Tooling on Sheaths

Koyote Girl

Koyote Girl

Joined
Jun 26, 2008
Messages
320
I've been playing around with tooling patterns on scrap leather lately. I finally tried it out on a sheath! Obviously I'm not finished with it yet, but here is my first sheath with decent amount of tooling on it:

ip-sheath-3.jpg


ip-sheath-4.jpg


I know the lighting for the pictures is pretty bad...(we were in the middle of a storm) but it's suppose to be a basket weave.:D

You can see the knife in the "projects photo" thread.
 
I think tooling is fun on sheaths. Adding an artistic element to a knife or sheath serves to celebrate the item; adding a decorative touch seems to express the idea that it is not a mundane, mass produced item, but a special object.

Now the counter point to that is that excessive tooling can sometimes seem campy or self-serving. I think there needs to be a balance there. Also the knife has to be able to stand-up to the sheath, e.g. a cheap Mora would look funny in a nice tooled sheath. Check out some of Ilbruche's sheaths--his seem to range from the sublime to the outrageous.

You're right, the pictures are weak, but so far it looks great. I'll bet with some stain the pattern will pop out more. Cool. :thumbup:
 
She's been test dying some of the scrap pieces she was practising on, I think with the black in the worked areas it will stand out really well.

I like the basketweave for this particular one, since it's for the classic lines of the walnut clip point.
 
Rotte said:


Now the counter point to that is that excessive tooling can sometimes seem campy or self-serving. I think there needs to be a balance there. Also the knife has to be able to stand-up to the sheath, e.g. a cheap Mora would look funny in a nice tooled sheath.
Click to expand...

I agree. I really like tooling, but to me simple better, and less can be more (depending on what is being tooled). Awesome work! That looks really good. I have been messing around trying to do some linework on some leather, but have not had good luck so far.
 
Great job. It is great that you try to improve your work all the time. Some people get content and just make a good snug sheath. Lately you have been creating some of the nicest sheaths I have seen. Add tooling to them and they will be works of art.

Great job Sierra!!!!!!!!!!
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'm a little disappointed because it's not all perfectly even and everything (I'm kind of a perfectionist), but I'm sure it will end up looking great.

I'll put up more photos once I'm done tooling the flap :D
 
C Bryant said:
..., and less can be more ... .
Click to expand...

That has been a really major idea in the knife shop all along :D

And this thread reminds me, once the weather is a bit better we REALLY ARE going to put up a how to make a sheath tutorial. REALLY.
 
Ok, I finally tooled the flap. It came out a lot better than the first part I tooled. It also stopped raining, so the pictures came out better too :D

20090129-1.jpg


20090129-2.jpg


20090129-4.jpg


All that's left to do is dye it, then Christof can put it up for sale :P
 
Everyone always likes more pictures! :D I used a "Medium Brown" dye and a paint brush :p. Then I oiled it up real well, burnished the edges, and here it is:

156-7.jpg


156-8.jpg
 
Looks great. Has a bit of a 'patina' to it that I really like. Good work! :thumbup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top