Ray Mears Wilderness Axe...New Sheath Done!

[Angst]

Hi....as you may know I received my new axe a couple of days ago and last night about midnight I started on the first template...by 3am it was clamped up whilst the glue dried....and I went to bed nervous lol.....

I decided to take a risk and go for one with a tooled border all the way round...the way I construct a sheath means that this is a pretty tricky thing for me to do because getting the front stitch line to match up exactly with the stitch line on the back once folded over is a nightmare...this is probably the best attempt at doing that I've ever managed so excuse me but I'm very happy lol! I also got all the measurements right and it fits like a glove, rock solid...usually, being fussy, I bin my first attempts but this is my keeper (please dont ask me to do another like it!)....

hope you like it and as always, comments welcome! it just needs the edges hand-painted with edgekote but as it's still drying and the sun was out I decided to take pics now....

Regards,

Sonni

 

[MartinK9]

Stunning.

 

[Clouston98]

Great work mate! Brilliant as always!

 

[topknot]

I like how you shaped the leather by the handle , nice one.

Cheers
Topknot

 

[ozzy1977]

Cracking job

 

[Steve13]

very nice indeed

 

[Angst]

hi...thanks everyone, appreciated,

s

 

[TinkyPete]

great work there Sonni

 

[KevStorr]

Great work. Really great looking leather work.

 

[rancid badger]

That's really very nicely done indeed, my only concern would be the likelihood of the cutting edge coming through the welt/stitching if the axe is dropped or impacted by something on the front edge.

I'm well aware the rivets used in the original GB masks are useless, as are the widely available alternatives and I've found the only really trustworthy solution, is to use saddlers copper rivets. Unfortunately, using these would ruin the looks of what is indeed a very nice piece of work.

best wishes

Steve

 

[Angst]

hi....lol....dont really know what to say to that rancid...i'd better let luckylee, dreadhead and lois orford know too....in fact every major leathersmith i know who doesnt use rivets in their axe sheaths....and i guarantee you that if you put rivets in something youll get customers saying rivets are for newbies, look amateur and ruin a professional looking sheaths aesthetics....(this is something i've seen said regularly). everyone knows that safety is always my priority but i reckon that when rivets are put in cheaply supplied sheaths its not for safety, rather economics.

coldfeet sent me his axe in the post last week and all across the face of his axe its damaged because of the rivets that come on the naff sheath supplied....quite noticeably...and the rivets deflected the blade so severely that the axe has cut clean through the sheath....and i've yet to hear of anyone who's had a problem with what youve said in regards to a correctly made sheath and i've sold hundreds of axe masks worldwide....

but thanks for your input....though i'm sure you could say it about anything....everything will break if a certain something happens to it wont it?....seems a fairly pointless statement to me...its a bit like asking...''if i baton this knife through a knotty piece of oak will i damage the edge?''.....or ''if i baton with a knife whatsoever is there a chance the knife will get damaged?''....well yes, so use an axe.

so to anyone who disagrees i'd advise buying an axe mask with saddlers copper rivets in it....please see badger....same with a knife sheath....or a saw sheath....or any kind of sheath that has something sharp in it....in fact forget leatherwork altogether and buy kydex which is also waterproof and tougher....please see my friend Sir FGYT...i'd recommend a padded kydex box that fully encloses the axe as well as a kydex mask for the head that has copper rivets in it...especially if youre a tree surgeon or naturally clumsy.

regards and thanks for the compliments everyone....

s

ps...the only good leathersmith i know who uses rivets regularly in his masks is Sir Dave.....and they certainly suit his style....but as i said above, not on all his sheaths that have something sharp in them....including some of his axe masks.

pps....am i happy giving one of my axe sheaths to my son?....yes...every day of the week and twice on sunday....not only will it serve him perfectly well in every way as long as he's not a plonker but it also wont discolour and go green in various areas. and be careful you dont drop your sheathed knife if it doesnt have copper rivets because the knife may poke through the bottom.

 

[mountainm]

I guess Rancids scenario is an edge case!😛

I make mine without rivets too for the reasons Sonni listed. Given an axes centre of gravity I wonder how many times it would land bang on the welt.

 

[HillBill]

Nice work as per mate

 

[Angst]

of course mike we may well all be completely wrong and be putting out inferior, unsafe product....product that fits rock solid like a glove on steroids, with a 1.5cm welt, a gallon of glue and phenomenally tough thread yanked through....

i'm all for critique as long as it has at least a modicum of rationale behind it...or maybe i should be in talks with hillbill to design me a mask made of steel, rivets and a ten inch wide welt made of spaceage nylon...

regards

s

I guess Rancids scenario is an edge case!

I make mine without rivets too for the reasons Sonni listed. Given an axes centre of gravity I wonder how many times it would land bang on the welt.

 

[topknot]

There is a way around the rivets.

Cheers
Topknot