why not get that set and let the other ends fall
where they may!

G2
 
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Gary.. You are truly a Master of this Art..
This looks absolutely perfect!

martin

ps. thanks a lot for the pleasant way you know how to sneak in little tips of the profession in every message you post. They are a huge help and an inspiration for a rookie as myself..
 
Stunning! Your work is truly top-notch, Gary.

Wish I'd been paying attention... would have loved to have seen that knife in person.
 
Thanks guys and Martin, glad to help any way I can to share this work.

Matt, Steve pulled this knife out late Saturday night and talked me into
making him something. He goes to a lot of western gun thingys where they
dress up in that long ago garb of the cowboys, I ordered some Line 24 snaps
and saw they had a 10 piece pack with a Star on them and got those just
for this occasion. That smaller decorative star is a hammered in piece, but
didn't hammer in as nice as I like, it'll stay put but...

and being the type 'A' person that I am, a little bit of that detective Monk
as my daughter tells me, I took small pliers and turned the stars so they would
line up with the top of the sheath when worn on the belt ;)

G2

edited to add that here is the sheath that Steve saw at Ashokan and asked for his
to be similar with the snaps for quick removal, but not as steep of a tilt, on the one
above, there wasn't enough room for a larger decorative piece, plus that one seemed
to add just enough touch without being over board.

It was a special request from my wife's uncle and made it as a cross draw to his spec's
I also added the celtic knot concho that I picked up from tandy while in FL
The guard area of this knife provides a nice snap in feel and gives a secure position
for it in the sheath.

You can read/see more of Tim Wright's stuff in this thread started by SharpByCoop Here
it has some very cool folders and also this knife out of the sheath, nice stuff!

IMG_1508.jpg


compared to the Right side carry and less tilt;
IMG_2359.jpg
 
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T.K.C. said:
...pure genius!! ...
Click to expand...

That's what the plaque on the wall says...:) just kidding!
thanks TKC I was pressed for a way to make it retain that
knife without much fear it would slide out and that did the trick nicely
she's on her way home just now, heading north.

G2
 
Thanks Frank, I was going to do something like that a long time ago
go the idea from one of RJ Martin sheaths, he uses rare earth magnets
or at least use to, but ended up not doing that, worried that the magnet
would attract 'bad' things inside the sheath and possibly scar the blades
I picked up 4 of the very small but quite strong magnets and tried to set
them into a sheath but I wasn't that clever and gave up on it too quick.

But as I don't do the fixed blade sheaths, except for rare occasions, the
need or want to use magnets isn't that strong, no pun intended ;)
G2
 
damn you rock gary.

you need to make it to one of our hammer-ins this coming year. i'd love to have you do a demo

man i just can't get over how crisp your leather work is. the knives must snap in like kydex.... they looks sooo perfect, like you just CNCed them out of a block of leather

damn good work my man
 
Michael, that sounds interesting! hard to schedule stuff with my frequent travels though
it was tough just making time for Ashokan!

Thanks, Don, I never plan to do fixed blade sheaths, but friends step in and need something and
there ya go, but, I try to avoid them as best I can, this thread was to offer some tips
in situations like this, Frank's idea of magnets would have been a very good idea for
this knife, but time and material wasn't available.
G2
 
Thanks Nick, it did work out well, I all but refused to make that
when I finally got home and started to think over what to do,
but I hate to let down a friend!

Called his house today, he was away but his wife asked if I was
the one that made the sheath, she said she never gets excited
with all the knives that he has, but she really liked that sheath a lot
as did he, always nice to get some feed back from non-knife people :)
G2
 
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