Some tips and thoughts on folder sheaths

Is anyone willing to make one of these and sell to me? I am in the Army and will be deploying in February. Would love to carry my sebenza and flashlight in one of these. TK
 
Mr Graley,Haven't spoke with you in years,it was quite a surprise to see my very first "Real" sheath in your post..Sebenza and Peak flashlight combo,and yesser. .still using it after all these years!
Dave
 
Mr. Graley,
I wanted to thank you for all of your posts and responses to peoples questions. I found them to be extremely helpful and the deciding factor when choosing to invest time and money in learning to work with leather. I just made this two scissor travel case for mom when I was home for the holidays. It's not perfect but every time I make something I learn and improve.

 
Thanks sir, Nicely done, innovative too!

G2
 
Gary,

I know this is kind of an old thread but do you sell these sheaths or would you make one for sale. I currently am in love with the last sheath on page three the two sheaths with the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor. As a USMC vet and a Buck 110 lover i would love to purchase one of these. i look forward to hearing from you take care.
 
Yep, older thread, more tutorial, it use to be a sticky but they decided to not have so many stickies and went with one sticky that holds links to the tutorials in this section of the forum.
I sent an email to you regarding your request as it's better to handle that via email or PM.
Thanks
G2
 
Hi Gary

brilliant thread.. was glued!!..I'm a newbie from the UK and this is my first offering on here. I wondered a couple of things, firstly the forks you use to pierce the sheathes look like small lacing forks- that is not "Diamond" forks. Just a wild guess but only by proportion, I'm guessing they are around 2mm prongs spaced 4mm apart (Centre to centre) with a 2mm gap between. If your punching irons are imperial measurements it ok - I can handle inches and fractions -I built two hotrods, so US measurements are ok after all that practice ;-)

Would you be kind enough to clarify this murky matter?

Secondly, the thread looks nice and robust. It suits the holes perfectly and adds to the style of the sheathe(s). What size/guage/weight??..(or whatever the correct word is for that measurement may be), is it? From my research all I know is that there are lots of ways thread is described but the only one I can easily envisage is millimetres (or fractions of inches). Your thread looks as though it's treated-maybe beeswax? Best way to find out is just ask, so I have.

Hope you or anyone else on here can help, as I'm about to order some punching irons to recreate that style of stitch.
Many thanks in advance and hi to anyone reading this.

Pete
 
Sorry for any confusion, I was referring to the pics on the first page of this thread.
KR
Pete
 
Welcome to Bladeforums Pete! and glad that you enjoyed the 'thread' ;) here's another that might also interest you as well seen here

As to the prongs/forks I use they are flat bladed, not twisted as some are, checking on line I don't see them readily available which is weird but

The number on the 3 prong one is 8041
the number on the 4 prong one is 8042

the blades measure about 2.6mm wide with 2.25mm spacing between them
and about 1.8mm thickness where the prongs start and are thinner as they reach the tip so they form like a convex'd edge for the fork

The thread is about 1mm thick and waxed coated. in both tutorials I do have a photo showing the inside label of the thread tube

Hopefully you may find those kind of things where you live?

G2
 
Thanks for the quick and very helpful reply. The dimensions are close to what I was already looking at. From digging around the intyweb, it seems the 8041 & 8042 are discontinued Craftool products. I’ll keep looking though.

However, failing that, there are some pretty close versions from a place called Goods Japan. They sell high quality tools including "lacing chisels" - i.e. flat bladed like yours. These things don't just mark hole positions, you can punch straight through the leather. (Unlike "Pricking irons”)

The Japanese products are metric by design and from your measurements, I'm guessing yours are imperial - about 3/32" wide. So I have to choose between the following sizes;

Option 1 -- 2mm prong with 2mm gap

Option 2 -- 3mm prong with 3mm gap

The only problem is they don’t give the blade thickness - like the 1.8mm in your case.

On the Goods Japan website there is a menu of forks to choose from and when an item is selected, e.g., Craft Cha 4x2mm it shows written details and also a video shows the piercing being done and compares the results of using different fork specs, like here; (Apologies in advance for the groovy music)

http://goodsjapan.com/craft-sha-leather-lacing-chisel-leathercraft-tool-for-thonging-4x2mm-183-p.asp

Of the holes being made in that video example, the 3mm holes on the left look more like a “slit” than a rectangular hole.

The 2mm fork doing the holes on the right, looks a little smaller than yours, but looks in proportion to yours - if that makes sense….so in view of that I'll go with the 2mm forks and hope for the best…

Finding 1mm waxed thread is no problem. However, finding Weaver thread is not so easy here and they want $60 for a reel sent across the pond..again, shipping charges killing us here in England. I will find find something though, probably try that “Tiger" thread - it gets rave reviews and they do it in 1mm waxed polyester..as you suggested

Finally, what do you call that grained surface texture on your Tan coloured Buck 110 sheath?.. and which part of the cow does it come from?... sorry, ignorance strikes again..

All this research for a first sheath, eh?….I ask ya. I’ll post a pic when it’s done if I’m not too embarrassed.

Anyway, once again, many thanks for your time and help, you’re a gent!

Kind regards
Pete
 
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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.

Hi Gary, again an excellent demo!... Quick couple of questions, though, about punching the holes for stitching.

I manage to get hold of some Craftool 3/32" lacing irons to make cool rectangular stitching holes like you do... but when I use them, the holes close up into slits. This happens with wet leather, dry cased leather, glued leather (At which point, with double thickness, it's nigh on impossible to get the fork back out) and still have no joy. There must be a knack.:jerkit:

Yours seem to hold their shape perfectly. Do you punch the hole whilst the leather is still damp, or after it's dried & dyed? What I did was punch the formed sheath top, glued it to the back then, punched through the top holes into the back. Should I try to go through the lot after glueing?.. if so 'd best get a sledge hammer....:)

Finally, I ordered samples of thread - wound polyester waxed stuff in various sizes from 0.8mm to 1.4mm but none look like yours. They all seem thin by comparison after stitching with a CS Osborne Awl-n-Awl - are you double stitching?

Sorry to be a pain but I'm after that chunky look and your advice would be welcomed with open eyes.
Cheers
Pete
 
Hi Pete, from the front side they can keep their shape somewhat, from the back it will barely appear as a slit.

And sewing is done dry, leather is dry at that point, the dye has settled down a bit by that time.

As to being hard to remove, that certainly is the case, so the 4 prong is as many as I do at a time, placing one of the prongs back into the last hole which helps in two ways

1. it helps to keep the spacing proper as you go from that point
2. it has a hole that has already been driven in, so it's not as hard to remove, but, I use the flat end of the bone folder tool to PRESS down next to the prongs and rock the prong out of it's place, even the two prong can become pretty tight!

Hope that helps!
G2
 
2. it has a hole that has already been driven in, so it's not as hard to remove, but, I use the flat end of the bone folder tool to PRESS down next to the prongs and rock the prong out of it's place

And if you don't have a bone folder... GO BUY ONE! They're like $3

You'll be tempted to just use your thumb, and it'll work, the prongs will come right out... and then you'll notice the nice crescent your thumb nail just left in your beautiful leather. Don't ask me how I know this :grumpy:
 
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