When a nice knife comes with a kind of crappy sheath

[Hickory n steel]

Yesterday I received in a very nice Moki Bird & Trout knife.


The sheath however seemed quite decent at first, but was not really put together very well.
First I had to resew it yesterday because the welt wasn't glued very well and the stitching was quite loose.

Then today I had to cut the stitches and take it back apart to resew the belt loop because it was not glued at all and the again quite loose stitching was just coming out.

I'm a lefty so I'll probably just be using it temporarily till I make something better, but it is kind of annoying that they made such a nice knife then half assed the sheath construction.
I ran into the same issue with an unused vintage Ichiro Hattori model 109, again a Japanese knife that's very nicely made with a sheath that was generally fairly nice all things considered but poorly glued and stitched requiring me to repair it.

 

[Horsewright]

Well looks like ya did some very clean work on both.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Well looks like ya did some very clean work on both.

Thanks.
It was easy to just saddle stitch through the original holes, and I pulled it much tighter than the loose lock stitch they used.
I know very little about sewing machines but I didn't imagine that a sewing machine could do such a loose lock stitch.

 

[Horsewright]

Just depends on how they have the tension adjusted. I will go to a smaller needle when switching from a heavier project to a lighter one. It accomplishes the same thing as messing with the tension. Both of those sheaths look like they used a pretty big needle compared to the thread so thats probably it. There was a run of whatever heavier item and then kept going without adjusting on these lighter sheaths. Particularly your top sheath also has long stitches. Thats another indicator that they were sewing something heavier. A heavier project would have shorter stitches and without adjustment they will be long on a lighter project.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Just depends on how they have the tension adjusted. I will go to a smaller needle when switching from a heavier project to a lighter one. It accomplishes the same thing as messing with the tension. Both of those sheaths look like they used a pretty big needle compared to the thread so thats probably it. There was a run of whatever heavier item and then kept going without adjusting on these lighter sheaths. Particularly your top sheath also has long stitches. Thats another indicator that they were sewing something heavier. A heavier project would have shorter stitches and without adjustment they will be long on a lighter project.

That's probably it, the original thread was bigger than what I have but the holes definitely oversized for even that original thread.
I noticed the stitch density too, and 4 per inch is definately way too low for a knife sheath like this.
When it came to the belt loop the holes were much tighter and density about doubled, It just wasn't very tight or glued at all.

 

[Alberta Ed]

I often end up re-stitching (or even re-making) leather sheaths. I treat mine with SnowSeal inside and out. The best leather factory sheaths I have came from Marble's, when Mike Stewart was there (a couple decades ago now), a couple Campcrafts and a Fieldcraft.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I often end up re-stitching (or even re-making) leather sheaths. I treat mine with SnowSeal inside and out. The best leather factory sheaths I have came from Marble's, when Mike Stewart was there (a couple decades ago now), a couple Campcrafts and a Fieldcraft.

I've seen a few of those knives on the forums and the sheaths sure did look well made.
Is usual I certainly appreciate the quality very nice well made things, but when it comes to sheaths I'm happy enough with one that's just functional and reliable.

Like Buck sheaths for example, they're not fancy but they're put together solidly enough to get the job done and last fairly well.

 

[Dusty One]

Well Done !