Did someone say Neo Tribal KITH ?????

[Josh Dabney]

Kicking off tonight using my paper pattern to cut a piece of rawhide for the wrap

Soaked for about 5 minutes in a coffee can of hot water to soften it up then slapped it on the cutting board for a dy job with dark brown Fieblings pro oil dye. I soak it pretty good with a heavy coat of dye and let it soak a little

Blot the dye off with a paper towel and see what we've got

This piece has a pretty light color and alot of translucent effect so I flipped it over and randomly blotted some dye on the back side to hopefully add a bit of color

Rawhide is neat material to work with !

Getting everything cemented up except the area right around where the seam is going to be. I want to check out my fit and see what I've got before gluing the final section

Now I've got the body placed on the rawhide I use my snips make adjustments to the shape as needed

Now I've got my wrap trimmed up the way I want it I can cement the rest of the body and wrap in place

I'm starting at the top and forming my seam together to prep for stitching

I bought this gold plated wire for some project long ago and never used it but I've had the idea for awhile to attempt stitching a sheath with it so here we go

Making the stitch holes one side at a time and one stitch at a time. I'm also rolling the seam together as I stitch the seam

Tedious but making progress

This is how far I got before the rawhide dried up enough to be difficult to stitch.

Not a problem though. Hold it under the faucet running hot water for about 30 seconds softens it right back up. I figured it'd be a good idea to re-cement this toe section after it's bath

To finish off the stitch I ran my wire back under the rawhide for the length of the needle and pulled it through

Snipped the wire off and tucked it in and here we are with a wire stitched, center seam, rawhide wrap

The stitching actually went pretty well with the exception that I sorta second guessed my pattern a little (never a good idea) when I placed the body on the rawhide. My pattern was made to be flush with the tallest part of the throat but I moved the body towards the toe just a little which made my wrap barely make it down near the toe. Luckily I got enough stretch to get it stiched all the way down

Next and final step will be the copper throat/frog

Stay tuned fellas ! -Josh

 

[jonathan creason]

There's a whole lot of character wrapped up in that package.

 

[Boxer Bill]

An excellent W.I.P. Thanks for all the pics!

 

[Josh Dabney]

Now that my rawhide is dried back out I cut the top off and ground it flush to the sheath body and ran my edge rounding tool around the inside of the mouth.

Getting started on the throat/frog I scribed around my pattern on some .025 copper sheet and cut it out on the bandsaw

This copper should form well but it's really too thin for use as a stand alone frog so I decided to add a steel backer to the frog portion to stiffen it up for durability purposes. The steel is cut from some scrap I had laying around.

I marked lines where I wanted the clip bent and used this po-boy method for forming the steel backer

Something about like this should do the trick

Giving the copper some character with the big ball pien

Annealing the copper- Heat to a dull red and water quench to anneal

Now I've got my steel backer formed and drilled for pins, my copper abused and annealed, and some 1/8" mild steel rod for pins ready

Copper and steel joined with hammer domed pins and a decorative, peened copper washer

This is fairly close to how she'll look once the t/f is pemanently attached

Back side

Underside of the clip. I cold forged the copper around the edge of the steel also

Finished off the night with a coat of poly to seal up the rawhide.

I still gotta trim up the t/f and get it permanently attached but the Tribal Chief is quickly comming to a close. I may get it finished up in the morning but possibly not until sunday.

Take care All !

-Josh

 

[Josh Dabney]

Time to get this throat/frog permanently attached to the sheath body

Got the copper tightly wrapped, trimmed the top edge on the grinder, snipped the overlap side off with snips, and drilled the first pin hole. Basically got everything prepped the way I want it before gluing everything up with contact cement,

Peening the top edge of the copper. Had I been smart I would've left a bit more copper sticking above the leather so it would fully wrap the top edge... live and learn :biggrin: It's fairly good as-is though even though i squeezed the mouth a little tight

Here's the Chief with brand new pants boys.

Batteries died so I didn't snap a pic but the final step in this sheath adventure was dying the leather in the mouth of the sheath with dark brown dye. I got the bulk of it with a Q-tip but had to use a tiny paint brush to get in the edge side. Anyhow... This how it came out pre-dye

Boy I had one hell of a good time goin Tribal with Y'all and can't wait for the exchange ! Sure hope someone finds the Chief a fitting addition to their collection.

Take care Fellas ! -Josh

 

[Wade Hougham]

Fantastic creation!!! It has been nice seeing this come together. I couldn't wait 'til the end and now I wish it wouldn't have to stop. :biggrin:Wade

 

[franklin]

man i dont now about the rest of you but this wip was cooooooooool,and cant wait to see if chief comes my way, great job josh!!!

 

[Patrick]

Wow that turned out really great. Whoever gets that one will be one lucky KDog.

 

[jonathan creason]

Well Josh, did the Chief turn heads at Blade?

 

[Josh Dabney]

The Chief drew some extremely positive reactions Many used expletives to describe it that we don't use here in the pound and the general reaction was "this thing is BAD---!" Whenever I had it out people seemed to gravitate towards it. Amazingly I even had to tell a couple guys that it wasn't for sale.

Had a nice chat with a couple dealers inspired by wearing it around the Pit and although I'm unlikely to utilize their services I was very flattered at the interest they showed in my knives.

Heck, The Chief even inspired a pair of local smokin cougars to break the ice at dinner Sat night, LOL. There apppears to be no limit to the powers of The Chief ! (100% true and verifiable :9

There are non-believers in the Powerful Medicine produced by the tribal bladesmith but I assure you it's for real !

I do appreciate the time extension of the draw to accomidate my trip to the show.

The reaction was good enough that I may just have to go tribal again one of these days

Take care,

-Josh

 

[Patrick]

It's a totally cool knife Josh. You deserve to have to fend off cougars with such a magical thing. Sure wish it woulda come my way. This KITH was fun. Hope you do it again. If you do so will I.

 

[jonathan creason]

I never figured a knife would make good cougar bait. Now everybody is going to be wearing the biggest one they can find on their hip. :biggrin:

 

[backtines]

Hey Josh, I was messin around checking out some old threads and I remember when you started this but never had the chance to play catch up and see it all done until tonight. Man ! You hit this one out of the park! Geat WIP, Great step by step on everything. I love the handle with the copper and rawhide and diggin the sheath too. Awesome job brutal!!!