sheath for a frost mora clipper

[leon-b]

hi i am going to purchuse the frosts mora clipper in stainless steel it looks a lovely knife and i have heard alot of good things about it the thing is the sheath isn't very good and i am looking to replace it with a leather one does anyone know how to make a leather sheath that would fit this i would also like the sheath to hold a firesteel pictures would be great
many thanks leon

 

[fred gordon]

I saw one recently that was made out of birch bark. Made by the owner of the knife and it looked superb. An alternative to leather?

 

[leon-b]

nice where did you see that?

 

[fred gordon]

I was on a Bushcraft course in Inverness last weekend and the instructor , Willow Loehr,had it on her Frost Mora. Sorry no pics I'm afraid but I have it in mind to try and make one, if I can find some decent birch bark, and remember what it looked like !

 

[Nemisis]

You'll find although its plastic the clipper sheath is very well designed for the job, secure safer being hard and there's a small hole in the bottom to drain away water preventing the blade turning rusty. On the other hand materials alone for a leather sheath will cost more than the knife and to add a fire steel loop? A lot of sense in this case to the old expression " If it ain't broke why fix it?". Concentrate more on learning to respect, use safely, sharpen and look after your knife. Valuable lessons you can learn with the clipper and take on when your older and can afford more expencive knives.
Dave.

 

[leon-b]

ok thanks for that maybe i will keep the plastic sheath

 

[BorderReiver]

ok thanks for that maybe i will keep the plastic sheath

Still got mine,no problems.

 

[risby]

hi i am going to purchuse the frosts mora clipper in stainless steel it looks a lovely knife and i have heard alot of good things about it the thing is the sheath isn't very good and i am looking to replace it with a leather one does anyone know how to make a leather sheath that would fit this i would also like the sheath to hold a firesteel pictures would be great
many thanks leon

I made this a few weeks ago:

I'm not happy about the wet forming but everything else turned out quite well.

 

[Big John]

Hi Leon,

I made one for my Mora knife, there's a pic of it in my gallery (sorry can't link to it at the moment as I'm at work - big brother and all that!).

The plastic one on the mora was fine, just didn't look very bushcrafty, but it was a good secure fit and I'm sure very durable.

The design for my leather one is pretty straightforward as you'll see if you can find it, if you're interested I'll take a couple more pics of the details, although I have to say I think risby's is nicer!!

 

[hilltop]

taking this of the theme slightly, but why do most quality knifesmiths work there fingers to the bone, put there heart and sole into a knife, them put it in a crap leather sheath that must have cost all of 20 pence????? being from sheffield and justly proud of our fine knife making heritage i despare at the dreadfull covers these fantastic world beating sheffield knives come supplied with,

 

[leon-b]

yes i mean the clipper sheath apparently works fine and keeps the knife secure but it looks so ugly so i thought i could make a new one this will look alot better and it would be improving my skills could you please tell me how hard it is to make a sheath as i am only a beginner
thanks leon

 

[sxmolloy]

hi leon

i like you dont really like the look of the sheath that comes with the clipper although it does the job perfectly well. rather than making my own, becuase i dont have a clue where to start and dont really have a lot of patience :bluThinki when things dont go according to plan i bought one from e-bay. it also has the fire steel holder. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/R-H-Leather-S...817838203QQcategoryZ16042QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

the problem is, as mentioned above, it costs double what the knife did . anyway its a good quality hand made leather sheath and fits perfectly well.

 

[steve a]

How to make a birch bark sheath a few other bits, hope this helps
ahttp://www.pinewoodforge.com/sheath.making.htmlnd

 

[leon-b]

yes i have noticed it when i was looking around on ebay looks really good

 

[risby]

it would be improving my skills could you please tell me how hard it is to make a sheath as i am only a beginner
thanks leon

OK, here goes! There are plenty of difficulties and some considerably expense. You will, however, feel right chuffed with yourself and I think that's worth a great deal.

