Blacksmith Andrew

I have a handful of granite slabs that I recently came across. These slabs are 18in by 20in and 1-1/8in thick. These will work great for stamping your leather. I am asking $35 each plus shipping cost. I will ship with Fedex and it will cost no more than $25-$30. I live in Tyler Texas so I can meet you face to face if you live in the area. I accept PayPal, checks, and money orders. I do not have a lot of post here on this forum but I can give you some references for my credibility. You can call me at (903)-363-2349 if you have any questions or send me a message through the forum.

I never thought of a thin veg-tan. I was actually thinking of pigskin. I got a little bit of pigskin lining once for a journal project that never happened so I still have that pigskin. I may try using it on a sheath sometime. By the way, that two-three finger rule is really going to help me out. I have seen these sheaths but I never knew the best way to judge how deep to set the knife in the sheath.

DCKNIVES, you were definitely not too hard, I am like a dry sponge and I soak it all in. This is what I wanted people to say, don't be nice and diplomatic, just spit it out. If I line it, how do I finish the edges? Do I just attach it with contact cement and then cut it out? I took a peek at your site and I would like to eventually learn how to do inlays and stuff like that, you make some nice sheaths. Frank, I think that angled looks a little better also but I tried to keep it a little more simple this time. I will probably try angling it on the next one. Nighthawk, RR spikes don't make excellent knives. They do not hold an edge as well as other blade steel will. I have done a lot of work and experimenting with them and I have gotten them as hard as 51-52Rc. A good knife is usually 58-60Rc. Tomahawks are usually 53-54Rc. R stand for Rockwell and the C is which scale it is. That is a scale used for measuring the hardness of blades. Anyway, RR spikes don't make Excellent knives but they are decent. I make knives from regular blade steel as well and I make tomahawks from Ball Peen Hammers. -Andrew

I was kind of thinking that but I did not know. Just a thought, do you think that the basket weave looks good the direction that it is going to should I run it from side to side?

What do you mean "flash side". Sorry if that sounds like a dumb question, I just don't know a whole lot about leather.

Here are a couple of sheaths that I recently made. I have made lots of sheaths between these two and my first. My main thing is knife making but I want to get better at the sheath making part and get some suggestions. I do not take anything personally and I understand that if you give some suggestions then it's for two reasons, 1) I ASKED you to tell me and, 2) you are just giving advice. so please be honest and critique them! These are some of my RR spike knives and their sheaths. It's a lot of pictures but I wanted you to be able to give the best assessment possible.

Thaks for the help. There is a Tandy Leather place about 45 minutes from here in Mesquite, outside of Dallas. I'll head there one day and find me some good books. I will try out the library too. -Andrew

olliesrevenge, I have been busy and haven't checked this until just now. Thanks for the info on the tension screws, I really appreciate it. I buy lots of stuff from mcmaster like steel, sanding belts and all that. Is there something better that I can use for the grommets or is that just one of those things that "everything will wear out eventually." -Andrew

I am looking for some good books on leather working. I make mostly sheaths for my knives and tomahawks. I want to learn to make sheaths with inlays and such like on this site, http://www.rowesleather.com/ks_products.htm Thanks for any references. -Andrew

Do you know where I can buy tension screws? -Andrew

I am new to the forum and someone recommended me to come here for help. I have a customer who wants a kydex sheath and he wants to be able to strap the sheath onto his back pack and just pull straight down on the handle to get the hawk out of the sheath. I made one but I haven't been working with kydex very long so my question is this, Will the kydex eventually loosen up or will it stay the same? I am more of a blacksmith than a leather worker, or working with kydex. Here are the pics of the sheath. The hawk won't come out if you pull it straight down but if you sort of pull the blade point down first, like the second pic shows, then it works great. Thanks in advance, -Andrew