how to make a wooden sheath for a parang?

[forrestdweller]

it has been several month since i had a chance to visit this forum- let alone posting...- as lack of internet +several personal challenges kept me occupied otherwise. my search did not bring up any results in case my question has been already asked:
in 2009 i purchased a parang from ""valiant knives"" and while i'm satisfied with the blade itself i cannot say the same about the sheath(and their customer service)- it's a somewhat crappy material and has a serious design flaw: the blade comes out @the back when you draw the knive--> which means you cannot carry it on your belt/baldric, but have to either carry it in your hand or on your pack; neither of which is a very practical solution... .
i'm fed up with it and intend to make a new(better) one. my only experience with making wooden sheaths is one for my belt knive, but this has a straight blade while the parang is curved.

are there any tricks how to achieve a good fit?

 

[FGYT]

yes bury the wood very deep .....wait several million years till the wood is turned to oil and then converted into Kydex

:sad6: not helping am I

 

[Johnnyboy1971]

A bit like this one?
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101850

 

[dean4442]

yes bury the wood very deep .....wait several million years till the wood is turned to oil and then converted into Kydex

:sad6: not helping am I

No but you are making many of us smile!

 

[forrestdweller]

yes bury the wood very deep .....wait several million years till the wood is turned to oil and then converted into Kydex

a few million years should be enough time for me to learn how to work with kydex and to forge my own blades(as i'm afraid mine will have turned into irn oxide by then....)


but great work!

 

[forrestdweller]

A bit like this one?
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101850

the blade looks similar but mine has a handle made of buffalo horn and the sheath looks different(and is crap)

i got mine in 2009 from ""valiant knives"" (no connection other then having once purchased one item!); it's called ""parang bandol"", dunno if they still have this model in stock....



does anyone have pics/infos how the locals (of SEasia)make the sheaths for their knives?! i have only limited tools available(one of the drawbacks of travelling for almost 8years) so have to do it simple way...

 

[brancho]

That depends on what look you want.

If you know of a design you like it will be easier to explain.

You can laminate one from thin pieces or carve out 1 or two pieces.
These are shots of a sheath liner but similar.


Sheath liner 1 by alf.branch, on Flickr


Sheath liner 3 by alf.branch, on Flickr

A wooden blind was used for the above and a two pieces of pine for the liner below.


Sheath liner 7 by alf.branch, on Flickr

No hammer needed

Sheath liner 4 by alf.branch, on Flickr


Sheath liner 8 by alf.branch, on Flickr

This was shaped to be a liner


New Sheath liner 1 by alf.branch, on Flickr


You can then add a leather top or just a belt loop and strap to hold the knife in place


wood and leather sheath by alf.branch, on Flickr


Comp knife 8 by alf.branch, on Flickr

I hope this helps

Google wooden parang sheath images to see what you like
For insatnce try this

 

[ged]

I have a few Asian parangs and they all have wooden sheaths. They all seem to be made in two halves, which have been glued together. I'm not very keen on them. The wood tends to split, especailly at the joints, and you either have to do something to prevent that becoming a problem (I wrapped four of mine with galvanised steel wire) or else you always have to remember to keep your fingers clear of the cutting edge side of the sheath -- which to my mind is nonsensical, the sheath is there for protection as well as to carry the tool.

My preference in temperate climates would be leather with a tough insert against the cutting edge to prevent damage to the leather.

Kydex comes into its own in jungle environments of course. I have a couple of nylon sheaths which are also good in hot/humid conditions. They have press-stud arrangements to accommodate strongly curved blades, and they work reasonably well but they're a bit fiddly compared with something which needs no fasteners.

Personally, if I were going to re-sheath any of my blades I'd get something made up by one of the excellent makers who frequent this forum. I have sheaths from at least half a dozen makers here, more than one from several of them, and they're all excellent.

I have no idea why the forum is now screwing up my paragraphs.

 

[tombear]

I made a wooden sheath for the giant Nessie we made by simply getting a sheet of marine birch ply the same thickness as the blade, cutting out three pieces half a inch bigger than the blade all the way round the point and sides of the blade. I then used the blade as a template to cut the middle from one of the pieces then glued and clamped them together and left it a day to dry. To finish it I sanded it down and gave it a light coat of tung oil. With a leather suspension spider it's still going strong several years later.

One thing, the glue I used was some excellent stuff for sticking balsa models together, a variation of aliphatic resin. It is
waterproof and so strong it's usually the wood near the joint that fails rather than the joint!

atb

Tom

 

[maddave]

Perhaps this may help

[video=youtube;C4soJQg4IXs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4soJQg4IXs[/video]

 

[ged]

... One thing, the glue I used was some excellent stuff for sticking balsa models together, a variation of aliphatic resin. It is waterproof and so strong it's usually the wood near the joint that fails rather than the joint!

Cascamite? Good stuff, I've used it on sea-going wooden boats.

 

[tombear]

This is the one I use

http://torquemodels.com/aliphatic-resin-658-p.asp

Great stuff, just a bit expensive compared to normal wood glue. Most proper model shops sell it.

atb

Tom

 

[forrestdweller]

thanks for all the good advice!
leather is a nice material but i spend a lot of time in humid and/or hot climate and i know from experience what happens...
getting a sheath made (from kydex) by one of the makers here on the forum is unfortunately not possible for me-i'm overseas, which means i'd have to post my knife to them and i know how customs would react; i already have enough ""fun"" with them when i cross a border or enter via airport (i carry a special import permission for my parang in my passport for the few hours transit in singapore....).
my intention was to make a two-piece sheath from timber. i once made a sheath for my beltknife from wood, but that has a (almost) straight blade of uniform thickness while the parang tapers in thickness from the handle to the tip of the blade and is wider @the tip. i'm mainly concerned about a tight fit- it's no good when the blade rattles in the sheath (and you wanna move in silence...)! i wish i had the tools available the person in maddave's video uses, but all i have are a few handtools(not even a workbench uppy_dog ). one of the drawbacks of travelling....

 

[Stew]

How about a Tai Goo style sheath?

 

[Stew]

It's the open sided wooden ones - 2nd, 5th, 10th, etc here:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=tai+goo&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GBfficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=7e22Ud74AoeHhQeZ_YGABw&biw=1366&bih=625&sei=7-22UY-oHYWBhAe3uICQCQ

It's a style I really want to try.

 

[forrestdweller]

How about a Tai Goo style sheath?

that's an interesting-looking style...
i was planning to make a two piece sheath(i believe there was an old threat about making one but i cannot find it... ) but i might give that one a try, too and see which works better.