crashdive123
11-14-2010, 03:01 PM
When I started this sheath I was kind of doing it in response to YCC’s question about being able to work with one arm. I decided to turn it into a thread about one way that I put a sheath together instead. With that in mind, I didn’t take pictures of the entire process. This took about two or three times longer to make, and some of my lines weren’t as accurate as I would have liked – but I’ll save that for a thread about working injured.
I started out with a piece of leather I had picked up at the local Tandy store. I normally make pouch sheaths (use less leather and are easier IMO) but went with a more traditional type for this build.
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath001.jpg
Here all of the pieces cut out. I just use a retractable razor blade knife to make my cuts. The tooling has been stamped (while wet) on the outer piece of leather and the stitching groove has been cut. I prefer to dye the leather I’m using before I sew it together. The strap for holding the knife in place is attached with one half of the snap.
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath002.jpg\
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath003.jpg
I use contact cement to put all of the pieces together before stitching. The belt loop is formed by folding the longer piece of leather in half.
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath004.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath005.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath006.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath008.jpg
To mark the holes for stitching I either use a wheel or a three pronged punch. Since this sheath is fairly thick, I wanted the spacing a little wider than the wheel I had would provide, and the leather was a bit too thick for the punch – so I used the punch to lightly mark the leather and then drilled at the center of each mark. A 3/32 drill bit was used for the holes.
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath009.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath010.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath011.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath012.jpg
After the sheath is stitched up, I used my grinder to smooth out the edges. Using the contact wheel of the grinder also burns and seals the edges.
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath013.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath014.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath015.jpg
Attached the other half of the snap.
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath016.jpg
I use a product called Edge Kote to finish the edges and then finis the sheath with an acrylic sealer.
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath020.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath022.jpg
….and the finished product.
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath023.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath024.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath025.jpg
I started out with a piece of leather I had picked up at the local Tandy store. I normally make pouch sheaths (use less leather and are easier IMO) but went with a more traditional type for this build.
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath001.jpg
Here all of the pieces cut out. I just use a retractable razor blade knife to make my cuts. The tooling has been stamped (while wet) on the outer piece of leather and the stitching groove has been cut. I prefer to dye the leather I’m using before I sew it together. The strap for holding the knife in place is attached with one half of the snap.
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath002.jpg\
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath003.jpg
I use contact cement to put all of the pieces together before stitching. The belt loop is formed by folding the longer piece of leather in half.
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath004.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath005.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath006.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath008.jpg
To mark the holes for stitching I either use a wheel or a three pronged punch. Since this sheath is fairly thick, I wanted the spacing a little wider than the wheel I had would provide, and the leather was a bit too thick for the punch – so I used the punch to lightly mark the leather and then drilled at the center of each mark. A 3/32 drill bit was used for the holes.
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath009.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath010.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath011.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath012.jpg
After the sheath is stitched up, I used my grinder to smooth out the edges. Using the contact wheel of the grinder also burns and seals the edges.
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath013.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath014.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath015.jpg
Attached the other half of the snap.
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath016.jpg
I use a product called Edge Kote to finish the edges and then finis the sheath with an acrylic sealer.
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath020.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath022.jpg
….and the finished product.
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath023.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath024.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii67/crashdive123/Knife%20Making/Sheath025.jpg