Whacha Been Up To......

^thank you! They were a lot of work and super finicky, but they're finally done and I'm happy with them. They aren't available yet, since I'm waiting on hardware, but one sold already so hopefully that's a sign of things to come

I put this sheath together yesterday. There are four knives I made that are essentially the same as this one, which will have sheaths just like this, (only a little nicer and with a few adjustments) which I'm stitching up now. The way that I make these things, well...let's just say my fingers are always crossed until the very end since so much can go wrong, lol


 
ecallahan said:
Finished sheaths for two of my smaller axes. My edges are slowly getting better. I’ve been having fun learning new things over the last month or so. It’s really humbling when you see the work some of you produce and then try to do something similar. I’m almost 60 and I’ll bet there’s more to learn than I’ll have time to

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I think you are off to a great start! We all continue to learn and you are never too old to try new things. Believe me. I am old.
Randy
 
I found some tiny steel leatherworking tools from Barry King Tools. I bought two size 00 XX Steep Smooth Edge Bevelers. The tip on them is a tad less than 1/16" wide. I'm going to grind one of them down to about 1 - 1.5mm wide. They said that they are backed up about 6 months on custom orders or I would have had them do it. I also got some tiny shaders, triangle, lifter, regular small smooth Beveler, and a Bargrounder.
 
000Robert said:
I found some tiny steel leatherworking tools from Barry King Tools. I bought two size 00 XX Steep Smooth Edge Bevelers. The tip on them is a tad less than 1/16" wide. I'm going to grind one of them down to about 1 - 1.5mm wide. They said that they are backed up about 6 months on custom orders or I would have had them do it. I also got some tiny shaders, triangle, lifter, regular small smooth Beveler, and a Bargrounder.
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Nice finds, I've been tooling a sheath using Barry King stamps and man are they are nice to work with, really crisp. I'm a complete novice to stamping but notice they improve my game quite a bit.
 
Redmeadow Knives said:
Nice finds, I've been tooling a sheath using Barry King stamps and man are they are nice to work with, really crisp. I'm a complete novice to stamping but notice they improve my game quite a bit.
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Oh yeah, the right tools make everything easier and look better. I'm still a novice myself. You can easily see in my photos how much better the skull & flames look when I used the fine detail blade to carve the tiny teeth and stuff. It would also help had I made the picture a little larger. But I didn't want it very large. I also got some very fine paintbrushes.
I think I'll make the bald eagle snatching the fish out of water a little larger to help make the talons and fish look better. I'm planning on doing it next. I'll start working on the stencil for it today probably since the skull & flames sheath is on hold until I receive the new Barry King tools.
I also have some really cool ideas coming for the next sheaths. One is a lion drawn with only flames and another is a horse that is burning from the inside out. If I can do a decent job painting them, they are going to look badass!
 
Picked up a neat knife designed by Jerry Fisk and made by White River Knife&Tool called the Sendero. Very classy knife, it did come with a fairly well made leather sheath but that strap comes undone and the knife is loose, plus trying to return the knife to the small slot in the sheath can be problematic for some...me...lol so I made a pouch sheath. With that large/wide guard it required the sheath to look a lot like a gun holster! I added a swivel belt loop so when I go to sit down I can angle the sheath to make it easier to sit, or retrieve the knife while seated. Returning the knife is a lot easier as you have a large opening that the knife will just drop into. The entrance welt side has a slight curve so the guard rides in and drops into the shelf made to catch the guard, the knife is not loose in the sheath due to that cam action of the thick welt...that area has a total of 5 layers of leather to sew through, had to drill the holes in order to get through all of that.

Here's a video of the knife, White River made quite the little container, their wood working talents are pretty nice, or who ever makes them for them.


Here's some shots of the knife and the new and old sheath.

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Three layers for the welt at the start, tapered the top and bottom pieces so it was a gradual blend down to the final section of the sheath

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Swivel belt loop is handy, on the inside when I made the hole for the copper rivet, I used a ball peen hammer and my maul to hammer the peen section of the hammer into the leather, making a deep concave area that the head of the rivet sets down into.

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

I still don't care to make fixed blade sheaths, and I don't take orders for them so don't ask ;) I focus mainly of folder sheaths or slip sheaths, which I make tight to the contours of the folder. I think that is one of the reasons I don't like fixed blade sheaths, making things tight to sharp edges seems just wrong :)

Hope everyone will have a great 4th of July!
G2
 
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Gary -
That sheath is awesome 👍. Much better than the original. One question though - did you cover the rivet on the inside of the sheath, so it doesn't mar the knife in any way?
I would hate to see a mark with every time it's used.
 
I did not cover the rivet because I nested it deep into the leather, so it doesn't touch the handle at all, works great!

When I do that style of thing, I punch a hole through and then wet the leather and use my maul to hammer down the round ball end of a ball and peen hammer so it forms a hard concave area that the head of the rivet rests in and sits just below the level of the leather.

G2
 
Finished up a double pen/screwdriver pocket sheath for a special order.
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Gonna get stitching up a pancake belt sheath here shortly for another fella.

Edited: because I had to fix up a couple stitch placements…that was embarrassing.
 
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and also making good progress on Richard338 Richard338 's seax rig
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Lots of great work going on here!!

We finished off another of our overnight duffel bags. This one went to TN and the next one goes to Norway:


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The design keeps evolving slowly each one we kinda make just some subtle changes. On this one we added the strap tabs that are sewn down to help strengthen the junction between strap and bag. We alos changed the handle wrap attachment and construction. Just small things but always trying to make good better.

Made this belt for a long time customer. He has several handmade buckles that we've made him belts for. Water buffalo overlay with red stitching to match the coral in the buckle:

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Finished up a new batch of knives and sheaths:

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Fifteen knives and sheaths in this batch as well as sheaths for some outside knives:

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Gary W. Graley said:
Very nice Dave, happy 4th to you and your family!

And, that package to Norway, is that being hand delivered? ;) that'd make a nice trip!
G2
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Gary W. Graley said:
Very nice Dave, happy 4th to you and your family!

And, that package to Norway, is that being hand delivered? ;) that'd make a nice trip!
G2
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Thanks and you to Gary!

Kinda funny ya mention that cause I have made the same customer there in Norway an item that was hand delivered. I made him a pair of chinks (short chaps) a few years back. He emails me and asks me if I can mail them to Frecker's Saddlery in MT. Kent Frecker was a legendary saddle maker and both Nichole and I ride Frecker saddles. I knew Kent a little bit from some shows so gave him a call to let him know that they were enroute to him. He told me one of his sons was going skiing there in Norway and would deliver the chinks for me as they were friends with my customer. So hand delivery is not completely out of the question.

Here's a big box of Christmas present that went to the same customer a couple of years ago:

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And his wife wearing her new Horsewright sandwashed silk wildrag:

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Here's the bowie thats in the box. Think it was the last bowie I made.

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Maybe three or four years ago, don't remember making another since.
 
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