Some tips and thoughts on folder sheaths

Why , Why , Why did you ever get rid of that knife ?
one of my most favourite Sebenza was this one, got it shortly after 9-11 and I considered the image in the wood as an eagle flying through billowing clouds of smoke, I called this one Freedom;

freedom.jpg




G2

Thanks for that pic Gary , I think I've seen that one before .
I'm just trying to get some ideas , and in particular how to keep the pocket clip and still be happy with the final formed shape .
I've thrown away two attempts so far . This sheath is going to be for me and not given away and it appears I'm very hard to please :)


Ken
 
I know...I know...I know, at the time just needed funds back, it goes like that, and there are MANY that I regret selling, but times are hard and you do what you must and what will bring you the highest value in return. I'm sure she found a great home!

As to sheath with keeping the clip on the knife, I have made them with a 'trench' cut into the middle layer of leather to allow for the clip. One fellow LarryLuana, sadly has passed away, good guy too. He had me come up with something that would allow his clip to remain.

It's a bit of a pain, but not too bad, I remove the clip and form the top section as normal, then, when getting ready to set the top section down onto the next layer, I put the clip back on the knife and press down to make an indentation into the leather, showing where the clip will be while in the sheath. OR, you can get a piece of leather that will be the middle layer, cut out the trench so the clip can rest below the top of the leather and THEN form the top section of the sheath with the middle section on the table, that way you don't have to take the clip off ever.
Before gluing down the top layer, I cut out that channel of leather, giving just a little extra room but leaving a shelf for the handle to still rest on while in the sheath.

The tricky part is when you go to glue those two down to the part that becomes the belt loop, you need to reach inside the sheath with a pencil and scribe where the channel is, so you DON'T put glue down where the channel is, that makes it a little trickier.

Hope that helps?
G2
 
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Do you think when you get the chance, you could post up a picture tutorial on punching your stitching holes?
 
That one looks about right, the one I have says Craftool 8042 stamped on the handle.
G2
 
You're right about the ferro loop replacing and acting as part of the welt, at least on my sheaths. Bummer was that I'd made, glued and sewn my whole batch then realized that I'd made rods for some of them. Gave me a good excuse to "learn" how to take a sheath down and rebuild it. :)

I really appreciate this thread Gary. I'd read it a while back, but it seems I learn something new every time I re-read it.

One question. Where do/did you get the steel blocks that you use for anvils? I've needed one since I started dabbling with making knives years ago and leather work has only highlighted that fact. I have a couple of small common anvils (jewelers and vise), but they don't match a brick for utility.

Anthony
 
Thanks Anthony, well I just have one Brick size block of steel the rest of the small anvils I use are different sizes in order to fit into the contours of the sheaths. As to where I got that brick, it was going to be thrown out where I work so I 'saved' it, pack rat that I am ;) I have not seen one sense, but you might check machine shops in your area or scrap metal yards, I imagine they'd let you take a peek around and wouldn't charge much if any for the small pieces you might want.

G2
 
Sounds good. I know we have plenty of things that would work at the bone yard (at my day job), but they no longer let us pillage that area, corporate rules being what they are and all.

Tons of industry around here though, shouldn't be impossible to locate something useful.
 
Well the ankle is mending, allowing for a little more mobility so I'm starting to dig through my back log of orders and worked on a Buck 110 vertical sheath this week and came up with a couple thoughts on how I may change my process as well as some physical characteristics of the sheath build up itself.

Some times, even if you do wait a while for the dye to settle down, when you get done with the sheath's sewing, and go to apply the atom balm wax, you can still see the dye being smeared across the nice white threads, making it just a little muddy, not bad but not as pristine as it was once was. So I thought, figured I try that for a change ;), why not once I have it all formed, embossed, dyed and ready to be sewn, to go ahead and apply the wax at that point before I sew? Main reason is I attribute waxing to be THE final step but in reality it doesn't have to be, of course I'll have to dye, burnish and wax the final edge of the sheath but that's easily done without going crazy with the wax. So I tried that with this sheath and it worked out great, nice pristine white threads are not muddied up.

