New to Leatherwork

[High Standard]

Hello to all. I recently found this sheath forum. Seems like a great place with some fantastic craftsman.
This is my first attempt working with leather. I decided I would make a sheath for my throwing knife. I tried to create a pseudo inlay with the one matting stamp I purchased. I have minimal tools that were bought from Harbor Freight, Etsy, and Ebay.
The most expensive items were the Seiwa diamond chisels and the 8-9 ounce Herman Oak leather. The copper washers were cut from 18 gauge plate and cut out with a jewelers saw, then spun down to size with my cordless drill against a 1X30" belt sander. Copper rod was hand peened to create the pins on the knife sheath. The sheath color was mixed to get a different shade of brown with Fiebings pro dye, Black, saddle tan, walnut, and mahogany. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of money, hence my homemade Harbor freight stitching pony. I hope to continue working with leather as time and funds permit. Any thought and comments would be appreciated.
Thanks

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[Salolan]

Your name most certainly suits you. I think that has to be the best first sheath I've ever seen. Hard to see the stitches very well on the front but they appear to be even and the edges are very well done. The only thing I would change is to lose the rivets, but that is entirely personal preference. Your stitching pony is ingenious!

When posting your links from imgur, use the BBCode link and the photos themselves will show instead of just links>
Very well done!
Chris

 

[ANovinc]

Yeah....what Chris said. My first sheath is not something I would ever let see the light of day.....to see something of this quality on a first try blows my mind. Good job.

 

[Diomedes Industries]

Whomever you are - I don't like you.

My first effort was shite. This is not.... shit.

So....



envious.....



Jason

 

[High Standard]

Hi Chris, Thanks for your compliments. My screen name is for my favorite 22 High Standard 106 Military target pistol that was my late Father's. I didn't even realize.
I only had purchased brown Tiger thread at first, so that's all I had. I didn't realize that the color I was mixing was almost the same color of the thread.
I spent quite a bit of time hand sanding on the sheath edges increasing the grit up to 400.
I used the rivets to follow the theme of the rivets that holds the leather slabs on the knife.
The clamp was $8.00 at Harbor freight. It works great. Took me about 1/2 hour to put together. Hopefully others can build one and save some money.
Thanks for the tip for posting photos. I'm not to familiar with posting photos on forums.
All the best.

 

[High Standard]

Yeah....what Chris said. My first sheath is not something I would ever let see the light of day.....to see something of this quality on a first try blows my mind. Good job.

Thanks soo much. I appreciate it.

 

[High Standard]

Whomever you are - I don't like you.

My first effort was shite. This is not.... shit.

So....



envious.....



Jason

Thanks Jason. I was fortunate to watch a sheath making video from Ian Atkinson about a month ago. I was bit with the bug. I owe him a beer if I ever have the pleasure to meet him.

 

[sheathmaker]

Really astonishingly great effort for your first sheath, especially considering the minimum amount of tools you have. Your stitching and edge finishing is far above what we usually see from first timers. You definitely have the talent and just need some time and practice for refinement.:thumbup:

Paul

 

[Tom P]

Great job for your first try! I sure wish my first one's were close to that good.

 

[Horsewright]

Just excellent work and creativity pulled off with a high level of craftsmanship. Great job. Two things jump out at me. First as Paul mentioned, excellent edges, really well done. Second really like the stitching pony. Good job. Look forward to your next project. Welcome here to Sheaths and Such.

 

[High Standard]

Really astonishingly great effort for your first sheath, especially considering the minimum amount of tools you have. Your stitching and edge finishing is far above what we usually see from first timers. You definitely have the talent and just need some time and practice for refinement.:thumb up:

Paul

Hi Paul. Thanks for your encouraging words. That means a lot coming from you. Now knowing who you are, and seeing many of your incredible sheaths over the last few nights while searching on this forum. This can be one expensive hobby, let alone a time consuming endeavor. It took me 2 hours just to stitch the sheath. I don't know how many times my second needle pierced the first thread. It was frustrating. Eventually I learned to pull back on the first thread as the tip of the second needle was through the hole before pulling tight.

