Some tips and thoughts on folder sheaths

Gary W. Graley

Gary W. Graley

“Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 2, 1999
Messages
26,345
Since this has become a Sticky, thank the Mod's
I'll edit this first post with a listing that was in the Good Bad And Ugly feed back area

There be a lot of talented gents when it comes to leather here on the forums;
Here is a list of those that are Recommended to choose from
These guys, not in any particular order, all have a passion for leather work
so this thread can be a handy reference for future folks when they search
for someone to help with their leather needs...And please note, I only posted
those that participate in BladeForums, there are others but are not active members
so I limited the list to those in our town, so to speak

Edited to add that Dwayne Puckett, aka Leatherman, started a new thread which is also a sticky
that contains posts from leathersmiths seen hmm the old link is broken with this new software, here's a fresh link to that page https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/sheath-makers-and-such-of-blade-forums.838494/

Sandy Morrissey known on the forums as Swivelknife aka helmar45789
His Email no web site that I know of

Paul Long known on the forums as sheathmaker
his Email no web site that I know of

Mike Bartol known on the forums as MtMike
his Email
Mike has a foto time where you can view some of his work Here

Dave Abramson known on the forums as Lifter4Him
His Email
His Web page

Chuck Burrows, known on the forums as Wild Rose
His Email
His Web page

Ken Collucci's Email,
His Web page

Dwayne, known on the forum as leatherman
His Email
His Web page

Mike Tea, known on the forums as Zozzie
(removed his old email addy)
Mike's a citizen of Canada as well as a noted bicyclist
Please note, Mike Tea's sheath making has stopped for a while, he replied
on a thread on August 2, 2008, but you can search the various threads
and see some of his fine work and that may inspire you to try your hands
at his style of sheaths, very beautiful workmanship.

Vess, known on the forums as Vess...he also hails from Canada...
His Email
His Web page

Ed Alpern, known on the forums as fasteddie, Ed is an up and comer, keep an eye on this fella!
His Email
no web page yet, but soon.

***********************************************************************************
And now back to the thread where it began;

Hey folks, traveling a lot lately, but now home for a bit so figured I'd add some
of what I do, there are many ways to skin a cow, this is just one of those stories ;)

First you start with this;

madcow by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

well, at least part of it I buy my leather from Wickett & Craig they are out of PA

I buy what's called Shoulder leather, very tight grain, the good stuff

For Vertical sheaths I use 7/8 oz leather, depending on the size
if it's a very small knife, I'll use the 6/7 oz

For the top sections of the horizontal sheaths, I use 6/7 oz leather

for the layer beneath the knife and the belt loop section I use
a little thicker, 7/8 oz leather

And yes, it is a little thick to form, it is stubborn stuff and always wants
to retract back to it's original flat shape, so you need to KEEP working the
leather repeatedly as it goes from wet to it's dry state, that's key to making
the leather retain it's shape.


Tools, mostly from Tandy back in the day, now my tools are quite aged
much like the user, but I hear tell that Tandy is making a come back in
leather, but see this Link to Tandy for their current offerings.

if you have a tax id number, Weaver Leather also provides nice leather as well as a host of tools.

Tools;

Knife, of course a knife, this one is a Custom by a friend, Tony Bose, I made
a special request and he honored me with this gift of a small carving knife, I don't
know of another knife maker that is as kind a man as he is, thanks again Tony!

bose.jpg


Sucker is Sharp! Link

Bone folder, used to do the majority of my shaping around the knife
I use the SQUARE end to do my shaping, there is a rounded piece that you pull off and
it shows the square end, also if there are any maker marks on the tool, sand that down
so it's VERY smooth, don't want that scratching your leather.
The pointed end of the bone folder I use to burnish the crease that I put at the opening
of the sheaths once it's about dry, I just run that along in the groove, VERY carefully as you
can slip out of the thin groove pretty easily, and that tip will deepen and burnish the groove for you nicely.

