The Cowbell Build Thread

Scott Hanson said:
They look really good! Can't wait to see the leather work.
Click to expand...
Thanks Scott, looks like mostly pocket clips for this bunch with a couple of belts. Keeping track of 12 sheaths is gonna be tricky, I inevitably cut a piece backwards or am short one especially when I'm doing multiple blade styles in the same batch. I made up a worksheet that helps me figure out exactly how many of which templates I need to cut. We'll see how it works out.
 
Really liking this Bone and White Linen Micarta. The little specs in it gives it a vintage look.
20220603_171735-01.jpeg

Not the case with this handle but ever notice when people find a flaw in their work they leave it and call it character? That can aggravate me because in some cases it's when folks don't want to put in the effort to fix an error (maybe we're not supposed to talk about that). For a second with this handle I thought I was creating these little specs and was trying to figure out what caused it, a closer look and I could see that it's in the material. Not a flaw or an error but in this case I think it does make for some nice..... character 😁
 
Redmeadow Knives said:
Really liking this Bone and White Linen Micarta. The little specs in it gives it a vintage look.
View attachment 1835348

Not the case with this handle but ever notice when people find a flaw in their work they leave it and call it character? That can aggravate me because in some cases it's when folks don't want to put in the effort to fix an error (maybe we're not supposed to talk about that). For a second with this handle I thought I was creating these little specs and was trying to figure out what caused it, a closer look and I could see that it's in the material. Not a flaw or an error but in this case I think it does make for some nice..... character 😁
Click to expand...
I hear you, I spend a lot of time trying to remove flaws In my knives especially with higher level of finish on some of my knives, can become quite tedious and maybe even an obsession.lol
 
Scott Hanson said:
I hear you, I spend a lot of time trying to remove flaws In my knives especially with higher level of finish on some of my knives, can become quite tedious and maybe even an obsession.lol
Click to expand...
I get obsessive but am getting better about figuring out when to call it. I don't go as full tilt on the fit and finish of the Cowbells as I do on my higher end stuff but they have a pretty clean f&f for what I intended to be an entry level handmade knife. Your fit and finish and your solder lines have always been my gold standard to work towards.
 
Haha, that was a hard picture to take, I was about to fall over!
 
Thought I'd share this in case it might give someone an idea or it'll at least provide some insight to my madness.

Caution this may result in the following:
tom-delonge-wtf.gif


With the cowbells, having four different blade styles with two types of sheaths for each can be tricky when cutting leather. Belts, Pockets, Drops, Wharns, Spears, Zulus, a mixed bag can make organizing and cutting pieces a real pain. When I had some free time in Texas a couple of months ago I made up some worksheets to help.

Hard templates help with cutting consistency and I have one for each sheath shape and one to layout the welts. The small holes at the bottom of each sheath is to line up the welts during assembly. I'll try to take some pics to show how I cut my leather and it will make more sense later.

I marked each template with a letter and made a sheet that shows which pieces each sheath needs. The leather is cut grain side up, so for example you can see a right hand Drop point needs two "A"'s and a "B". I went with letters instead of numbers to keep things clear (did I need 4 more number 2's or 2 more number 4's? Lettered templates should prevent that).

This might seem a bit ridiculous but it will help us smooth things out a LOT.

First the templates, one for the sheath body and one for the welt layout. B, D, F, and H are on the reverse side respectively.
20220608_183353-01.jpeg

Next the guide to what needs what, different shades to note opposite sides. Dummyproof, I need that sometimes. The nice thing is that belts and pocket sheaths have the same pieces, they just get assembled differently.
20220608_183410-01.jpeg

The worksheet below may look confusing but I can fill it out based on how many of which sheath type I need and determine exactly how many pieces of each template I need to cut out. Starting at the top I write how many belts/pockets, right/lefts I need, and get a total. Then I can do the multiplication and figure out how many of what letter template I need. This was a large run of Drops so it's just the one column, you can see when there's multiple blade types to make, you can imagine how things can get complicated quick without a cheatsheet like this. It also works as a build sheet as I go along.
20220608_183105-01.jpeg

I'm sure I'll run into some things that need tweaked along the way but this is a good start, and should save us a ton of time (I always say us, I must have a mouse in my pocket).
 
