Some time ago, Bambodoggy asked me to make him a sheath for his packpal as although the kydex one is nice, clean and very functional, he wanted something a little more bushcrafty.
Anyway, I started on it last Monday night so here goes...
First, I drew around the knife and firesteel, leaving room for screw-ups and also folded it all up to make sure it wasn't massive or too small... to fold it up I drenched it in warm water... this kept it moist (I love that word) for hours making it easy to work with.
Once folded and roughly trimmed up, I ran around the places that were going to be stitched marking them out and denting the leather so the stitching would not stand up from the sheath and snag. It looks dark because it's still moist... hmmm... moist.
After 24 hours it's all dry it goes back to it's normal light colour... at this point I used evo-stick impact glue to set it in its final position... it's a worrying stage as the glue is ****ard strong! I glued it without the knife or firesteel in place and it worked out, I guess you could cover the knife in a bag or something and leave it in if you were worried about the shape.
Anyway, after 18 hours, the glue had properly gone off and during my lunch break, I gave it one more dose of water, sewed around it, sanded the bejesus out of it and oiled it when I got home.
The oil is the stuff I have used for years on my horses saddles and riding gear, its a thin oil that darkens and protects it from water/dirt.
It holds the knife and firesteel pretty snug and I'm fairly pleased with the way it looks... It is far from perfect and the stitching is a little wonky but thats what happens when you get someone like me making a sheath with a stanley knife, pencil and sewing needle!
It did give me a chuffing big blister on my left hand though... I couldn't imagine doing this a lot!
Anyway, I hope this may be of use to someone. all told, it was about 4 hours work. This was my second knife sheath ever so I'm sure these people that make loads could do it in about 45 minutes.
Anyway, I started on it last Monday night so here goes...
First, I drew around the knife and firesteel, leaving room for screw-ups and also folded it all up to make sure it wasn't massive or too small... to fold it up I drenched it in warm water... this kept it moist (I love that word) for hours making it easy to work with.
Once folded and roughly trimmed up, I ran around the places that were going to be stitched marking them out and denting the leather so the stitching would not stand up from the sheath and snag. It looks dark because it's still moist... hmmm... moist.
After 24 hours it's all dry it goes back to it's normal light colour... at this point I used evo-stick impact glue to set it in its final position... it's a worrying stage as the glue is ****ard strong! I glued it without the knife or firesteel in place and it worked out, I guess you could cover the knife in a bag or something and leave it in if you were worried about the shape.
Anyway, after 18 hours, the glue had properly gone off and during my lunch break, I gave it one more dose of water, sewed around it, sanded the bejesus out of it and oiled it when I got home.
The oil is the stuff I have used for years on my horses saddles and riding gear, its a thin oil that darkens and protects it from water/dirt.
It holds the knife and firesteel pretty snug and I'm fairly pleased with the way it looks... It is far from perfect and the stitching is a little wonky but thats what happens when you get someone like me making a sheath with a stanley knife, pencil and sewing needle!
It did give me a chuffing big blister on my left hand though... I couldn't imagine doing this a lot!
Anyway, I hope this may be of use to someone. all told, it was about 4 hours work. This was my second knife sheath ever so I'm sure these people that make loads could do it in about 45 minutes.
