Wharncliffe sheaths?

O

Omega Leather Works

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Jun 13, 2007
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I asked about these in Paul's thread, but don't want to muck it up with my questions and pics. :o

This was the first knife I ever made, and the second sheath I ever made. (can someone using a computer tell me if the pic is really large? My phone resizes it. Thanks!)

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You can see that, worn on the right side, the sheath looks backwards because of the shape of the knife.

Post any pics you might have of a sheath you made for a wharncliffe, I'd like to see how you guys do them.
 
sorry, no pics, btw. the picture is okay, a bit large but okay.
sorry for co hijacking the thread ;)
i really like wharncliffe and sheepfoot blades. it's easily my preferred blade style (i only have folders with it though, so no sheath issues), because to me they are the perfect shape for what i use knives for.
 
I have made quite a few Wharncliffe sheaths and they are nearly all pouch style. They look pretty much exactly like your example. In my opinion you are doing it right, following the blade shape. As fa as looking backwards when worn, I don;t see that. It is what it is and you are doing it right.

Paul
 
Yea, I've made a few. And yes, it always looks backwards to me as well. :D

Most of mine have been Randall style with stitching on both sides and wet molded. Makes the backwards effect look that much more standing out.

Of course I cant find a picture of any that I've done, figures. :rolleyes:
 
Paul, thanks. Definitely feels good knowing you see it as correct.

Lytefoot, very cool knife and I like the shape and construction of the sheath. Thanks for sharing it!

leatherman said:
Of course I cant find a picture of any that I've done, figures. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I'm the same way. :o If you do come across a pic I'd love to see it. Sounds nice.

Wharncliffe's are one of my favorite patterns. Almost all of my knife needs are firmly in the utility category. Don't hunt (except for cardboard boxes), don't need em for self defense, a fine tip doesn't bother me, etc. Sheepsfoot, wharncliffe, modified wharncliffe... Doesn't get much better for my uses.
 
Antony, I finally found one photo of a Wharncliffe sheath. I made this one back in 2009. As you can see it looks pretty much like yours. The belt loop rolls over to the back and is not visible in the photo, but it is a right hand sheath.

Paul
 
Oh yeah, that's like mine only slightly nicer! You can see on mine that I hadn't stamped anything in years. I won't take all of the blame though, that stamp was horrible. It's better now since I (carefully) took it to the belt sander to modify the depth of the legs. It was also practice for dyeing. I made several after that one before ever thinking about selling anything. I cannot remember your direct quote from the dvd, but something along the lines of aiming for perfection if you plan to take another man's money. That really made an impression on me for whatever reason.

Is that one stamp (for the main stamping), or is it 1+ a seeder? I need to pick up more stamps to do work like that. I've got the basics, different sized basket weaves, camouflage, seeder, bevelers and some interesting geo's, but I need to expand on them. What are your favorites?

I hope more folks post pics, I'm really liking what I'm seeing so far. :)
 
It's a Jerimiah Watt, ( Horseshoe Brand). I call it the "Pineapple" but it's really just a stylized mule foot. Then I added a seeder in the center so the pattern is done with two tools plus the border.

Paul
 
Oh okay, I can see a mules foot now. Where did you learn to do your stamping? I ask because I've seen you do some interesting things with other stamps as well. I have a mules foot and never would have thought of that.
 
I struck my first tool in 1951 along with my first go around with a swivel knife. To be honest I guess I've learned every minute of those 64 years and I'm still learning. I did glean a bunch of knowledge out of Al Stohman's various books, like "Belts Galore", "How to Carve Leather" (Featuring the ABC's of figure carving and The Dye Chart Method), "Craftool Tech Tips" (really a good source of information), "How to Make Holsters", "The Art of Making Leather Cases" ( vols. 1,2, and 3) and others, all of which have wonderful illustrations and step by step instructions on stamping and carving and the techniques involved. I used to refer to one or the other of them almost daily, but now I've just about got them memorized. Oh, I have to give a good bit of credit to the "Doodle Pages" that Tandy put out every couple of weeks years ago. I have pretty good collection of those too. I think Tandy/LF is offering the collection as a whole for some ungodly price, but it's probably worth it. They were free for the taking back then, one at a time as they were produced. The point is, "self taught' WITH BOOK HELP is probably as good as it gets and allows you to develop your own personal style.

