MOST AMAZING KNIFE SHEATH!!!

[SCOUTER]

This is the kind of work that humbles us...

Jim Linnell of elktracks made this;

http://www.elktracks.net/gallery/other/knife_sheath.jpg

Thanks Clay for opening my eyes!

[Romey]

I have seen that before, AMAZINING carving, stictching,not so much

[sheathmaker]

Jim had it at the Spirit of Steel Knife Show in Grapevine, TX last September. It represents fantastic carving talent and is 3D in the style of Robert Baird's "Anastasi Ruins" and other pieces he had done like that. It is what it is and that's way to fragile to be more than a static knife sheath, but it is really something to behold. I'm with Romey.......stitching, not so much.

Paul

[wolvenstien]

Stiching is a heck of a lot better than anything i can do.... LOL

Sheath is very nice....

[Beaverslayer]

Carving, stitching, colors...All Amazing.

Ken

[Clay]

When Jim was in Colorado Springs last year for a class he brought that knife sheath with him to show off. When he got it out of his car the knife fell out of the sheath and smacked the pavement hard on the end of the handle cracking off a small part of it. Jim knows that I also do some wood work so I got the envious chore of sanding it out. When I brought the knife and sheath home I showed it to my wife. She got all excited and wanted to know when I had made the sheath, she said that was the most beautiful piece of leather work she had ever seen me make. Then she saw Jim's signature on it....

Clay M.

[DCKNIVES]

Sadly though, it doesn't say much for the maker when the knife drops out of the sheath, but I will say he sure can carve.Dave

[Beaverslayer]

I would hazard the quess that it is a display only sheath, not your everyday working one.

Ken

[indypbear]

Most of Jim's work is "display only". He is a consumte leather artist in his carving and design creativity. Functionality is his weakness! If you make the opportunity to take one of his classes in your area-take it. You won't be sorry and you'll meet a really nice guy and resource.

Indy

[Jordan]

I sure would not want it to come in contact with the mud the blood and the beer.

[skip]

I am not sure about functionality but WOW! that is some beautiful work. I think of some of the work I have done that was iffy at best but I would say that it is my hope that I can aspire to be able to do that kind of work someday. I would wager that anyone who looked at this sheath that were amazed at the detail that went into making a piece like that. Those who have commented on it not being functional are probably just a little jealous of its beauty and needed to knock for its functionality. That my fellow leather workers is a piece of ART not just a knife sheath.

[David Fields]

WOW...I'm speechless!

[howardb]

Gorgeous work. It's art for sure, and nice art. Jim's stitching is 100% better than mine, so I'll still tip my hat to it, but it's the only detail on that piece that isn't top grade. I hope to get that good someday...

Brent

[steveb]

wow - beautiful, certainly a technical tour de force...I hope none of my customers ask for something like that..lol..unlikely

but in looking at it some more, its almost too precious, more fine art than leather, very Peter Main'ish, and although Peters work is plainly outrageous, it is of little interest to me from a leather perspective ...i ike my leather tough, kind of crude and "hewn", not finessed - like Peter's and Jim's work - out of the material... give me an axe, who needs a modeliing tool!!

arrgh!! arrgh!!

nice to look at - a "talent muscle flex" certainly, but not the kind of practical work I hold in high regard...

steveb - feeling kind of "caveman-y" at the moment!!

[johnny7]

That is a beautiful piece of work and I would be proud to say that I could do any of it!

[Bob]

Well, i must say the carving is exceptionally nice. For a knife maker the stitching is good, with some reservation... I mean that I've not seen a knife maker, make good hand stitching. Alot of knife makers around here use a drill to make the holes and their stitching reflects it too. I'm not a knife maker. I don't wanna sound critical OK. I'm just trying to say that knife makers should just make knives. The person who carved this is one heck of a carver, i'm sure the knife is every bit as nice. A landis 16 setup to stitch properly can lay a stitch thats second to none. None I've seen. We can't all do everything exceptionally well.

enough said

bob

[JohnD]

I sure would not want it to come in contact with the mud the blood and the beer.

Awesome carving...Just as impressive is Jordan's use of a Johnny Cash lyric.

John

[Jordan]

Thanks, LOL.. Jordan. The carving is beautiful, based on my poor stitching ability I really don't see much of a problem with his.

[John D Dennehy]

Jim is an amazing artist and Stolhman Award winner. He disigns and carves many of the covers for Tandy/Leather Factory cataloges. I met him and sat at the banquet table with him in Sheridan a few years back. This lead to Tandy Leather having a booth at the Spirit of Steel Show in Dallas that year.

I did the Saturday version of the sheath making seminar and asked Jim to join me and explain the usage of finishes and dyes. Great talent and a great guy. It was a fun time. Maybe he should have paid a bit more attention when I explained how to fit the sheath to the knife. (I couldn't help that)

When making pouch sheaths it is hard to match the artistic aspect with the functional aspect. I'm sure that particular sheath is now on display at the Stohlman Museum in Ft. Worth.

Just for the record, as of the last time we spoke Jim does not lay claim to being a knifemaker.

[SCOUTER]

Just for the record, As an amateur knifemaker, I will be attending the NYC knife show next week. One of the biggest shows here in the NE. I have found that 90% of the knives presented at these shows will never see any real use other then an occasional carry and or display. These knives are of the same caliber as a fine engraved gun or high end watch. A different catagory altogether...

My point is that it's ovbvious that Jim did not design this sheath for outdoor survival, grit and grime of a good work knife. This sheath is a testiment to fine craftsmanship. There is a huge opening for beautiful sheaths in the custom knife market, many knifemakers don't want the sheath to outshine the many hours it took to make their knife.

So next time you see a Ten thousand dollar fully engraved 24K Gold trimmed pearl handled revolver don't ask "Nice lookin but How does it shoot?"

[John D Dennehy]

Just for the record, As an amateur knifemaker, I will be attending the NYC knife show next week. One of the biggest shows here in the NE. I have found that 90% of the knives presented at these shows will never see any real use other then an occasional carry and or display. These knives are of the same caliber as a fine engraved gun or high end watch. A different catagory altogether...

My point is that it's ovbvious that Jim did not design this sheath for outdoor survival, grit and grime of a good work knife. This sheath is a testiment to fine craftsmanship. There is a huge opening for beautiful sheaths in the custom knife market, many knifemakers don't want the sheath to outshine the many hours it took to make their knife.

So next time you see a Ten thousand dollar fully engraved 24K Gold trimmed pearl handled revolver don't ask "Nice lookin but How does it shoot?"

From the way the knife business has turned in the last 15 years most of those knives will never even be in a sheath. They have come a long way since Scagle and Morseth. I never had time to get into the artistic knives and have not had the time to make many for a couple of years now. It is funny to cruise or work a knife show and try to talk quality leather with people that don't care about it. I always start one of my seminars by asking how many makers are in the room. Now how many of you enjoy making knives. The answer to the first question is usually most of them. The second is almost none of them. So I try to show them some things to make sheaths better, faster and more enjoyable. Are you showing or purchasing?