Redmeadow Knives said:
Thought I'd share this in case it might give someone an idea or it'll at least provide some insight to my madness.

Caution this may result in the following:
tom-delonge-wtf.gif


With the cowbells, having four different blade styles with two types of sheaths for each can be tricky when cutting leather. Belts, Pockets, Drops, Wharns, Spears, Zulus, a mixed bag can make organizing and cutting pieces a real pain. When I had some free time in Texas a couple of months ago I made up some worksheets to help.

Hard templates help with cutting consistency and I have one for each sheath shape and one to layout the welts. The small holes at the bottom of each sheath is to line up the welts during assembly. I'll try to take some pics to show how I cut my leather and it will make more sense later.

I marked each template with a letter and made a sheet that shows which pieces each sheath needs. The leather is cut grain side up, so for example you can see a right hand Drop point needs two "A"'s and a "B". I went with letters instead of numbers to keep things clear (did I need 4 more number 2's or 2 more number 4's? Lettered templates should prevent that).

This might seem a bit ridiculous but it will help us smooth things out a LOT.

First the templates, one for the sheath body and one for the welt layout. B, D, F, and H are on the reverse side respectively.
View attachment 1839598

Next the guide to what needs what, different shades to note opposite sides. Dummyproof, I need that sometimes. The nice thing is that belts and pocket sheaths have the same pieces, they just get assembled differently.
View attachment 1839602

The worksheet below may look confusing but I can fill it out based on how many of which sheath type I need and determine exactly how many pieces of each template I need to cut out. Starting at the top I write how many belts/pockets, right/lefts I need, and get a total. Then I can do the multiplication and figure out how many of what letter template I need. This was a large run of Drops so it's just the one column, you can see when there's multiple blade types to make, you can imagine how things can get complicated quick without a cheatsheet like this. It also works as a build sheet as I go along.


I'm sure I'll run into some things that need tweaked along the way but this is a good start, and should save us a ton of time (I always say us, I must have a mouse in my pocket).
Click to expand...
Howdy John!!!
You & your mouse sure do great work!!
Even your boards & templates are so well done!!
Maybe you'll have to take them notes & boards & write a book for any potential knife nuts ...!!
 
Redmeadow Knives said:
Thought I'd share this in case it might give someone an idea or it'll at least provide some insight to my madness.

Caution this may result in the following:
tom-delonge-wtf.gif


With the cowbells, having four different blade styles with two types of sheaths for each can be tricky when cutting leather. Belts, Pockets, Drops, Wharns, Spears, Zulus, a mixed bag can make organizing and cutting pieces a real pain. When I had some free time in Texas a couple of months ago I made up some worksheets to help.

Hard templates help with cutting consistency and I have one for each sheath shape and one to layout the welts. The small holes at the bottom of each sheath is to line up the welts during assembly. I'll try to take some pics to show how I cut my leather and it will make more sense later.

I marked each template with a letter and made a sheet that shows which pieces each sheath needs. The leather is cut grain side up, so for example you can see a right hand Drop point needs two "A"'s and a "B". I went with letters instead of numbers to keep things clear (did I need 4 more number 2's or 2 more number 4's? Lettered templates should prevent that).

This might seem a bit ridiculous but it will help us smooth things out a LOT.

First the templates, one for the sheath body and one for the welt layout. B, D, F, and H are on the reverse side respectively.
View attachment 1839598

Next the guide to what needs what, different shades to note opposite sides. Dummyproof, I need that sometimes. The nice thing is that belts and pocket sheaths have the same pieces, they just get assembled differently.
View attachment 1839602

The worksheet below may look confusing but I can fill it out based on how many of which sheath type I need and determine exactly how many pieces of each template I need to cut out. Starting at the top I write how many belts/pockets, right/lefts I need, and get a total. Then I can do the multiplication and figure out how many of what letter template I need. This was a large run of Drops so it's just the one column, you can see when there's multiple blade types to make, you can imagine how things can get complicated quick without a cheatsheet like this. It also works as a build sheet as I go along.
View attachment 1839607

I'm sure I'll run into some things that need tweaked along the way but this is a good start, and should save us a ton of time (I always say us, I must have a mouse in my pocket).
Click to expand...
View attachment 1839626
 
the list makes sense to keep track of everything. I’m glad to see all the pocket sheath as my cowbellS are my most carried and used knives. What do you think ab a pocket sheath for the Serrano? AE2FA740-6AE5-4CB3-A0F1-E706A4821B2D.jpeg
 
The Serrano might be a little big for that but I'll fool around with mine and see tmhowbitbwoukd work out.

Love seein them used Cowbells!
 
excellent planning with the hard templates and worksheet
if you don't mind me asking what material are you using for the templates
 
Texoma said:
excellent planning with the hard templates and worksheet
if you don't mind me asking what material are you using for the templates
Click to expand...
It's some dense MDF that's maybe around 3/16". It seems a little more dense than standard MDF though. I had a couple square feet of it that I think came as a shipping support for a piece of machinery, can't recall what.
 
Redmeadow Knives said:
Thought I'd share this in case it might give someone an idea or it'll at least provide some insight to my madness.

Caution this may result in the following:
tom-delonge-wtf.gif


With the cowbells, having four different blade styles with two types of sheaths for each can be tricky when cutting leather. Belts, Pockets, Drops, Wharns, Spears, Zulus, a mixed bag can make organizing and cutting pieces a real pain. When I had some free time in Texas a couple of months ago I made up some worksheets to help.

Hard templates help with cutting consistency and I have one for each sheath shape and one to layout the welts. The small holes at the bottom of each sheath is to line up the welts during assembly. I'll try to take some pics to show how I cut my leather and it will make more sense later.

I marked each template with a letter and made a sheet that shows which pieces each sheath needs. The leather is cut grain side up, so for example you can see a right hand Drop point needs two "A"'s and a "B". I went with letters instead of numbers to keep things clear (did I need 4 more number 2's or 2 more number 4's? Lettered templates should prevent that).

This might seem a bit ridiculous but it will help us smooth things out a LOT.

First the templates, one for the sheath body and one for the welt layout. B, D, F, and H are on the reverse side respectively.
View attachment 1839598

Next the guide to what needs what, different shades to note opposite sides. Dummyproof, I need that sometimes. The nice thing is that belts and pocket sheaths have the same pieces, they just get assembled differently.
View attachment 1839602

The worksheet below may look confusing but I can fill it out based on how many of which sheath type I need and determine exactly how many pieces of each template I need to cut out. Starting at the top I write how many belts/pockets, right/lefts I need, and get a total. Then I can do the multiplication and figure out how many of what letter template I need. This was a large run of Drops so it's just the one column, you can see when there's multiple blade types to make, you can imagine how things can get complicated quick without a cheatsheet like this. It also works as a build sheet as I go along.
View attachment 1839607

I'm sure I'll run into some things that need tweaked along the way but this is a good start, and should save us a ton of time (I always say us, I must have a mouse in my pocket).
Click to expand...
Very organized! Interesting.
 
Redmeadow Knives said:
It's gonna save me from a lot of woe hopefully. I always end up cutting something backwards and kicking myself.
Click to expand...
Can't tell ya how many times I've not read the WHOLE order form! Lots of right hand sheaths when they were suppose to be lefties! Fortunately the wife is real good at catching those before we ship.
 
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