Back when I started there weren't too awful many "Big Names" and you had to kind of learn on your own, unless you had access to someone in a Saddle or Boot shop. I finally had that opportunity about 20 years ago now when I got to spend a year in the shop with my good friend, and Master Boot and Saddle maker, Don Atkinson. He took my rather sizable pool of attained knowledge and added to it and then refined it, and I wound up like I am today…….but I'm still learning. Don taught me, for instance the MOST VALUABLE lesson, that I use every day. The importance of a paper pattern before you even think of cutting the leather, and that you can make ANYTHING you want to IF you can and will make a paper pattern first.

Well, I started off to give you a quick answer and wrote an epistle, sorry. I hope I've answered at least one of your questions.

Paul
 
I'm very interested in this thread and how y'all are doing your wharncliffe sheaths. I'm a complete novice when it comes to leather working and love seeing how you guys do it. I've been making some little swayback wharncliffes lately but they're all smaller pocket sized fixed blades with pocket sheaths. I've been making the sheaths so that the knife will fit in either direction so it isn't contoured with the blade. This seems to be more comfortable for pocket carry rather than following the shape of the blade. The knives fit nice and snug and don't seem to move around any. But again I may be doing it all wrong. I'm so slow when doing leather work right now I lean towards keeping things as simple as possible. If anyone has done any pocket sheaths for wharncliffes I'd love to see those. Here is what I've been doing with the sheaths for my knives:

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I just need to figure out how to add a pocket clip to my sheaths so if anyone has a good tutorial or WIP on doing that then I'd love to see it.
 
phoritz, for a knife that size and particularly for pocket carry, I think you did it just right. I would not change a thing.

As for the pocket clip, one like the photo below should work very nicely. I line everything I make and the clip is inserted between the lining and the exterior. You could line only the back side of your sheath and make it work nicely. They are set up to take a rivet, but I use a dot of epoxy between the layers to secure it to eliminate the rivet lump. I do keep a stock of the clips if you can't find them.

Paul
 
Paul thanks for the great info. I purchased a clip from one of the knife maker supply places but it's kind of a clunker so I haven't tried using it and I like the one you have in that pic much better. I'll try to find something more like that to use.

One question about the liner if I were to do it just on the back in order to add the clip. Is the thinner material inside or outside or do both pieces need to be about the same thickness? Or does it not matter at all? I don't have anything other than 7-8 oz leather on hand so I'll need to get something else as a couple of pieces of that stacked together would be too thick I would think.


Aaron
 
Go with you lighter weight on the inside and it should be about 2/3Oz.

Paul
 
Not exactly Warncliffe but the principal is the same. This is uses a magnet for retention and gives a number of carry options by using parracord and the eyelets on the sheath.
 
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The kind of clip that Paul has are great. I do use a rivet, but they are flat on the back so don't cause any problems.

This one has a pigskin lining.

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This one has a 4oz lining.

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Awesome stuff guys. Phorizt, I *love*that little wharncliffe with the pocket slip. The handle looks super comfy. I'll need to bug you in the future to make me one. :)
 
phoritz sheath looks super smooth.
i also like brumby's idea with the magnets... i can't seem to find my neodymium magnets though :(
btw also like the pigskin lining... somdeday in the future i will try that as well... still so much to try and learn...
it is really awesome to see all the creativity and ideas in this forum.
 
Brumby, have you found that the blade is magnetized at all? My concern is that the swarf from sharpening would stick to the blade (or other metal particles) and inadvertently get dragged into the sheath. Probably an unfounded worry, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts.
 
sheathmaker said:
Well, I started off to give you a quick answer and wrote an epistle, sorry. I hope I've answered at least one of your questions.

Paul
Click to expand...

Paul, your response is always welcome, long or short.

I have a number of the Stohlman books, but I need to bolster my collection. :) I'll look into the doodle book. I'm pretty sure I know which one you are talking about.

I've made a paper pattern for every single sheath I've made, in fact I need to buy another book of graph paper. I have 2'x3' sheets for large knives. I use drawing tools like a bendable curve for getting nice arcs and can also use it for sematry when necessary. I've started using your pin point tracing from the videos and I'm getting better at transfers.
 
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