Second thing that I thought about, on my vertical sheaths I fold the flap down the back side and stitch across the bottom, for several good reasons of doing that. This would be similar to even fixed blade sheaths as well as folder sheaths where you fold it down and stitch it closer to the top. Now the belt will slide through between the belt loop back and the sheath, and the bottom of the belt will strike against or try to wedge it's way down into where it was stitched when you go to draw the knife, so I figured lets save that bit of wedging attempt by placing a small welt of leather between the belt loop and the sheath, this way the belt would run into that wall and not try to work it's way down and through the years maybe dig into the stitching and separate the bond. While it makes for a bit thicker end, I think it also adds some structural integrity to the final work, here's a quick shot of this Buck 110's sheath showing that welt installed. I glued that into place, stitched down and into that welt, pulled the threads back on top, glued down the belt loop and finished stitching around the bottom of the sheath.

Hope this all makes sense?

welt.jpg


G2
 
That's a cool idea :thumbup:
Its good to see you back working the leather again .

Ken
 
Its been raining here , and as a result I haven't gone to work today .
Early this morning I was sitting here reading through this thread and thought , why don't I put Gary's tutorial to good effect .
Even though I've sworn off belt sheaths for a while I thought maybe a combo sheath wouldn't really be breaking the rules because I've never made one before .
This is not my best effort , but considering I gave myself a 10 hour time limit its not to bad , the white thread is slightly stained because of rushing the dyeing process , and I still need to find a way of plugging the flashlight tube at the bottom .
What I've found really cool is for the first time I've tried Gary's belt loop design , not the new idea but the tried and true method .
This has been fun , sometimes its good to just make something for the fun of it , and this has been a kind of wet day therapy :).

On a serious note .

If you read through Gary's threads here and follow his step by step guidance of a lifetimes experience , there is absolutely no reason why in a couple of days you won't be striding down the avenue toting your own creation on your belt .



Ken
 
Outstanding sir, very very nice, love it! as to the flashlight section, just take a thin layer of leather cut so it will wrap around inside the bottom of the tube, even slightly less that the full circle will work, glue inside and glue the small wrap and then with tweezers you can lay that into the tube at the bottom, it then creates a shelf that the light will hit and not go any lower.

Thanks for sharing, and you my friend, about time to start making some tutorials yourself! Excellent work.
G2

edited to add this image from a previous page, but at the bottom of the light area you can just make out the additional layer of leather that is glued into the tube, you won't need to stitch that, as there won't or shouldn't be a lot of stress that would pry it apart

DC.jpg
 
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Gary I have to admit to stealing your idea of the piece of leather- welt between the loop and the body of the sheath .
I've made three now with your idea and its brilliant .
It makes the sheath ride better on the belt somehow and that combined with your original reason of taking strain off the stitches has sold me on the idea .

Here is a pic of my Rough Out sheath that has been on my belt this last week at work ( I usually don't carry a SAK at work , but this sheath just screams to be used and as you can see it hasn't been pampered in its short life ) its a bit hard to see in the pic but it does have an extra layer of leather under the loop stitching .

3175972f9ec3d32c497b01510a9e449f_zpsa4dc710b.jpg


I should take a pic from side on but you get the idea .
This is a great idea you came up with .

Ken
 
Thanks Ken, that looks exceptional ! and that is some hefty thread you are using there sir!!

I think it's a handy thing to add that little extra bit, saves any unneeded pressure against the glue joint and the stitching, so your belt has a ledge to bump against, more of a problem with very tight fitting sheaths but it can't hurt to do that setup.

G2
 
It's been several years since I was in the BladeForums. So this morning, where was my first stop (after figuring out the new forum layout)? G2's threads in the leather and sheaths sub-forums. As always, your work is flawless and inspiring, Gary. Thank you for continuing to share your knowledge.
 
Welcome back sir! and thanks appreciate the kindness and wish you a very Happy New Year day!
G2
 
first of all, as I haven't mentioned it before, thanks alot for this great thread Gary! This tutorial and the other one you made were actually the reason for me to decide to try making something out of leather myself.

I do have a question though, you mention that you use the Stitching Prongs (and a mallet probably) to make the top hole for the yarn. I actually received my prongs this week, and I am wondering what you are putting beneath the leather when using the prongs. it seems to me that you have to drive the prong almost all the way through to create a clean hole that doesn't get thinner towards the botton. so what do you use to avooid damaging the cutting tips? soft wood block?
 
You're welcome sir

Back in post #3 you can see beneath the sheath a layer of leather that has tons of holes in it, I have two layers that I use as a bed to be able to get the prongs through and then later to drive my make shift awl through the thicker stuff.
G2
 
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