IMG_0490 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Stitching Prongs, I have three that I use, a 4 prong for long stretches
3 prong for some curves and a 'custom' 2 prong for going into tight quarters

IMG_0499 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Mallet for said stitching prongs and embossings

IMG_0505 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Ruler and pencil, nuff said ;)

IMG_0500 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Groover, I use this to place a groove near the openings of the sheath, to me it
provides a more finished look to the sheath; Link

Edge beveler/cutter, this takes off a sharp corner of the leather, comes in
several sizes Link

Awl and custom awl made from a small screwdriver, used to hammer through thick
layers of leather to prepare for sewing, the regular awl I use to start the thread
holes and to enlarge the last few holes for the ending of the sewing;
Link

Awl-n-Awl sewing tool, some guys use the two needle system, I like this method for my sheaths;

IMG_0495 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Thread I use Link

Gunk, well, sort of, Oil dye, Gum, and Atom balm wax EDITED to say that I NO LONGER use the Atom Balm wax but now use a leather preservative that is more like a paste, works better and protects a lot better!

IMG_0503 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

A shoe Brush to buff after the wax coating Link
 
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Limited on the number of images per post, so it will be broken up a little;
I had to remove some of the images above, if you want to see what tools
look like, I'll add links to the images;


Vertical sheaths;
I like the vertical sheath as it takes up less room on your belt, here is some of
the things I do as I go about making one;

Patterns, I recommend using the small bubble wrap plastic to figure out how you
want the sheath to wrap around your knife, not all knives work well in all sheaths
so the knife is key, I've turned down some work because of the knife, but that's
just my style of sheath making, very tight to the contours of the knife.

I wrap the knife up with saran wrap to prevent moisture from weeping onto the knife
I wet my leather under HOT water until it's pliable, wrap the leather around the
knife and then using the bone folder, start shaping along the spine until you
get to the end of the knife, where it will make an indent;

initial by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Where the leather dimples in, I cut down there, as you need to remove a
small piece of leather so it will fold down tightly without puckering

cutdown by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

cutslits by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

cutout by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Then tightly form around the end of the knife

formtightly by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Didn't have any other in process shots of this, but here is the finished sheath
it's one that I do not take orders for, the old combo deal, sorry guys, but it may give you
something to try your hand at doing; All one piece of leather with one exception
inside the bottom area of the light side, I glued in a small strip of leather, this prevents
the light from passing all the way through, easier and much cleaner than trying to squish
it closed.

DC by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Once the leather is dried, then I would emboss and dye as needed,
I dye before gluing up as glue can mess up your project.
 
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Horizontal sheaths and embossing stuff;

These sheaths take a bit more time and material to do, as they are
not made from one piece of leather;

Form the top section using the bone folder and then glue it down to
another piece of piece of leather, then I put holes around the sheath
and then trim to the final width along the top.
those two will be glued onto a third piece of leather that will be a backing
and belt loop.

IMG_1972 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

The leather needs to be ROUGHED up in order for the glue to adhere properly

skull9 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

I use a small knife to rough up close to the line;

skull10 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

EDITED to say that I've since changed from Barge to Weldwood contact cement, you can get
it at Wally world pretty cheaply and it works VERY well too, wish I had tried it years ago!!!

I use Barge Cement to glue things together, apply on both sides and let
dry for 20 minutes or so, not TOO heavy, no big globs!

skull11 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

both sides

I then punch the rest of the way through the third layer of leather

IMG_1973 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

use the one awl to enlarge the first hole to start the thread
IMG_1974 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Sew n Awl threaded

IMG_1977 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

I use a little more than double the length of the path around the sheath for thread
and pull one side through the sheath so you have one half of the thread on
each side of the sheath.

Push the needle through and pull back to form a loop and insert the one thread
through that loop

IMG_1978 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Then pull tightly

IMG_1979 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

it'll come through on the other side, I then pull the knot back into the middle of
the leather

IMG_1980 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr
 
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ending up with this
IMG_1981 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

I stitch around the sheath until I get almost to the end and stop in order
to form the belt loop

IMG_1982 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

About 2" or so from the start of the sheath, I cut where the belt loop will be

IMG_1983 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

IMG_1985 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

and then smooth down that edge with part of the bone folder tool
it allows you to snuggle up close

IMG_1990 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Then I apply some dye under the belt loop, helps to make it fold easier and
then bend it over to form the belt loop, using a piece of leather that is the
size and thickness as what the fellow's belt is, good question to ask before
you start making the belt loop section !

