Thread: Playing with leather

Originally Posted by Gapped axe

Saleable, so why dont you.

I did think about that but to be honest I didn't think anyone would be willing to pay the amount for the sheath I would have to ask to make it worthwhile. The BK7 sheath for example was over ten hours work. The hand stitching alone was around 4hrs but I went above and beyond and knotted each individual stitch so if one breaks or gets cut it won't unravel or compromise the strength of the rest of the stitching. Even the edge burnishing took forever. It is hard to see in the following photo but that fat edge is three layers of leather but is smooth as glass to the touch , like polished wood , all done using a biro. I do admit I have since bought a burnishing tool though. And all the edges of the leather are burnished. To make another I would have to ask a minimum of $250-300 to even consider selling them and I doubt anyone would be willing to pay that much. Also I basically have to buy half a cows worth of leather at a time so would need to sell at least 4 or 5 just to cover costs of materials , let alone the time...

Originally Posted by Ftx325

I did think about that but to be honest I didn't think anyone would be willing to pay the amount for the sheath I would have to ask to make it worthwhile. The BK7 sheath for example was over ten hours work. The hand stitching alone was around 4hrs but I went above and beyond and knotted each individual stitch so if one breaks or gets cut it won't unravel or compromise the strength of the rest of the stitching. Even the edge burnishing took forever. It is hard to see in the following photo but that fat edge is three layers of leather but is smooth as glass to the touch , like polished wood , all done using a biro. I do admit I have since bought a burnishing tool though. And all the edges of the leather are burnished. To make another I would have to ask a minimum of $250-300 to even consider selling them and I doubt anyone would be willing to pay that much. Also I basically have to buy half a cows worth of leather at a time so would need to sell at least 4 or 5 just to cover costs of materials , let alone the time...Attachment 146361

Thats some nice work mate.Your right about selling them.I make a few pouches for myself and a few mates. Basically I charge enough to cover the materials only.If I charged for labour I'd have no mates left!.
Heres a couple I've done lately.

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Originally Posted by hunter Al.7mm08

Thats some nice work mate.Your right about selling them.I make a few pouches for myself and a few mates. Basically I charge enough to cover the materials only.If I charged for labour I'd have no mates left!.
Heres a couple I've done lately.

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Mate , those look bloody good too . Make mine look truly amateur !!
I have just checked how much leather I have left , enough for maybe two sheaths , and was going to offer to make a couple for sale but I think they'll want to get them made by you instead ...!
There truly is a huge pool of hidden talent out there in the back sheds of NZ .
Well done mate... awesome work!

I was one of the two and I thank you sir
That's awesome work, I can't believe this is your opening / beginning work, its terrific

Would you mind sharing the sites that you as beginner found most useful for your knife and leather work projects?

Originally Posted by Ooops

Would you mind sharing the sites that you as beginner found most useful for your knife and leather work projects?

I second that... great work

Originally Posted by Ooops

I was one of the two and I thank you sir
That's awesome work, I can't believe this is your opening / beginning work, its terrific

Would you mind sharing the sites that you as beginner found most useful for your knife and leather work projects?

I just searched you tube for making leather knife sheath. The only problem was they all are all a lot more professional than I am and have the full range of proper leatherwork tools etc to do the job. I had to improvise. If there is enough interest I guess I could do like a photo documentary/example of how I make them using common house hold items like teaspoons and forks... and yes I am serious - teaspoons and forks. Kiwi ingenuity at its finest. I do have a small amount of leather left .The only problem there is I have no knives left that need a sheath ....

Originally Posted by Ftx325

... I had to improvise. If there is enough interest I guess I could do like a photo documentary/example of how I make them using common house hold items like teaspoons and forks... and yes I am serious - teaspoons and forks. Kiwi ingenuity at its finest.....

That's a big undertaking but if you have the time that would be fatastic & very much appreciated. Anything that you think a bloke starting with no tools needs to know or could use.

Originally Posted by Ftx325

... I do have a small amount of leather left .The only problem there is I have no knives left that need a sheath ....

make another knife using the minimal equipment philosophy and document it. Your leather gets used up and you pass on a bunch of great info to us wannabee craftsmen & women

Very nice indeed. I particularly like the boot on the butt of the lever action.

Choice as !

That is very impressive skills

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Where do you (or anyone else for that matter!) get your leather? I’ve got a couple of knives I’m keen to have a go at making sheaths for.

Originally Posted by 7x64

Where do you (or anyone else for that matter!) get your leather? I’ve got a couple of knives I’m keen to have a go at making sheaths for.

I got pretty much everything from an outfit called lapco. The only problem as mentioned was the size of the leather pieces - they are damn near half cow size and not cheap. Russet is the best type to use as can be easily worked and molded. Then of course you need some special tools like edgeinh tools etc , thread , dye , glue and do on . As mentioned I managed to find everyday items to substitute for alot of the tools required to do the job . Fot example instead of buying a stitching wheel to mark the stitching holes for drilling I used a fork and so on . Rather than buy a grooving tool to cut a groove for the stitching to lay in I wet the leather and pressed a groove with a flat bladed screwdriver instead which I believe is better anyway as you don't compromise the surface of the leather. I invented a few other wee tricks as workarounds as well.

That's a cool old warhorse that looks like it's seen many a battle.... If I were you I would have a go at making a sheath yourself. A nice small knife like that wouldn't be difficult. You can probably pick up some leather offcuts on trademe big enough for the job. Make the sheath in the style of the pig hunting knives so only an inch or so of the handle is poking out the top to grip the knife and wet mold around the shape of the handle. To add a little character to the sheath you could lace it together rather than sow it. All you would need is a hole punch . You could even use Paracord as lace....just remove the inner threads and just use the outer covering as the lace. Just melt the ends and roll it to create a point to push through your holes . I would make it a sandwich style (as in two pieces of leather stitched together around the outside like ai.7mm08 has done rather than folding the leather like I do). Make the back section twice the size of the desired sheath so you can fold it over like folding a sheet of paper in half an lace it to the sheath when you lace it all together but leave enough of your fold unlaced to create the belt loop. Just make sure you have a leather piece between the inside and outside layers 10mm or so wide that your stitching/ lacing loops through to protect it from the blade cutting through it when knife is taken in and out. If you look closely at the photo you can see the middle layer of leather which is there solely as thread protection...
Does any of that make sense?

Awesome work, where do you get the dome rivets from?

Originally Posted by diana2

Awesome work, where do you get the dome rivets from?

I have not used any rivets. I instead used chicago screws . the dome is the nut side of the screw and the screw side is the same dome shape with a screwdriver slot as can be seen in the rear photo of the antler knife sheath. the bk7 sheath has the dome part in the back of the sheath (painted black) and I used the brass screws instead of the screw part of the chicago screw , simply because I thought the brass looked a bit classier. I wanted to be able to dissassmble everything so I could chop or change parts and mounting systems at will , all I need is a screw driver . I can carry most of the sheaths in the photos in 5 or 6 different ways by just configuring them differently by swapping out parts or leaving them off , such as horizontal or vertical carry by leaving on or removing the belt loop for example and can even switch them from left to right hand side carry by just unscrewing and reversing the sleeve and belt loops. And with the long extra strap running down the back of the bk7 sheath from the belt loop makes it simple to strap to a pack . simple and effective way to add some modularity to a leather sheath....