- Joined
- Nov 1, 2010
- Messages
- 893
Let me start this thread by stating that I am still very new at making sheaths (it will become VERY apparent throughout this WIP). So I think instead of this as an opportunity for people to critique/comment and help improve my process for making a sheath, than for me to try and tech anyone anything. This is by no means the only or necessarily the correct way to make a simple sheath, but it's how I figured it out for myself. YMMV.
Ok, now that we have the expectation setting out of the way, let me set some context around this sheath, and the WIP.
Seionage recently completed his first knife, a true beauty, but does not have any experience nor the tools to make a sheath. So I volunteered to make him one. He then took the liberty of asking me to do this as a WIP - no problem. You can read all about how he made it here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=800197
And here is a pic of the knife he made:
One more thing to level set before we dive in - the sheath is already done. I took a lot of pics as I went along, but wanted to complete it while I had momentum, and then do this WIP afterwards.
So, without any further ado, lets get started.
Seionage sent me a pretty accurate template of the knife made from wood. We both thought it was a good idea to avoid trusting his knife to USPS if we didn't need to.
I start by making a cardboard template of the sheath. First, I trace the knife profile onto cardboard:
Next, draw the profile of the sheath:
I'll spare you the boring details of tracing the profile to the other side of the cardboard and cutting it out (yes, I actually do have picture of this
). But you basically end up with this:
Next, trace the profile onto the leather pice, and cut it out:
I try to leave enough room so that I can cut the welt out of the cutoff of the sheath leather (less cutting and less waste - win-win). I then trace onto the leather, and cut out the welt:
eionage sent me a few samples of sheaths that he liked, and we agreed to a basket-weave stamping pattern on it. So, lets get stamping!
Make sure the leather is damp, and stays damp throughout the stamping process - it's much easier, and leaves much better impressions, IMHO.:
Start by tracing out the border and the centerline on the leather:
I then make very light impressions with my border stamping tool to give me a starting point for the basket weave stamp. I wanted to do a diagonal weave patter, and the easiest way for me to make sure I keep a straight line when stamping is to start on the centerline, and work my way down to either edge. To get the diagonal pattern, I put the one corner of the stamp on the line, and the opposite corner on the other end (I can;t really explain it - look at the pic):
The end of the stamp then goes next to the end of the previous impression, and so on and so forth. Row 1 complete:
Row 2 started, you can see the weaving pattern starting to emerge:
Row 2 complete:
Row 3 complete:
It starts getting a little tricky when you get to the edges . You have to angle the stamp so that you don't visibly stamp over the border:
One half complete:
Remember to keep the leather damp while you stamp! Other half complete:
Edges stamped:
I then wet the fold line for the belt loop, and fold it over. My 20lb granite block is a nice weight to make sure it gets squished nice and flat! I could probably have waited until after I stained the leather, but I got new stain, and I didn't know how the water was going to affect it - turns out it doesn't I also cut the line for the welt stitching with my stitching groover. I also trace this on the welt to make sure the spacing is the same.
Next up - mark where the stitching holes will be. I start at a point where I know the stitching needs to go through (the center of the v in this case), and use my 4-prong stitching chisel to determine the spacing for the stitching:
Next, I stamp the stitching holes. I know there are people who say that you should only stamp it after everything is glued up, but I don't like doing this for two reasons. 1 - It's hard work. 2 - It makes too much noise (I don't like working in my cold basement workshop if I can help it, and I have a 2 year old and an 8 week old, so I cant make too much noise).
I also stamp the holes in the welt, by using the sheath holes as a template:
Next, I stamp the holes in the belt loop, but first marking the location of the holes with the stitching groover, and then stamping them with the chisel.
Transfer the holes to the sheath, and we're ready for stain:
This was the first time I've used this stain, and I am VERY impressed. Goes on very easily, penetrates deep, and dries quickly. There's also almost no streaking, and you can't see any streaking after the second coat! I'll be using this stuff again:
After three or so coats of stain, I stitched up the belt loop. I use the stitching method where you basically weave the thread through the stitching holes from both sides, which in essence means that you have two pieces of thread holding everything together, in stead of just one. I've been known to occasionally over-engineer things, so I double stitch all my stitches as well (i.e. I go around twice, which means I have 4 strands holding everything together). More on this a little later:
Next up, gluing in the welt. I use Weldwood Contact glue. It's very easy to use (if you're careful) - spread it on both contact surfaces, wait at least 10 minutes, and stick them together - et voila! Extremely strong bond, even on leather. I use a few needles to make sure I have all the holes lined up correctly:
After the glue-up:
Next up - staining the inside of the sheath - I'm not a very big fan of sheaths that are unstained on the inside - it looks like a mass-produced product then to me. I do make sure that I don't get any stain where the glue for the welt needs to go. I'm not sure if it will compromise the integrity of the glue (it shouldn't, but I don't want to take any chances):
Making sure everything lines up before I start glueing and stitching (yes, I know I use needles a lot):
Glue applied - no turning back now:
Ok, now that we have the expectation setting out of the way, let me set some context around this sheath, and the WIP.
