Trio finished up

Gary W. Graley

Gary W. Graley

“Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 2, 1999
Messages
27,420
Had a fellow send in three folders to be leathered up,
here they are, resting in a piece of foam that I carved
out an area for each one to keep safe as they make
their way homeward bound.

On the left is a Benchmade Apparition, then a Spyderco Viele and lastly a Boker trapper

foamsetting.jpg


a shot of the Benchmade, for this I wrapped a section of leather at the end of the clip
in order to keep the opening there when you go to return the knife, all three really snap
into place, but the Benchmade more so with it's pronounced guard area, very nice all three knives

IMG_3024.jpg


on the leading edge of the sheath I embossed what I call the North Star as
shaping the sheaths to permit the clips to stay on, didn't leave a lot for tooling.

IMG_3022.jpg


and a closeup of the Boker;

IMG_3023.jpg


Home for a short while, seems further time between leather and family!
Hopefully the travel will cut back soon,
G2
 
Thanks for posting them, Gary - they look superb, as usual! :thumbup:
 
You've got me wanting to carry a folder again Gary! :p

Those look wonderful! :D
 
Thanks Greg and Dwayne, the way I do the forming for the clips
I make it a more soft gentle curve on the leather, formed just by
fingers and finger pressure, no hard tools for that area, so it, to me
looks more natural, I do use the bone folder along the blade edges
and around the knife itself, but rely on a softer touch over the clip
sections, this helps to leave more of the texture in the leather, as
when you press down hard with a tool it will compact that section
of leather and also makes it a little harder for the dye to sink in
because now it's a burnished area.

while I dislike clips, it helps to be able to give the person a choice
so this is the best of both worlds, able to keep the clip on the knife
but, if he decides to remove the clip, the sheath will still retain as it's
not relying on the for retention.

The Sypderco one also snaps into place very nicely, all three did, but
the strongest was the Benchmade, due to it's shapely guard area ;)
G2
 
Thanks Dusty and TF, I just have the one size;

IMG_0498.jpg


that's for the belt loop mainly and the opening edges.

The sides along the outer edges are done using a small drum sanding wheel
that I rigged up on an arbhor, you cut stips of sanding paper to fit onto that
and CAREFULLY work around the edge to make a bevel and then burnish the
entire edge smooth.

G2
 
That is why your edges are so square...

What grit do you use on this sander and what speed do you think you have that barrel sander moves at?

TF
 
Hmm the disk sander part is 80 grit, pretty rough, the drum is finer, 180-220 depending
on what I have around.
as to speed, dunno, the motor is not overly fast, very old as said, don't know speeds to
say really, one of these days I'll clean it up and take a shot of it, not very impressive
looking device ;) but it's lasted over 24 years now, since I've had it, not sure how long
the other guy had the motor setup but it looked old when I got it...

G2
 
Wow - I didn't know you had been doing this for so long.

I use a dremel to sand down my edges and I almost put it on its lowest setting so it does not burn.

TF
 
Yah, that does sound like a long time YIKES, ;)
I guess I started just a little before that and just
used the edging tool back then.
I must be getting old !


As they say;

Time flies like the wind
Fruit flies like bananas...:)
G2
 
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Very niiiiiiice....per usual...do your belt loops stitch along with the btm. stitch line?
 
Thanks Keith and Rayban,
the belt loop does run tightly against the back side and is stitched
along the bottom, as shown on this Buck 110 sheath;

110side.jpg


110back.jpg


buck110sheath2.jpg


This provides a couple of things;
You can tilt the sheath to draw the knife
raise the sheath when you go to sit down so it doesn't get in the way
and also instead of having threads on the inside for the knife
to possibly rub against, the threads are down along the bottom so less
to wear out.
And if someone is goofing around and tries to grab your knife, it will move
up before it allows them to draw it, giving you some extra notice.
Some don't care for the longer belt loop style, but for me it works pretty nice
and those that got them now like them as well.

It's not a quick draw kind of thing, but a secure carry.
G2
 
I don't think a folder was ever meant to be a 'quick draw'. Well not of that make - the assisted openers are a different story.

TF
 
Thanks TKC and TF, probably so, Sal Glesser of Spyderco can REALLY make a folder
leap from his pocket, he is one amazing dude :)
G2
 
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