IMG_1988 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

IMG_1991 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

While that's over, mark where the belt loop touches, this will show you where
to glue the belt loop down, also mark along the side of the belt,

IMG_1989 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Glue that down and punch holes the rest of the way around, you will notice that
I enlarge two holes, thats so you have ROOM to back stitch which locks your
sewing in place

IMG_1992 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Snip tightly to the top side and then pull that little bit down into the hole
and then snip the back side thread

IMG_1993 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Trim along the edge, close but you will still need to sand so leave some room for that

IMG_1994 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr
 
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Sand down, dye and burnish the sides

IMG_1995 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

IMG_1997 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

finished sheath

IMG_2001 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

When I do embossing, I use a heavy brick size piece of steel as an anvil
and smaller pieces of scrap aluminum for smaller anvils that go under the
leather.

IMG_0489 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Skull is a neat embossing, a lot of detail in that, you need to strike hard
and evenly, in order to get the detail, no bouncing, hence the steel brick!

skull1 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

The fellow wanted this to be lighter than the sheath, so you have to dye carefully around
the embossing;

skull2 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

ending up with this;

skull3 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

I use Fiebings HiLiter which brings out details in tooling, carefully dab some on
let it dry a little and then also, carefully dab it off, leaving some of it to show
the detail;

skull4 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Ending up with something like this, but I warn you, it doesn't always apply the
same, so some experimenting should be done

skull5 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Here is one that was finished for a bloke in England a while back, using
the Skull embossing;

jollybenn by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

and that's about it, Give it a try, cut up some leather, just take your time
the forming takes a long time, what I do is repeatedly work the leather over
and over and over and over and over and over, as it is drying, this takes
the GIVE out of the leather and makes the leather retain it's shape much
longer, providing a secure fitup,

Cheers folks,
G2
 
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Hey Gary! Good to see you peeking in here! :D

You had a LOT of influence on my career, and I am glad to see you still bending that moo. :)
 
Nice explanation, Gary. I've tried to make a few sheaths like yours and this tutorial answers some of my questions. Thanks!
 
Thanks Dwayne, and yep, when I get the chance I try to keep with the leather
traveling really cuts into any work that I may have.

And crm and pope, glad to help, that's the intent to show some of what goes into
making these types of sheaths, as I say, there are lots of ways, this is just how I
go about doing it.

G2
 
Terrific post, Gary. This should definitely be "stuck" at the top of this forum, so if there is a moderator looking in......how about it?

Paul
 
Thanks for the info Gary! It is nice to see many of the things you have posted put together in one thread. I for one enjoy your posts and pics showing you methods.:thumbup::thumbup:
 
Thanks Paul, we'll see if the mods' feel the same

and thanks guys, as you know there is a bit of work, thought and passion in the leather world.

Frank, the camera I used for a lot of those shots was the Canon G7 which I passed
along to my daughter and now use the Canon G9, very handy, does a great job easily.
G2
 
Gary,

Thank you. What a fantastic thread and gift.
Gus
 
Thanks Gus, I'll keep adding as I can, always like to share and encourage
others to also take up knife, leather and needle and see what they
can come up with.

G2
 
Great thread man. Lots of good info here.. But I can't seem to find if you said..
What size leather are you using here??? Looks very thick...

tnx/ al
 
rpaladin said:
Great thread man. Lots of good info here.. But I can't seem to find if you said..
What size leather are you using here??? Looks very thick...

tnx/ al
Click to expand...

Good question and an answer that I didn't put in there,

Shoulder leather, very tight grain, the good stuff ;)

For Vertical sheaths I use 7/8 oz leather, depending on the size
if it's a very small knife, I'll use the 6/7 oz

For the top sections of the horizontal sheaths, I use 6/7 oz leather

for the layer beneath the knife and the belt loop section I use
a little thicker, 7/8 oz leather

And yes, it is a little thick to form, it is stubborn stuff and always wants
to retract back to it's original flat shape, so you need to KEEP working the
leather repeatedly as it goes from wet to it's dry state, that's key to making
the leather retain it's shape.

G2
 
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