Seionage recently completed his first knife, a true beauty, but does not have any experience nor the tools to make a sheath. So I volunteered to make him one. He then took the liberty of asking me to do this as a WIP - no problem. You can read all about how he made it here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=800197
And here is a pic of the knife he made:
One more thing to level set before we dive in - the sheath is already done. I took a lot of pics as I went along, but wanted to complete it while I had momentum, and then do this WIP afterwards.
So, without any further ado, lets get started.
Seionage sent me a pretty accurate template of the knife made from wood. We both thought it was a good idea to avoid trusting his knife to USPS if we didn't need to.
I start by making a cardboard template of the sheath. First, I trace the knife profile onto cardboard:
Next, draw the profile of the sheath:
I'll spare you the boring details of tracing the profile to the other side of the cardboard and cutting it out (yes, I actually do have picture of this
). But you basically end up with this:
Next, trace the profile onto the leather pice, and cut it out:
I try to leave enough room so that I can cut the welt out of the cutoff of the sheath leather (less cutting and less waste
- win-win). I then trace onto the leather, and cut out the welt:
eionage sent me a few samples of sheaths that he liked, and we agreed to a basket-weave stamping pattern on it. So, lets get stamping!
Make sure the leather is damp, and stays damp throughout the stamping process - it's much easier, and leaves much better impressions, IMHO.:
Start by tracing out the border and the centerline on the leather:
I then make very light impressions with my border stamping tool to give me a starting point for the basket weave stamp. I wanted to do a diagonal weave patter, and the easiest way for me to make sure I keep a straight line when stamping is to start on the centerline, and work my way down to either edge. To get the diagonal pattern, I put the one corner of the stamp on the line, and the opposite corner on the other end (I can;t really explain it - look at the pic):
The end of the stamp then goes next to the end of the previous impression, and so on and so forth. Row 1 complete:
Row 2 started, you can see the weaving pattern starting to emerge:
Row 2 complete:
Row 3 complete:
It starts getting a little tricky when you get to the edges . You have to angle the stamp so that you don't visibly stamp over the border:
One half complete:
Remember to keep the leather damp while you stamp! Other half complete:
Edges stamped:
I then wet the fold line for the belt loop, and fold it over. My 20lb granite block is a nice weight to make sure it gets squished nice and flat! I could probably have waited until after I stained the leather, but I got new stain, and I didn't know how the water was going to affect it - turns out it doesn't
I also cut the line for the welt stitching with my stitching groover. I also trace this on the welt to make sure the spacing is the same.
Next up - mark where the stitching holes will be. I start at a point where I know the stitching needs to go through (the center of the v in this case), and use my 4-prong stitching chisel to determine the spacing for the stitching:
Next, I stamp the stitching holes. I know there are people who say that you should only stamp it after everything is glued up, but I don't like doing this for two reasons. 1 - It's hard work. 2 - It makes too much noise (I don't like working in my cold basement workshop if I can help it, and I have a 2 year old and an 8 week old, so I cant make too much noise).
I also stamp the holes in the welt, by using the sheath holes as a template:
Next, I stamp the holes in the belt loop, but first marking the location of the holes with the stitching groover, and then stamping them with the chisel.
Transfer the holes to the sheath, and we're ready for stain:
This was the first time I've used this stain, and I am VERY impressed. Goes on very easily, penetrates deep, and dries quickly. There's also almost no streaking, and you can't see any streaking after the second coat! I'll be using this stuff again:
After three or so coats of stain, I stitched up the belt loop. I use the stitching method where you basically weave the thread through the stitching holes from both sides, which in essence means that you have two pieces of thread holding everything together, in stead of just one. I've been known to occasionally over-engineer things, so I double stitch all my stitches as well (i.e. I go around twice, which means I have 4 strands holding everything together). More on this a little later:
Next up, gluing in the welt. I use Weldwood Contact glue. It's very easy to use (if you're careful) - spread it on both contact surfaces, wait at least 10 minutes, and stick them together - et voila! Extremely strong bond, even on leather. I use a few needles to make sure I have all the holes lined up correctly:
After the glue-up:
Next up - staining the inside of the sheath - I'm not a very big fan of sheaths that are unstained on the inside - it looks like a mass-produced product then to me. I do make sure that I don't get any stain where the glue for the welt needs to go. I'm not sure if it will compromise the integrity of the glue (it shouldn't, but I don't want to take any chances):
Making sure everything lines up before I start glueing and stitching (yes, I know I use needles a lot):
Glue applied - no turning back now:
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