Making Kukri Sheath

T

The Man In Black

Joined
Jan 3, 2007
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56
Hi. I have a H.I. WWII model kukri with an 11" blade, is 16.5 overall and a spine thickness of 3/8".

I want to try my hand at making a sheath for it. It will be a sheath for both the kukri and a small companion knife thats about 7" overall. Also with a pocket for small items. And I need black leather.

I found a tutorial that says for larger knifes to go with 8-9oz leather. Should I use that or thicker for a knife of this size? And I saw a few posts on Blade forums to use shoulder leather.

And I am guessing I need a piece 12" by 24" if only sold by the foot. That sound right?



Wickett-Craig seems to be a popular leather supplier. But I don;t seem to see shoulders. What am I looking for here? And at the top of the page I see prices over $100. Thats for a very large piece, right? I am guessing what I want would be around $20 or so, right?


And www.appalachianleather.com seems to have good prices. Are they any good?



I have never worked (or bought) leather before. SO I don;t really know what to look for.

Thank you for any help.
 
Wicket and Craig only sells whole sides(avg 25 square feet) that I know of. Leather is sold by the square foot, so anytime you buy a piece of leather you are paying for how many square feet the whole piece is. You would be better off finding a Tandy Leather Store in your area and picking up a single shoulder for like $30-$40 which should have enough leather for your project.

I primarily use 8oz leather for all my sheaths, and 4 oz for pouches, pockets and whatnot.

If you do find a pre dyed black leather, it may be stiffer than an undyed piece. After dyeing the leather tends to stiffen up a bit. Just make sure you awl and cutting knives are sharp(and I mean screaming sharp, the sharper you get them the easier your project will be).

I hope this helps, I am sure some of the other very knowledgable leather workers will help you out.
 
I am working on a kukri sheath in leather right now.

What the previous poster wrote and...

Make the design in paper first. Then when all the parts are cut out to your satisfaction put them all together. Count the number of pieces that are laid out on top of each other - that will be the thickest part. Too thick?

Go back and redesign in paper.

It might look cool having a thick sheath but remember that you also have to pierce all those layers with your awl. Dyed leather is harder to pierce.

But then again if you use a drill it will not be a problem (not my recommendation but others seem to get nice results drilling holes).

Just a warning. If you get hooked... the right tools and high quality leather are expensive.

Have fun,
Colinz
 
Tandy can hook you up with what you need.

I like the Oak Leaf double shoulders in 9-10oz for Khukris and other large blades.

Fiebings Pro Oil Dye in black is the best stuff I've worked with. You can buy it in 4oz or Quart bottles. If there isn't a Tandy close by, email me for a place that doesn't charge a hazmat fee for any dye order under 1 gallon.

Waxed Nylon thread and stitching needles. You can get a 1oz spool or a 4oz spool from Tandy. I get my thread somewhere else in 1lb spools because I use tons of it on my large sheaths.

I use a Drill press and Nail w/rounded point to punch my holes, it works well.

After cutting out the pieces of leather for your sheath and shape them, dye the leather. Give it plenty of time to dry. If it still smells of Dye wait longer. After it's dry then glue everything together and punch your holes. Any spot that you spill glue onto won't take the dye so dying first makes it look better.

You can either do a Sandwich or Fold over sheath for your Khukri. I've done both and now adays I make more fold over sheaths then pancakes for Khukris and other large blades. In some ways they are easier and the use less leather. Add any accessory loops to the sheath before sewing. They are much harder to add after the fact.

Make a pattern and test it out before you cut leather. Will help out a lot!! Need any help, feel free to ask here or email me.
 
Thanks for the info guys. From reading this I now have a better idea of what I need. The nearest Tandy's is 2 hours away. But I was told of a store called Jo-Ann Fabric in my area, and people tell me they should have what I need. I will check them out and see what they have.

And how far does 4oz of dye go? Will that be enough for the sheath?

And if I can't find the leather locally, should I order from Tandy? On other message boards, I heard Tandy's leathers are sub-par unless you pick it out yourself.

www.appalachianleather.com say they cut and sell leather by the square foot, so would they be a good option?

Again, thank you guys for the help.
 
Goose_52 said:
Wicket and Craig only sells whole sides(avg 25 square feet) that I know of. Leather is sold by the square foot, so anytime you buy a piece of leather you are paying for how many square feet the whole piece is. You would be better off finding a Tandy Leather Store in your area and picking up a single shoulder for like $30-$40 which should have enough leather for your project.

I primarily use 8oz leather for all my sheaths, and 4 oz for pouches, pockets and whatnot.

