Knife Sheath Project

I was recently given a Navy Seals MK-3 knife. I love the knife but the sheath was not to my liking. It is plastic with a spring loaded clip to hold knife that was very stiff. I took it apart and loosened spring but also noticed it completely wraps knife so it scraps knife blade. Metal on metal contact would dull edge so my mind was set to replace it.

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I used to always carry a Buck Woodsman and decided to get another one and happy to learn they still make that knife only with a different case that I really like and decided to make my sheath for the MK-3 along the same lines. I gathered up my scrap leather and got started.

http://i540.photobucket.com/albums/g...o/IMG_1321.jpg

The design is a little complicated so I have had to design pattern as I make sheath and doing some wet forming and fitting as I go.

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The knife has a hilt and I wanted it to sit on a shelf rather than bend leather around it. I stacked leather to build up shelf in such a way I could sand it flat on an angle before sewing it.

http://i540.photobucket.com/albums/g...o/IMG_1323.jpg

Laminating layers can strengthen and make contours more permanent than just wet forming and I want the knife to ride flush against my side. I have used metal in the lamination for some holsters to hold gun off leg but this should suffice for a knife. Not Glued in picture yet.

http://i540.photobucket.com/albums/g...o/IMG_1325.jpg

One change I made was to move clasp in front of knife so I can just remove knife with the flip of my thumb. I also made a pouch to hold a wet stone and on the bottom will have a loop for tying on pack straps and hanging it or things from it. Parts are still wet from forming.

http://i540.photobucket.com/albums/g...o/IMG_1327.jpg

Since the knife has a roughed edge I will be gluing some plastic inside of case before sewing and trimming. I’ll post the rest when I finish.

Thats looking good! Cant wait to see the rest of this.

Looking good so far.

Very nice. I've always thought working with leather would be hard. You make it look easy.

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Originally Posted by doug1980

Very nice. I've always thought working with leather would be hard. You make it look easy.

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The great thing about leather is it is one of the easiest materials to work with.

Nice work.

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Originally Posted by Alaskan Survivalist

The great thing about leather is it is one of the easiest materials to work with.

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speak for yourself :D

i enjoy working with it, but it's a challenge to do well. you are certainly on track.

I'm gonna try this again, posted it and it didn't "stick?"

Nice job, pic's are a nice touch, really shows the process.

As it starts cooling off, I'm wanting to make a covered shoulder holster/belt.

I'm thinking that the metal layer might be an idea to get the belt to lay flat against my side, instead of tipping out.

Thanks.

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Originally Posted by hunter63

I'm gonna try this again, posted it and it didn't "stick?"


Thanks.

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Yes it did. It should have been stuck when it was first written, but better late than never.:innocent:

I got a little more done today. To demonstrate how simply this can be I thought I would show how I do it. I guess it could be complicated if you knew what you were doing but I can figure a lot of stuff out by doing it and never let not knowing how to do something stop me from doing it. I don’t even have any actual leather tools. Even for needles I stole my wives darning needles.

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I apply glue and give it about ten minutes to get tacky and then stick parts together.

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I use a straight edge with ruler markings to keep stitches spaced and straight. I use an awl to mark.

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Then I drill holes and sew. I use two needles and just go through hole from opposite sides and when I get to end of stitch I back stitch and tie a granny knot, put a dab of glue on it and pull it into leather and trim. I don’t tie string to needle because knots are hard to pull through. I just double string through eye.

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You have to always consider the order things are assembled.

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About half the sewing is done and did a little more trimming. This is as far as I got today.

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I like the progress. Well done.

As I have said many times my knowledge come from doing, trial and error and sometimes complete failure. In this project I have come up against something I have not encountered before. This knife has a file/saw type edge that I have been told is for scraping paint of ships to plant explosives. I don’t do much of that but I have found it useful shaping wood so I won’t just grind it off. The problem is it will wear leather.

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My idea is to use some plastic I have for making stencils and glue it inside case to shield leather. Not sure if it will work so I am forming some scrap leather and will glue it to plastic to experiment. It that fails I may try coating some leather with fiberglass resin where contact is made.
http://i540.photobucket.com/albums/g...o/IMG_1344.jpg

I have sewn all I can until I figure this part out. It is always a good idea to experiment on scrap material for any project to take the guess work out of it.

That is looking real nice!

Outstanding job. I like it.

I don't know about the scraping side. How would you get the scraper flat against the hull? The hilt would hold it up. Not that it matters. (shrug)

I said I didn't attach explosives to ships much. That was a bit misleading, you caught me, I've never done it. Just what a guy told me it was for. It is not quite like a saw but could scribe a cut for a clean break I guess. I know it can cut groove for fire board easy or notch a trigger for a trap. BTW experiment worked great! I have to clamp it up now.

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Originally Posted by AS

you caught me, I've never done it.

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I got a good chuckle out of that. Thanks!

That plastic worked great and I will be using it in many more projects from here on out! One thing is it will not bend as tight as leather without folding so I used a pen for it to hold its shape, glued large final seam and used paperclips to hold it all together to dry.

http://i540.photobucket.com/albums/g...o/IMG_1354.jpg

Finished sewing it together and soaked in warm water for final wet forming. Perfect fit! When dry I will trim, finish latch, burn edges and treat with Neets foot oil.

http://i540.photobucket.com/albums/g...o/IMG_1355.jpg

Looks great! Well done.

It's not done. Almost.