Thanks Ndog, it's good to be home, and yes there she is, my best tool in the lot, the draw knife I dont use for leather work but I do use it for making my walking sticks, gets the bark off very well. Bawanna that is a dremel drill press attachment, got it at Lowes and it works amazing. Gonna post up a few of my most used tools to show you how they work, there actually is a lot of little steps that go into making a sheath and these tools make it easy to do so.
The first one is called a groover, it has an adjustable arm on it to set different widths on the leather, it cuts a groove in the leather that I use to set my stitching holes and my line work. I use this tool because it recesses the stitching in the leather to protect it from abrasion and cuts and it looks nice.
The next one sets my stitching holes for nice and even spacing between stitches, this tool comes with a few wheels that change the holes per inch, one has 5 then 6 and 7 lines per inch, normally I use the 6 lpi but for this large of a sheath I did 5 lpi.
And the last one is my edger, this sometimes is a missed step when people make sheaths. Using this tool it gives your edges a nice rounded look and does not look so sharp edged.
All these little steps make a huge difference for the end result and a worth the extra time to do.
Now I was already working on this sheath before I decided to do a WIP so im skipping a few steps but I will mention them here. After I cut out my rough shapes and then cut the welting and glue it up, I always leave extra to the outside so I can sand to shape later. This sheath required a second welt for the spine due to the thickness, so it was glued up as well. Once that is glued up I have to taper the welt at the front so it blends or tapers nicely in. I do this on the belt sander and then start my mock up. Here is where I probably differ from other builders, to get the sheath shaped properly I dab some glue in a few spots on the front and back of the sheath and set them together, from there I use the belt sander to shape and clean up the edges. The sander makes short work of this. Also a safety note here, when I sand I always use a respirator/dust mask, I also use a shop vac attached to the sander collect the leather dust. Once I have it shaped I use my groover to set my first line, then I use the stitching hole tool to set the holes and move over to the dremel and start making the stitch holes. Here is where we catch up. Here are a few pics after the holes are done.
This is after shaping and setting the holes, it's starting to look like something,
The Rose and the Sheath looking pretty good
And one with the Rose set in and the top placed over it.
Here is one after using the edger to clean up the edges,
Now I need an opinion, I have been practicing on my carving some and thought well this is a Cherokee Rose, it might be fitting to do a rose on the front. Now I know there is a flower that is called a Cherokee Rose, but I thought a traditional looking rose would be pretty cool so I carved up a few to see how they looked, so here they are, tell me what ya think and if it would be a nice touch to the sheath????
That's it for now my fingers are tired, hope you are liking it so far.
My pics might not be showing properly, if so let me know im trying to fix it.
). Just know that I am completely self taught and probably don't do things the right or proper way, but my methods work well for me. I recently picked up a fine example of a Cherokee Rose from a brother here and figured it would be a great blade for a WIP thread. Plus I wanted to show brother Bawanna that I have indeed been practicing in my absence.
Cool thread man! This is interesting already! I recognize a few of them tools like that hi tech texturing tool. Hmmm? Cute little draw knife there too. Ill just wait and see what you do with that:thumbup:
