Thickness of leather sheath welt?

N

Nsled

Joined
May 13, 2019
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I've never made a sheath before but would like to try. Drawing up plans and purchasing material now for a 4.8mm (3/16") thick blade but am unsure how thick the welt should be in this sheath?

Should I make it tight, say a welt of 5mm then rely on its natural stretch? or make it oversize 6-7mm?
 
There use to be an old saying that the welt along the blade should be about 70% of the thickness of the blade. Honestly I really don't worry about it much and use the same leather as the sheath for the welt. In fact I have found this to be more important than an actual relationship of thickness of leather to the blade. If ya use different leathers it can cause other problems. I will, on a very, very, rare occasion, skive the blade part of the welt down but very rarely. I use 7/8 oz leather for the vast majority of my sheaths and I make a lot of sheaths. Not sure how that converts to mms.
 
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Oh I should state that this is not a folded design. So the front, welt and back are separate pieces I assume that makes a difference? is that 70% rule for folded sheaths?
 
I wrapped the knife a few wraps with aluminum foil and then folded the extra length at the tip back underneath the blade to give some room for the blade between the two pieces. It worked out great. The knife slides into the sheath good with a little snugness. I also used 10oz leather for it.

UF-SOB-29a.jpg
 
Another plus for Horsewright and John April.
I had always used 7/8 oz until I started doing 9”+ blades.
 
I use the same thickness.
But I think on the kind of sheath you want to make you want to build the weld up to at least over half the thickness of the handle, and thin it down to past the edge where the blade is.
It is not an easy style to begin with.
 
Nsled said:
Oh I should state that this is not a folded design. So the front, welt and back are separate pieces I assume that makes a difference? is that 70% rule for folded sheaths?
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I do the same as Horsewright and don't make folded sheaths. He does some I think but others are 3 piece like you are talking.
 
Jrmysell said:
I do the same as Horsewright and don't make folded sheaths. He does some I think but others are 3 piece like you are talking.
Click to expand...

I think that a lot depends on the knife and the sheath style that you are making. In the SOB Bald Eagle sheath I made that a photo of is in an above post, I put a inside edge protector or welt - I'm really not sure what you call it. I glued it to the back piece of the sheath. You can see it in this photo below.

UF-SOB-17a.jpg
 
All sheaths need a welt on the edge side. If not, sooner or later it will cut the stitching ( usually sooner).
A welt on the spine side is to allow smooth clearance.
 
I personally do just like horsewright says. The only time I’d consider trying to use a thinner welt is situations where the blade stock is thick and width is small. IMO, knives like sloyds tend to twist in the sheath and making a more contoured sheath keeps the knife more stable.

unrelated, but for axe masks I also prefer to make thinner welts so as to let the bit faces ride better on the leather. Then the wedge shape of the axe can provide further protection.
 
Nsled said:
Oh I should state that this is not a folded design. So the front, welt and back are separate pieces I assume that makes a difference? is that 70% rule for folded sheaths?
Click to expand...

No doesn't really make any difference whether folded or not. I make lots of both. If you are doing a pancake style sheath this tutorial might be of help to ya:

Pancake Sheaths and how I go about them. (PIC HEAVY)

I'd had a couple of requests about more info on how I build Pancake Sheaths. I had one to build for a knife I'd already sold and the customer wanted this sheath instead of what came with it. Thought I'd pictorially document the steps I go through. Here I've grabbed a front and a back...
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com

Even if not it would probably help ya out some.

A folded Slot and Loop Sheath. Larger knife this is 8/10 oz leather:

gw636rR.jpg


Folded Horizontal Sheath 7/8 oz leather:

mx1CnoU.jpg


y94y7sV.jpg


Three piece construction 7/8 oz leather:

mhZFEL7.jpg


 
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EngrSorenson said:
You’re a true craftsman, sir. This pattern is wonderful- I imagine you just slide it on your belt with the knife outside the belt?
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Thank you. Yes here's a pic of the back:

QLl7kfD.jpg


Lil braggin'. A friend of mine was interviewing Bob Loveless for a magazine article, year or two before Bob passed away. My friend has an extensive collection of custom knives from everybody ya ever heard of and I'm honored that he often EDCs one of mine. He was wearing one of my knives in a Slot and Loop sheath like this one that day. Bob asked to see the knife and then the sheath. On the knife he said this guy knows what he's doing. I could help him with his grinding a little but he knows what he is doing. My friend said Bob then spent about an hour looking at the sheath. He had my friend put it on his belt in various ways as it can be carried in different areas and methods. Finally Bob said this is the best designed and built sheath for active use like horseback riding, cowboying or hunting I've ever seen. He then offered to have me come down and work with him a bit on the grinding. I never did. Just epically stoooopid. Anyhoo...
 
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