What size of thread and needle for hand sewing a leather sheath?

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ausher

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Hi. I'm new to sewing and making a sheath in general, but want to try it. I plan on using 9-10 oz leather and plan on getting all the basic tools and leather off eBay. Since its my first and probably make mistakes I want to keep the cost down. I got a drill press and plan on drilling all the thread holes. What size of drill bit? 1mm, 1/16"? And how far should the holes be spaced? I have no clue on needle size and types of thread to use. What would you guys recommend for a new guy?
 
ausher said:
Hi. I'm new to sewing and making a sheath in general, but want to try it. I plan on using 9-10 oz leather and plan on getting all the basic tools and leather off eBay. Since its my first and probably make mistakes I want to keep the cost down. I got a drill press and plan on drilling all the thread holes. What size of drill bit? 1mm, 1/16"? And how far should the holes be spaced? I have no clue on needle size and types of thread to use. What would you guys recommend for a new guy?
Click to expand...

I will try and help out as much as I can, but I am by no means expert in leather craft, I am a newbie to it. Tandy Leather Factory carries all the tools you need, but to start out you do not need that much. You can do a few things like buying beginners kit, or just a few pieces. For the thread Tandy sells the waxed 25 yard 25 pound breakage thread, I have been using that up till recently and it's fine. The needles I use are size 0 and 000 harness needles, not sure these are the best but the manager at Tandy suggested these as they are much stronger than the stitching needles with the big eyes, and I can attest to that, I've had the eye's snap on me when backstitching and needed to push through with the handle end of my awl.

Tools:
Box opener/x-acto knife #11 blades work for me. I also bought a Fiskars cutter that looks like a pizza cutter.
Overstitch wheel to mark the needle holes and clean up the stitching when finished.
Beveler for putting a bevel on the edge of the leather
Groover for grooving in the stitch lines and aesthetics
Awl for stitch holes
Beeswax
Weldwood contact (or some other brand of contact cement)
Stitching pony (make it yourself or buy one) these are very handy, I tried stitching without and while it was doable it took longer and was a pain in the rear.

Drilling is fine but for me I find the Awl does a better job, using an awl it does not remove any leather, and they close up some around the stitching. Also if you muck up a hole the awl hole closes up quite a bit where a drill will leave a hole.

Hope this helps, as I said I am new to leather craft, but I figured I would help as much as I can.

Matt
 
Thanks for the reply.

Another question. Snaps, buttons, and eyelets... what size for 9-10 oz leather? And be
Able to penetrate a layer or two layers thick?
 
I have not used rivets and snaps yet but I would assume you would need a rivet tool and maybe even a hole punch of some sort. I have a set of the hole punches that you hammer.
 
I forgot to add you will need dye, swabs, neatsfoot oil is good, and gum tragacanth for the sides is nice to use
 
For marking my stitches I reach for my old "stitching chisel" Three pronged and wonderful to see once the marks are made. My eyes arent the best (bifocals and getting worse) and those wheels dont mark good enough for me to see when drilling the holes.

Those needles, the above suggestions are right spot on. They used to be called harness needles, the small eye can make you lose your religion trying to get them threaded sometimes, but well worth the cost of admission. Those big eye models are super easy to thread but will break in one use. Not worth it.

For cutting the #11 Exacto is good, I also more often use my old Stanley 10-099 retractable utility knife. The blades are more robust and have two ends to use as they wear out. I make one blade last months by sharpening often, buy good blades and they will serve you well. Sharpen them often and they will glide through the leather.

For snaps, I mostly use the Line 24 type. If I need smaller the Line 20 are good to go but need thinner leather.

Rivets, just buy a bunch of different lengths, I have one of those lure boxes full of different lengths.

Gotta get back to work, but I'll add when I can. :) Hope this helps a little.
 
leatherman said:
For marking my stitches I reach for my old "stitching chisel" Three pronged and wonderful to see once the marks are made. My eyes arent the best (bifocals and getting worse) and those wheels dont mark good enough for me to see when drilling the holes.
Click to expand...

I just picked up some vintage US made leather tools off the bay and one lot I got has those. Do you wet the leather prior to hit with the stitching chisel?
 
Congrats! Its great when someone finds good stuff!

I dont wet the leather if I am just marking for stitches, and that is basically all I use it for these days. They are only good for about one layer of up to nine ounce leather. I've been told you can go a little thicker if you do wet the leather a bit, just dab it on with a sponge. Not too much, you want the leather to retain some firmness.
 
I have tried a few combinations but found I enjoy working with the following combination: stitching chisel, 00 size harness needle and nyltex waxed thread. I mostly use the 4 prong chisel to mark the holes and the 2 prong to make the holes since it is easier to pull out of the leather. The nyltex is a bit thick but it fills the hole nicely and is very strong. If you cut the end at an angle then it is very easy to thread into the 00 harness. This combination works well with larger sheaths and holsters, but for smaller sheaths the holes need to be closer and with a thinner thread.
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Thanks for the helpful informations. I think I have everything to make a sheath. Got some stuff from hobby lobby and some stuff off eBay.
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Anything else i might need?
 
Pick up some Fiebings Oil Dye for leather. You can use the spirit dyes but I just recently found the oil dyes are much much better. On the cut edges I use Gum Tragacanth and while wet I burnish it. I made a bone folder out of G-10 for this:

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That is a very detailed step by step process. I googled how to make a sheath many times and that thread or videos never popped up. Thanks
 
I just read it thanks Tal extremely well done tutorial. Plan on watching the vids tonight
 
Just got my leather I ordered off eBay. Looks good, but I wasn't expecting it to be so thick. It's 9-10 oz and its a 1/4" thick. I'm going to have to order some thinner leather for the handle strap and belt loop part. What oz do us reccomend?
 
1/4" is approx 14 ounce leather, thats quite a bit over the advertised weight.

For fixed blades I use 8/9 oz

small fixed and folders get 7/8 oz
 
I use 8 ounce leather for all of my sheaths - skiving down to around 6 or 7 when doing a folder.

I use 4 ounce leather on journals, wallets, and the like.

I use John James Saddlers needles in size 2 and 4. Size 2 for my thicker projects and I use 1 mm Tiger thread. I use size 4 needles for my thinner projects and use .08 mm tiger thread.

TF
 
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