Hi everyone,
After a long absence from tinkering about with knives I finally finished a small knife I made as a gift and decided that I would put a bit more effort into the sheath than I normally do.
I have no leather working tools or skills and all my knives are practical tools which get used so I normally make do with a cardboard/gaffer tape sort of sheath.
I looked into kydex as it seems fairly easy to use, but I thought it was too 'tactical' and out of keeping with the cocobolo handle which I made.
I then came across the idea of using rawhide from a dog chew bone and it really appealed to me.
My first rough attempt worked quite well, but I learned that using a small bulldog clip to hold it together while it dried worked well, but also left an unsightly dent in the sheath! The knife itself sits perfectly in it and even without having sewn or fastened the 'open' edge the knife won't come out of the sheath unless you pull it out. Very satisfied!
I think I'm going to take the current 'dented' sheath and use it as a template to create a cardboard or wood 'negative' so I can put it over the rawhide and clamp onto that to (hopefully) leave a smoother finish.
Someone suggested to me that I could dye the sheath using coffee grounds and this appealed to me for two reasons. Firstly I had some coffee grounds which I hadn't quite put in the compost yet and secondly because I liked the idea of using natural materials.
So I took a small scrap piece of hide, soaked it in warm water until soft and then buried it in the coffee grounds and left it overnight. The end result was slightly underwhelming. Although some colour did take it wasn't nearly as dark as I'd hoped.
This is the part where the rambling turns into asking for suggestions. Much as I'm enjoying experimenting I also need to get this finished and sent off!
Do I just repeat the coffee grounds dying process but leave it in for longer? Two days? A week?
Do I try some leather dye instead?
If anyone has done this already I would love to hear what you did.
The other piece of advice I'm after is about sewing / fixing / securing the 'open' part of the sheath. The knife is going to be a thread cutter for a sewing kit (ironically the very thing I need advice on) so I thought it might be a bit different to sew some small buttons on - or maybe even some of those small metal rivets. I was also considering some eyelets and running a piece of ribbon through the holes or something similar.
I don't want to have to invest in expensive tooling - but don't really have much experience. I guess the cheapest option would be needle and thread and some small buttons - but what kind of thread, what sort of needle?
I'm open to options, suggestions, comments and ridicule!
Over to you:
After a long absence from tinkering about with knives I finally finished a small knife I made as a gift and decided that I would put a bit more effort into the sheath than I normally do.
I have no leather working tools or skills and all my knives are practical tools which get used so I normally make do with a cardboard/gaffer tape sort of sheath.
I looked into kydex as it seems fairly easy to use, but I thought it was too 'tactical' and out of keeping with the cocobolo handle which I made.
I then came across the idea of using rawhide from a dog chew bone and it really appealed to me.
My first rough attempt worked quite well, but I learned that using a small bulldog clip to hold it together while it dried worked well, but also left an unsightly dent in the sheath! The knife itself sits perfectly in it and even without having sewn or fastened the 'open' edge the knife won't come out of the sheath unless you pull it out. Very satisfied!
I think I'm going to take the current 'dented' sheath and use it as a template to create a cardboard or wood 'negative' so I can put it over the rawhide and clamp onto that to (hopefully) leave a smoother finish.
Someone suggested to me that I could dye the sheath using coffee grounds and this appealed to me for two reasons. Firstly I had some coffee grounds which I hadn't quite put in the compost yet and secondly because I liked the idea of using natural materials.
So I took a small scrap piece of hide, soaked it in warm water until soft and then buried it in the coffee grounds and left it overnight. The end result was slightly underwhelming. Although some colour did take it wasn't nearly as dark as I'd hoped.
This is the part where the rambling turns into asking for suggestions. Much as I'm enjoying experimenting I also need to get this finished and sent off!
Do I just repeat the coffee grounds dying process but leave it in for longer? Two days? A week?
Do I try some leather dye instead?
If anyone has done this already I would love to hear what you did.
The other piece of advice I'm after is about sewing / fixing / securing the 'open' part of the sheath. The knife is going to be a thread cutter for a sewing kit (ironically the very thing I need advice on) so I thought it might be a bit different to sew some small buttons on - or maybe even some of those small metal rivets. I was also considering some eyelets and running a piece of ribbon through the holes or something similar.
I don't want to have to invest in expensive tooling - but don't really have much experience. I guess the cheapest option would be needle and thread and some small buttons - but what kind of thread, what sort of needle?
I'm open to options, suggestions, comments and ridicule!
Over to you: