Tips for a beginner?

S

Salolan

Joined
Feb 27, 2013
Messages
730
I have been making an attempt to be a hobbyist knife maker now for about a year. I spend most of my time here browsing the Shoptalk area of the forum, trying to absorb every little trick of the trade that I can. However, I made 6 sheaths the past 2 days and it dawned on me out of all the skill sets I have drastically improved, my leather work has improved the least. I prefer sheaths with strapless retention for my knives and I struggle a bit getting a design that functions as well as I would like. I have done hardly any tooling, partially due to confidence but mainly for lack of the tools(though I see an email from Tandy stating some of their stamps are 50% off until Christmas). Any critiques, tips or tricks that anyone cares to offer are more than greatly appreciated.

I made 4 like these this week. In hindsight I should have raised the front slab up another 1/2 inch or so to help with retention. They are also a bit tight in the "neck" when the blade comes past the opening and I think I should have flared the bottom of the opening out away from the knife just a bit.
zd7jO4x.jpg


These are the other 2 I made yesterday. I am quite pleased with how these turned out though I'm sure someone could point out a whole list of flaws.
EeRaIuS.jpg


I made this attempt at an angled, ambidextrous carry earlier in the month. I thought I would need a little extra room at the opening so I thickened the welt and shouldn't have.
3M8OtGl.jpg


I made these a few months back. The 2 on the left are by far the best I have done as far as functional strapless retention. I am not sure what to call the stitch I did on the other 2. It took some time to do by hand but the desired visual effect was achieved.
vN0Iu4Y.jpg


Thank you for looking and Merry Christmas,
Chris
 
Looks like your on a very solid base with your work. You realize where you need to make adjustments, and where your doing pretty good. :)

From here, refine and polish your technique. Look for those tools you need to make that happen, and overall have fun with it, dont let the constructive criticism get to you in a negative way, the old timers are here to help you get better if you ask. :)
 
Looks like a very good start!
On the ones with the snap straps, they look like they'd be carried on your right hand side, I'd recommend that the button down side comes from the other direction, so as the person is walking if the bump against something it has less chance of coming unsnapped.

And yep Leatherman is right lots of old timers here to help, I'd suggest posting some things you're wondering about as photos vs handling your work is not always easy to give helps.

Stitch away there! Like the accents you put on a few of them too, nice touch!
G2
 
Thank you all for your compliments and suggestions. Gary, your suggestion on the snaps make sense, I had done it that way because it felt more natural to unsnap it with the thumb. I am also unsure what hip the end users will prefer to carry. Jaymack thank you for that link. As in any trade, as a beginner I pretty well followed the first half of the list. But as Gary's 15 min thread stated, the extra 15 minutes are where the true craftsmen shine.

As for tools, I just remembered an email from Tandy Leather I received over the weekend. It seems they have most all of their stamps marked down to 4.99 for everyone so I have placed a small order to get started on some tooling.

Thank you again and Merry Christmas,
Chris
 
You're welcome, typically you would create the sheath with the carry side in mind, so that the edge is towards the rear, so those sheaths would normally be seen as a right side carry, but some might carry as a cross draw and wear on their left, so it's always a good idea to pose that question when making a sheath for someone specifically, generic sheaths can be done so the knife can be inserted in either direction, but I'd install the belt snap leather with a rivet so you could rotate as needed.
G2
 
Thank you again Gary. Like you said, I wasn't sure if right side carry or cross draw so I went with what felt best. Maybe I should just tell them to wear it cross draw! ;)

Thank you Jaymack. If you look closely my makers mark is actually made up of my initials, though most people don't see it without it being pointed out. :D

Chris
 
I know this thread is a little old, but could you explain how you did the stitching on those last two? The barbed wire effect is awesome and something I'd like to try.
 
Skylar and Strig I am flattered you both think so. I have never seen anyone besides myself do a stitch like that on a sheath though I'm sure it would be pretty presumptuous to think I am the only one who ever has. I have since finished 2 more sheaths with that stitch pattern and let us refer to those for this little impromtu instructional(both knives and sheaths are vastly improved from above photos :D).

mLcJzLV.jpg

For this stitch pattern I use a welt that is about a 1/4" wider than I normally would to be sure and keep all the stitches in the welt. I glue up the sheath as normal and sand the edge until it is smooth and consistent all the way around. To lay out the stitch, I started by VERY lightly scribing lines at both 1/4" and 3/8" in from the outside. I then take a 5 space per inch stitch wheel and starting at the point of sheath on the outside scribe line lay out the spacing. I then just visually mark the spaces on the inside line evenly between the spaces on the outside line. The previously shown sheaths I used the stitch wheel on both scribe lines but as it turns the corner coming up the sheath the spacing would get shifted out of position a bit. I used a 1/16" bit in my drill press and predrilled all the holes. I then used a small tip in my wood burner and burnt in the pattern of the stitch, added the pattern across the top and added the barbs. For the stitching I used a smaller gauge yarn needed and waxed thread. Starting at the point of the sheath I worked my way up 1 side of the sheath doing every other stitch. Doing so it should look like this on the back...
T7GOfqH.jpg

When you get to the top come back down. When you get to the bottom start up the other side the same way. The tops and the tip of the sheath can be a bit tricky to get back in on the opposite pattern but it isn't that hard to figure out. I always wrap the last stitch on each end of the thread twice and do so at the top of the sheath even if it isn't the end of the thread.

I hope this helps and if you have any further questions please feel free to ask.

Thank you,
Chris
 
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