Horsewright Knives and Leather

[Horsewright]

You bet guys! You are welcome.

 

[Horsewright]

I often make our sheaths for other folks knives. We've done this for many years and it's a big part of our business. There are a lot of nice knives out there but so often the sheaths that come with them are less so. Honestly, I couldn't tell ya where to go to buy such bad leather as some of the sheaths I see when folks send in their knives for a new set of pants! I do require that I have the knife in hand so that I can get the fit right. Here are a few somewhat recent examples.

Might of heard of this guy:

Like the ironwood spacer on this one. Do that a lot myself:

This one is a neighbor's. He likes to carry in the tool pocket of his Carhartt jeans:

Sometimes an unusual shape dictates different engineering inside the sheath. The handle of this knife is very thin compared to the height of the blade. Made fitting a lil tricky. Got er done though:

I do make a few Vertical Pancakes:

What say you?

 

[mitch13]

Some great work Dave

 

[Horsewright]

Some great work Dave

Thank you sir,

 

[echoscout]

Love the Mesquite on this Mestano. The Mestano is light and a real slicer.

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

I often make our sheaths for other folks knives. We've done this for many years and it's a big part of our business. There are a lot of nice knives out there but so often the sheaths that come with them are less so. Honestly, I couldn't tell ya where to go to buy such bad leather as some of the sheaths I see when folks send in their knives for a new set of pants! I do require that I have the knife in hand so that I can get the fit right. Here are a few somewhat recent examples.

Might of heard of this guy:

Like the ironwood spacer on this one. Do that a lot myself:

This one is a neighbor's. He likes to carry in the tool pocket of his Carhartt jeans:

Sometimes an unusual shape dictates different engineering inside the sheath. The handle of this knife is very thin compared to the height of the blade. Made fitting a lil tricky. Got er done though:

I do make a few Vertical Pancakes:

What say you?

Beautiul as always Dave!

Odd question, but do you find those pancake style sheaths to buckle when the knife has a thick handle? I recently tried my first pancake sheath and it had a gradual "v" taper but the handle was so fat it buckled the sides until they were basically straight.

 

[Horsewright]

Beautiul as always Dave!

Odd question, but do you find those pancake style sheaths to buckle when the knife has a thick handle? I recently tried my first pancake sheath and it had a gradual "v" taper but the handle was so fat it buckled the sides until they were basically straight.

Thank you sir, for the kind words. Yes that can happen. On a knife like that I will often welt both sides and even build up the handle part of the welt so that it tapers down. And, there are some knives that just won't work in a pancake style but they are few and far. I can usually get it done. If you have the same leather in several weights you can also try using one weight lighter on the back side. This will allow you to wet mold 90 percent or more on that piece and that can help too.

 

[Horsewright]

Here's a few more:

This one required a change in welting because of the sharp up swept point.

 

[Horsewright]

Love the Mesquite on this Mestano. The Mestano is light and a real slicer.

View attachment 2625931

I’m a fan of The Mestano too! Its what I EDC.

 

[Hatchet_Jack]

Here's a few more:

This one required a change in welting because of the sharp up swept point.

Your work is beyond my means, but I sure do enjoy looking at it. Beautiful my friend

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

Thank you sir, for the kind words. Yes that can happen. On a knife like that I will often welt both sides and even build up the handle part of the welt so that it tapers down. And, there are some knives that just won't work in a pancake style but they are few and far. I can usually get it done. If you have the same leather in several weights you can also try using one weight lighter on the back side. This will allow you to wet mold 90 percent or more on that piece and that can help too.

That's a really interesting idea about mixing weights. Outside of building up the welt, I've never understood how people make pancake sheaths look so easy... I always wonder where the extra space comes from, because with a regular welt between to flat pieces of leather there's just not much room lol.

 

[Horsewright]

Your work is beyond my means, but I sure do enjoy looking at it. Beautiful my friend

Thank you sir for the kind words. Pricing is something that every maker struggles with, at least every conscientious maker. I know I do. I use to sell a Coyote with a wood handle and a sheath for $85! But I've been doing this a long time. Nowadays, just the sheath is well north of that. For years one of our stated goals was to make knives that working cowboys could afford. My wife says that ship sailed a long time ago. I still sell knives to a lot of cowboy so I don't know. Again thank you for the kind words!

That's a really interesting idea about mixing weights. Outside of building up the welt, I've never understood how people make pancake sheaths look so easy... I always wonder where the extra space comes from, because with a regular welt between to flat pieces of leather there's just not much room lol.

On the pancake sheath I will usually only welt the one side. A lot of it comes from experience I think, when laying out your stitch line. Just how much room does that knife handle need. I do this from the inside with the knife on the leather so I can see the engineering so to speak. I then transfer the lines to the front side to lay out the stitching lines. You're gonna have to come hang out in the shop some day.