If you do find a pre dyed black leather, it may be stiffer than an undyed piece. After dyeing the leather tends to stiffen up a bit. Just make sure you awl and cutting knives are sharp(and I mean screaming sharp, the sharper you get them the easier your project will be).

I hope this helps, I am sure some of the other very knowledgable leather workers will help you out.
Click to expand...
Listen to what he says. He has made some of the nicest kukri sheaths I have seen posted. Great design and craftsmanship.
 
Here's one I made for Joe Paranee set up for Baldric carry. It is fully lined with 2/3oz. veg. tan lining and 7/8 oz. veg. tanned body, and a Cape Buffalo tab and overlay tip. The veg. tan is Wickett & Craig in tannery dyed Chestnut. Spine side of sheath is open per the visible stitch line.

The black one is the same W/C leather tannery dyed black with shark overlay.

Paul
 
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sheathmaker said:
Here's one I made for Joe Paranee set up for Baldric carry. It is fully lined with 2/3oz. veg. tan lining and 7/8 oz. veg. tanned body, and a Cape Buffalo tab and overlay tip. The veg. tan is Wickett & Craig in tannery dyed Chestnut. Spine side of sheath is open per the visible stitch line.

The black one is the same W/C leather tannery dyed black with shark overlay.

Paul
Click to expand...

Nice looking sheaths. Hope mine comes out looking a quarter as good. And a lining isn;t needed, right? Just an added flair?
 
Is the lining necessary? Yes and No.

Yes, because using 7/8 oz. leather for the body, the 2/3 oz. lining adds the additional thickness to bring the total up to about 10/11 oz equivalent. This is much more suited for a knife this big, and with blade this thick.

The rivets for the D rings are also covered on the inside by the lining.

The lining also offers the benefit of the top grain smoothness in the interior of the sheath which becomes more important depending on the value and the blade finish of the knife.

No, because I could have started with 10/12 oz. and the heavier or thicker issue would have been covered without a lining. The rivet heads, however, would have had to have been "spot" covered.



Paul
 
sheathmaker said:
Is the lining necessary? Yes and No.

Yes, because using 7/8 oz. leather for the body, the 2/3 oz. lining adds the additional thickness to bring the total up to about 10/11 oz equivalent. This is much more suited for a knife this big, and with blade this thick.

The rivets for the D rings are also covered on the inside by the lining.

The lining also offers the benefit of the top grain smoothness in the interior of the sheath which becomes more important depending on the value and the blade finish of the knife.

No, because I could have started with 10/12 oz. and the heavier or thicker issue would have been covered without a lining. The rivet heads, however, would have had to have been "spot" covered.



Paul
Click to expand...


I see. Thank you. I think I will use a liner then.
 
Ok. There does not seem to be a store (Tandy is 2 hours away) in my area that sells leather, so I will need to order online. http://www.appalachianleather.com looks like the best choice to me. The site says you can order less than a full piece for an additional $1 per square foot. So it seems to be far cheaper than the others I have seen.

So, what sort of leather do I need? My plain is 7-8oz leather for the body of the sheath and 2-3oz for the lining. Also 3-4oz leather for the pockets.

On the page: http://www.appalachianleather.com/tooling.htm should I go with the "Oak" Vegetable Tanned or the Hermann Oak? Should I go with Double Shoulders for the body of the sheath?


And is this the kind of thread I need: http://www.amazon.com/Waxed-Nylon-T...1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1298997277&sr=8-1 That would be plenty of thread, right?

Is this thread something different: http://www.amazon.com/Tandy-Leather-Tejas-Thread-1220-01/dp/B0039ZNNCU/ref=pd_luc_sbs_00_03_t_lh

And is 4oz of dye enough?


Sorry for all the questions. And thank you all for the help.
 
Is this going to be a one shot deal or are you going to stay with leather work? If it's just one shot then go with the cut off less than a side deal, but you are paying a real premium for not premium leather.

If you plan on doing this regularly then bite the bullet and order a side of 7/8 oz. skirting and a side of 2/3oz. skirting from Wickett and Craig. They have a web site. this will start you off with quality leather and at a per square foot cost less than Appalachian but for the square footage of a complete side which is about 24 to 27 square feet.

The advice you seek depends on what and how long you are going to be doing the leather thing.

More later as you need it.

Paul
 
I am not planing on making sheaths and selling them. I just wan t to make a sheath for a knife. I am not going to pay hundreds of dollars when all I need is a few square feet.
 
If I was only going to go with 2 different thicknesses of leather to cut down on cost, what 2 should I use? 7/8oz for the body and 3/4oz for the lining and pockets? The supplier is almost out of 7/8oz so I may have to go with 8/9oz for the body though.

And would 4oz of dye be enough? If so, how much would be left over?

Thanks guys.
 
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