May 27th – Making a leather Sheath

May 27^th – Making a leather Sheath

So….we have a finished knife.  It cuts well, (as can be attested to by a few slaughtered paper towels) and now needs some functionality.

The best way to carry a knife in the field is on your belt and in a sheath.  The best sheath is one made out of leather….and the best leather is thick rawhide.

I usually buy my raw leather from Tandy Leather, and I always look for the cheapest relatively thick piece I can find.  Each sheet of raw hide can produce a number of products…this sheath represents about 1/16^th of the over all hide.

So….first we need to do is cut out a couple of blanks that relatively fit over the blade.

Next we need to fold over the belt loop and sew it onto the back.  Once the two halves are connected it would be impossible to do this sewing job, so I need to do it now.

Now it’s time to get all “arts and crafts like”….we take the top layer of leather and thoroughly soak it.  Once it is wet we can mold it around the knife.  Once it has dried, it will retain this shape and actively hold the knife in place.

Ok…time to sew!  The best way to do this is to use an  awl to poke the holes through, and then using a needle and twine, connect the two halves together.

finally we trim the excess on the band saw, and smooth out the roughs with sand paper.

Lastly I use a stain to change the color to a deeper brownish hue, because…well….because I kinda like it this color.  I suppose I could have left the originally natural leather color…but I like this better!