Well boys! It happened. I sold the Sonoran Skinner and Hunter as a set and the customer wanted the PackPac. So I got around to building it. This is how she ended up:

The only one I've ever done with a water buffalo overlay.

Since the individual sheaths on these knives are a heavy chestnut colored leather I wanted to incorporate that into the PackPac.

Whadya think?

 

[SharpBits]

Beautiful set!

 

[pat9198]

Thank you sir for the kind words. Pricing is something that every maker struggles with, at least every conscientious maker. I know I do. I use to sell a Coyote with a wood handle and a sheath for $85! But I've been doing this a long time. Nowadays, just the sheath is well north of that. For years one of our stated goals was to make knives that working cowboys could afford. My wife says that ship sailed a long time ago. I still sell knives to a lot of cowboy so I don't know. Again thank you for the kind words!


On the pancake sheath I will usually only welt the one side. A lot of it comes from experience I think, when laying out your stitch line. Just how much room does that knife handle need. I do this from the inside with the knife on the leather so I can see the engineering so to speak. I then transfer the lines to the front side to lay out the stitching lines. You're gonna have to come hang out in the shop some day.

Well boys! It happened. I sold the Sonoran Skinner and Hunter as a set and the customer wanted the PackPac. So I got around to building it. This is how she ended up:

The only one I've ever done with a water buffalo overlay.

Since the individual sheaths on these knives are a heavy chestnut colored leather I wanted to incorporate that into the PackPac.

Whadya think?

It's really cool that they're staying together, and in a PackPac to boot!

 

[Horsewright]

Beautiful set!

Thank you!

It's really cool that they're staying together, and in a PackPac to boot!

Yeah I really didn't want to split them.

 

[cbach8tw]

Great set and the leather work for the set is awesome.

 

[Horsewright]

Great set and the leather work for the set is awesome.

Thank you my friend!

 

[mitch13]

Thank you sir for the kind words. Pricing is something that every maker struggles with, at least every conscientious maker. I know I do. I use to sell a Coyote with a wood handle and a sheath for $85! But I've been doing this a long time. Nowadays, just the sheath is well north of that. For years one of our stated goals was to make knives that working cowboys could afford. My wife says that ship sailed a long time ago. I still sell knives to a lot of cowboy so I don't know. Again thank you for the kind words!


On the pancake sheath I will usually only welt the one side. A lot of it comes from experience I think, when laying out your stitch line. Just how much room does that knife handle need. I do this from the inside with the knife on the leather so I can see the engineering so to speak. I then transfer the lines to the front side to lay out the stitching lines. You're gonna have to come hang out in the shop some day.

Well boys! It happened. I sold the Sonoran Skinner and Hunter as a set and the customer wanted the PackPac. So I got around to building it. This is how she ended up:

The only one I've ever done with a water buffalo overlay.

Since the individual sheaths on these knives are a heavy chestnut colored leather I wanted to incorporate that into the PackPac.

Whadya think?

Went as a pair
Pack turned out great, the chestnut is a nice deep colour that compliments the knives

 

[cudgee]

Pricing is something that every maker struggles with, at least every conscientious maker. I know I do. I use to sell a Coyote with a wood handle and a sheath for $85! But I've been doing this a long time. Nowadays, just the sheath is well north of that. For years one of our stated goals was to make knives that working cowboys could afford. My wife says that ship sailed a long time ago. I still sell knives to a lot of cowboy so I don't know. Again thank you for the kind words!

That is the reality of doing business. You have to be able to stay in business. But once you build a brand and reputation people will pay for your quality. You mention the figure of $85, there was a GEC drop last week of over $200, 5 years ago that was a $85 drop. But you or anyone else has to be able to keep the doors open, that is the bottom line. Both you and your wife's work is exemplary.

 

[Horsewright]

Went as a pair
Pack turned out great, the chestnut is a nice deep colour that compliments the knives

Thank you sir. I don't like dyeing leather. Almost won't for multiple reasons, mostly durability. So I use what's referred to as tannery dyed. The leather comes that color from the tannery. The color is all the way through the leather and you don't have the drying out cracking problems that dyeing leather by hand can cause. So in our PackPac there I used the chestnut leather and the main body is russet. Both have only had a little oil applied during the construction and a finish after.

That is the reality of doing business. You have to be able to stay in business. But once you build a brand and reputation people will pay for your quality. You mention the figure of $85, there was a GEC drop last week of over $200, 5 years ago that was a $85 drop. But you or anyone else has to be able to keep the doors open, that is the bottom line. Both you and your wife's work is exemplary.

Yes sir. In these inflationary and supply chain issued times it's so, ya do have to adjust to stay alive. The glue I use on knife handles doubled overnight. Leather has gone up too but the big kicker there is getting that leather, shipping from my suppliers to me has just about doubled too. Thank you for the kind words!