Materials:

• undyed, veg tanned, 3mm shoulder. At about £2.50 per square foot from Le Prevo's Clearance page a half shoulder might set you back £25.00 plus £5.00 postage.
• dye + methylated spirits. Maybe someone else can comment here as I haven't bought any for thirty odd years and people seem to talk about water soluble dyes rather than spirit dyes these days.
• thread. Again someone else might like to comment here. mine is probably 25/6 waxed linen but, again, it's thirty years since I bought any.
• gum tragacanth. Paint this on the edges and then burnish. I got some for £4.50 for 250 ml from Bowstock Ltd.
• polish. I really like "Lord Sheraton Leather Balsom" which is something like £2.50 for 75 ml. It smells absolutely gorgeous but there are plenty of other things you could use like boot polish or dubbin. I got mine from a hardware shop in Wimborne but it can be had online
  http://www.kneesnet.co.uk/acatalog/Kneesnet_Online_Leather_Balsam__75ml__975.html

Tools:

• scalpel or craft knife. I have four Swann Morton handles and an assortment of exotic shaped blades but blade # 10A is probably the most useful and readily available.
  http://www.swann-morton.com/product.php?product_id=49
  http://www.swann-morton.com/product.php?product_id=17
• edge beveller. Le Prevo or Bowstock both supply these. Mine looks like the £11 one from Bowstock.
  http://www.bowstock.co.uk/acatalog/Edge_tools.html
  http://www.leprevo.co.uk/edge.html
• needles. I'm using some from a £0.65 pack from Tesco at the moment. You have to get needles with an eye suitable for the thread you choose.
• hole punch or pricking wheel and awl . You can probably get revolving punch pliers from HobbyCraft or the like for about a fiver or a professional jobby from Le Prevo or Bowstock for £60. You can also buy individual punches. You might be able to see from my photos above that I've used a hole punch and then triple saddle stitched and I like that rugged, rustic look. A more refined method of stitching is to use a pricking tool or wheel to mark where the stitches are to go through the leather and then an awl to poke a hole. You could also use a pillar drill instead of an awl.

OK, having spent £50 - £100 now I think we're ready to rock. (I haven't mentioned optional extras like a metal straight edge, modelling tool, clamps, etc.)

Technique:

• wrap the knife in an A4 sheet of paper and use your nails to mark the edge of the knife blade and handle; carefully.
• mark two lines to indicate where the belt loop should go, behind the handle.
• draw around the creases you made leaving a centimenter or so extra for the welt and stitching.
• I'd now use this as a template to cut out a prototype sheath from a weetabix box although you could now go straight to the leather. It's just a lot easier and cheaper to cut out more paper or cardboard and think about the design a bit more than committing to leather immediately.
• When you're happy cut out the leather. You will probably find a metal straight edge or ruler useful. Also a first aid kit with lots of plasters if you're not used to sharp blades and tough hides. Cut out the sheath and also the welt which fits between the two edges that are to be sewn together. The welt stops the blade edge cutting the stitches.
• I would now dye the leather and wet form it. That is, hold it under cold water for thirty seconds and then wrap it around the knife (having previously oiled and clingfilmed the blade). You can push it into the corners of the knife with fingers or some smooth round ended metal rod or you can buy modelling tools for the job. You can also clamp the sheath around the knife while it dries so it fits really snugly. I did this but am unhappy about all the lines produced by the edges of the bits of wood and stuff I fitted between the clamps and the leather. There must be a better way, comments welcome.
• When dried I punch holes, stitch and polish and the job is done.

For a much better tutorial with pictures see RapidBoy's article.

 

[Celt_Ginger]

hey Fred. I've seen that Birch Bark sheath that Willow has. it's a great one. Willow was instructing on the Woodlore course I was at a few weeks ago.

 

[Ralph]

Personnally, I quite like the plastic sheath. Not so much for looks, but for convenience. Being the type of person that wouldn't wear a belt normally and one who has all day free for bushcraft yet only actually doing it for a couple of hours I fid the clip on the back really useful. It doesn't have to be used with a belt either.

 

[Mikey P]

I got a very nicely made leather belt sheath with firesteel holder on eBay. Can't remember the name of the guy who made/sold it, but it's worth a look.

Yup, I agree to some extent that there's nothing wrong with the functional plastic one you get with the knife (apart from the fact it doesn't fit on my wide belt) but, I was happy to get a nice leather sheath that will probably last me for a few knives - with the Moras, you can afford to get a few.

 

[leon-1]

hi i am going to purchuse the frosts mora clipper in stainless steel it looks a lovely knife and i have heard alot of good things about it the thing is the sheath isn't very good and i am looking to replace it with a leather one does anyone know how to make a leather sheath that would fit this i would also like the sheath to hold a firesteel pictures would be great
many thanks leon

Leon, what are you looking for, something along these lines

I know this isn't the clipper, but I haven't got pictures of the one for the clipper, it is basically identical though

 

[leon-b]

yes exactly like this