Learning to make a sheath

M

mtnman1

Member
Amazing all the stuff that goes along with learning to make a knife. Seems you can't make a knife without a sheath so I figured I'd better give it a shot. Never worked with leather in my life, but a trip to the Tandy store and a quick tutorial on how some of the tools worked from the lady at the store got me the absolute basics to get started.

I brought home a few tools and a handful of pieces outa the scrap bin big enough to make a sheath or two. She showed me "the only stitch you will ever need" and this is what I came up with. Welt and edges were the hardest part. I don't think it turned out half bad, considering I did it all free hand without a pattern and no idea what I was doing. Now I gotta go back and get some die.


Blade is a blank I picked up from one of the supply shops and put together. A6 and sharp as a razor. One I've had for a while and figured it was a good place to start for learning to make a sheath. Spots and whatnot on the blade are reflections.

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I think that you did a real good job of stamping on that sheath. A basket weave stamp is deceptively easy to screw up. It looks like the lady at the Tandy store showed you the harness stitch and it is a real work horse of a stitch. You might want to consider lacing also. Just my taste, but I really like lacing on a pouch sheath. Just pick up one of those booklets on sewing and lacing leather and see if anything like that interests you. You also might want to get a video on sheath making. I have "Custom Knife Sheaths with Chuck Burrows" and I found to to be a great help when I started out. I rewatch segments of it often. You could also click down to the Knife Sheath forum on this site.

One suggestion, I might be wrong but it doesn't look like you backstitched on that sheath. It will help make sure that the thread doesn't pull out. Start abour four holes down from the start end and stitch up to the near end and then back down over it to the far end. Then stitch back over the thread about four holes down from there. You did a real good job of keeping the holes in the grove on the back side of the sheath. They can wander out if you're not careful. One thing that I tried for the first time on the sheath that I'm now completing is to chuck up a harness needle in my drill press and use it to punch the holes through. I use a board with a 1/4" hole in the center and another one just at the edge clamped down to the press table. The hole at the edge allows me to put just the edge of the sheath over it if something about the shape of it doesn't allow it to lay flat over the central hole, like the strap or the edge of the sheath is beveled. If you can find a straight needle or the spike off an awl that is a little larger than the needle that you sew with things may go a little easier. I found it a lot of work to push a needle through the same size hole. The drill press is used with the power off; it serves only as a press to push the needle through the leather.

Doug Lester
 
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Doug,

Thanks for the tips. I did back stitch but only on the end not at the beginning. My "tutor" didn't mention beginning with back stitching. I actually used a small punch to do the holes and then marked it with an awl on the welt and on the back... Took longer, but allowed me to be more precise especially on the stitching groove on the back. I've certainly got a ways to go, but honestly was surprised that it turned out as well as it did.
 
Starting out with a backstitching is something that I sometimes remember when I'm half way through stitching. There are probably worse things that you can do but if something happens down the road that breaks the thread on that first stitch then you have loose threads. Not really likely to happen but it could. Anyway, that's the way it was demonstrated to me so I always try to remember to start out that way.

Doug Lester
 
Looks great, I wish my first looked half that good. I struggle with sheaths even after making, I don't know how many.
 
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