 

[High Standard]

Great job for your first try! I sure wish my first one's were close to that good.

Thanks Tom. I appreciate it.

 

[High Standard]

Just excellent work and creativity pulled off with a high level of craftsmanship. Great job. Two things jump out at me. First as Paul mentioned, excellent edges, really well done. Second really like the stitching pony. Good job. Look forward to your next project. Welcome here to Sheaths and Such.

Hi Dave. Thank you as well. That means a lot to me. The same to you as I said to Paul. I really like your style and the craftsmanship of your sheaths. Very robust, functional, and user friendly designs. To me, that's what a leather sheath should be.

 

[WhiteKnuckle]

I'm scrolling through the pics and I think to myself, "man if this is really this guy's first sheath I bet he watched a ton of Ian's videos.

Thanks Jason. I was fortunate to watch a sheath making video from Ian Atkinson about a month ago. I was bit with the bug. I owe him a beer if I ever have the pleasure to meet him.

And there it is. lol

Knocks my first sheath out of the park, and I thought mine was pretty damn nice.

 

[v8r]

Looks very nice. I think the rivets look fine as well. As you said it goes with the knife. Only thing I would change is the texture around the edge, as others have said it's tougher to see the stitching.

 

[High Standard]

I'm scrolling through the pics and I think to myself, "man if this is really this guy's first sheath I bet he watched a ton of Ian's videos.






And there it is. lol

Knocks my first sheath out of the park, and I thought mine was pretty damn nice.

Thanks for the compliments. Yes Ian was the one I learned about the Diamond chisels, tiger thread, and how to stitch. I enjoy Ian's methodical approach. I'm a hands-on guy, so it was clear to me what needed to be done to produce a decent sheath. His videos are done in such a way, it's like he's with you in the same room teaching a hands on class.

Would you mind posting your first sheath in this thread. I would love to see it.

Thanks

 

[High Standard]

Looks very nice. I think the rivets look fine as well. As you said it goes with the knife. Only thing I would change is the texture around the edge, as others have said it's tougher to see the stitching.

Thanks. Yes the brown thread is very close to the sheath color. I bought the black to give more contrast on my next project.

 

[mt_hangglider]

Truly outstanding work! You've officially put most every leather worker's first project to shame. Keep that up and you'll go far.

 

[WhiteKnuckle]

Thanks for the compliments. Yes Ian was the one I learned about the Diamond chisels, tiger thread, and how to stitch. I enjoy Ian's methodical approach. I'm a hands-on guy, so it was clear to me what needed to be done to produce a decent sheath. His videos are done in such a way, it's like he's with you in the same room teaching a hands on class.

Would you mind posting your first sheath in this thread. I would love to see it.

Thanks

Yup, I recommend him to everyone who shows an interest in leatherwork. I like that he never dumbs down a project, he just breaks it into steps/skills. And once you learn the skills you can use them to make anything, not just some paint-by-numbers project.

This is the first one I made, still the only large knife sheath I've made.

It's solid and workmanlike, which suits the knife perfectly, but it doesn't hold a candle to the level of attention to detail you put into yours.

Interestingly enough, you can see an evolution in Ian's style between our knives. Back when I made this he was using a stitching groover and an overstitch wheel, so that's what I did. Now he's moved to using chisels and leaving the stitching flat on the surface, like your sheath (and my more recent stuff)

I'd recommend picking up some Colonial Tan tiger thread, goes very nice with darker shades of leather. Like so:

 

[High Standard]

Thanks for sharing your first sheath. It's amazing !!!! It does fit that knife well.
I love the "utilitarian" look you gave to the sheath. Well thought out, especially with the dangler. There's something to say about a good working quality leather sheath. They get better with age and use. That looks like a pretty tough design for your first. I commend you for that. Yes, Ian's work has evolved. I think the pattern of stitching from the diamond chisel is classy. I prefer the look over the over-stick wheel and drill press.
I like the Swiss Army knife utility pouch. Great design. Thanks for the heads-up on the Colonial tan thread. It looks real nice with the brown dye on that sheath.