The Grizzly

I think I'm having an issue with my hot wax method. The last 2 sheaths I used it on were black and light brown Fiebing's Pro Oil dye. They both took the wax well and seemed fairly scratch resistant. My latest sheath acted a bit funny. Once dyed and wetformed and dry, I did my normal procedure for hot waxing. But noticed immediately that the leather turned very dark brown instead of darkening a little like the last brown sheath. Once finished, I did a small scratch test using just my fingernail. The finish scratches kind of easy and shows a lighter brown beneath...it's kind of strange because the others done this same way don't scratch as easy. Now, I will say this sheath was made with leather from a different company than my others, which might be the reason. It also black spotted on me when wet working it which my last pieces of leather never did. Weird. Anyway, this is my method for hot waxing, if there is anything I can do afterwards that will help, please let me know. -Mix equal amounts of beeswax, paraffin, and neats foot oil and melt in a double boiler. -While melting, heat the sheath in the toaster oven on 150 til fairly warm/hot. -Take sheath out and apply mixture with wool dauber over all parts of the sheath inside and out. -Place back in toaster oven till absorbed. -Repeat a couple times till wax begins to sit on surface (showing that the leather is getting 'full') -Buff down with a soft cloth to remove any residue. -While hot, put on a coat of Kiwi Neutral Shoe polish and let haze, sprinkle with water, then buff off for a nice shine. I love the feel and the stiffness the hot wax gives the leather. Is there anything else I could do that would help against scratches?

He responded and said that was fine as long as he could still wet form it. Well, that's not really possible for a hot wax so I told him that I would be more than happy to wet form the sheath before waxing. I never received a reply so I went ahead and did it. I was down and really sick this past week so I didn't get to wax and finish it then, but felt better today so I did. Sheath looks great, feels very nice and firm, and is now extremely water proof. I think he will be quite happy. Didn't realize how dark the wax will make Light Brown Fiebing's Pro Oil, I may have to dilute my next try to a lighter shade. It still looks very nice, like a rich dark chocolate brown, but it's almost too dark. Going to ship it and the knife back tomorrow and see what he thinks.

I had it happen with some new leather I picked up on a recent sheath. Not sure why as the steel is stainless and everything else around the wet sheath was clean. Weird.

On my next piece I think I'm going to try the saddle soap method described here. Question: at the local Walmart they have Kiwi Saddle Soap...wonder if this will work so I don't have to place a special order for some? Also, with the way I currently burnish, I sometimes get little fibers that like to stick up from the nicely polished surface, is there a way to keep this from happening? Here's how Ive been doing it on my last sheaths: Sand to shape on my belt sander. Then finish it with 220 and then 400 grit by hand. Run the beveler on the edges. Redye the edges to bring the color back. When dry, moisten with water and use a stainless steel rod to bring up the shine and burnish. Once a nice glassy shine is achieved, I put on a couple coats of Gum Trag and let it soak in and dry, then reburnish with the SS rod. For a final swipe, I like to rub it with a piece of dry denim. This is where the small fibers like to jump up in random places. Should I be doing something a bit different? Also, I use a beeswax/paraffin/neats-foot mix to treat my sheaths. I'm having a hard time getting that glassy gloss back after the wax mixture is put on the sheath. Before treating, I can get it nearly reflective...afterwards its more of a semi-gloss/satiny shine. Thanks for any help!

Very nice! That looks like a rehandled Gerber blade...I've never seen anything that fancy from Gerber!

Ive heard that if you crumble up a couple viagra tablets into your soaking water it helps the sheaths stay 'firm' longer... On a more serious note, when I do my knife sheaths after dying and wet forming with the knife inside, they are quite stiff. Then, I impregnate them with a beeswax/paraffin/neats-foot mixture that gets put on while the sheath is hot from being in my toaster oven on 150. Then it goes back into the oven to draw the rest of the wax in. I do this a couple times till a sufficient amount of wax has been put into the leather. When it cools and dries, it's VERY solid.

Thanks Ed. I just emailed the maker and explained to him that the consensus is that silicone as a leather finish isn't nearly as good as the wax mixture or other finishing processes. I asked him if he would mind if I sent this 'test' sheath with my wax finish to see how it compares to the silicone...I think he will like it MUCH better. I told him that if he doesn't like it, and would prefer the silicone, that I could not guarantee how well the sheathes will hold up and therefore I will not put my name on them.

I had forgotten about this post...lol. Yes, buffing off the excess dye before putting on my finish coat removed the 'green sheen'.

DC, I just completed the first sheath for him mainly as a tester run to see if he likes my work and would want me to do more. It's a small sheath and there's not a lot of room on the back to put my bear mark, so I left it off. I may put my GCK initials on the back that way it is marked as one of my pieces. I think I will ask him if he would mind me using my finishing process on this test sheath, that way he can see what my finish is like in comparison to one of the others by the other maker.

I was contacted by a knife maker on another forum who wanted me to make sheath for one of his knives. I think he was looking to find someone who did better work than his previous supplier. He showed me the design he uses and I made it to his specifications of tooling and dye color. Now my real question falls around this: He says that he puts on his own finish after wet forming the sheath, and that the finish he uses is spray silicone. I am not familiar with spray silicone for leatherwork (as I am still new to this), nor how well it holds up. I've been using a beeswax/paraffin/neat's foot oil mix on my sheathes that gives both a nice hardened feel as well as water repellent. Should I trust my name and my work to a simple spray silicone finish? Or should I kindly suggest to him a better overall finish (ie: my wax finish)? I just don't want my sheath having issues down the road and it coming back on me because the final finishing was left to someone who does not to leatherwork.

Thanks again guys. DC, thanks for the other ideas on remedying that problem! I like those push in covers, but I think you may be right in your assumption that a knife would catch on them on insertion. A gun doesn't have much to worry about in the way of a razor sharp point and edge.

Thanks Mike! I will most certainly take a look for this piece!! The snaps are Line 24 snaps, for anyone that sees this and wants to comment on the piece he's talking about.

Thanks for the suggestion! I've been using some waxed thread from Hobby Lobby's leather section on my sheaths and I don't think it's all that great. I hand sew and don't want to spend $40 on a huge spool lol.

The customer who ordered this knife and sheath wanted a different sheath than my normal pouch design. So, I printed up several options and he picked the one he liked. I've never made one like this before, and I have GOT to learn not to be stingy with my leather....it almost bit me in the end with the fold over snap area...it fits and snaps perfectly, but there is no room for movement at all. It's made from 8/9oz veg tanned, dyed Fiebing's Pro Oil black and finished using my mix of beeswax/paraffin/neats foot oil heated into the sheath. Final finish with 2 coats of neutral shoe polish. Any critiques are always welcome, I would especially like ideas concerning the belt loop attachment as I think it could have been done differently. I basically took a length of belt strap, folded it over and skived down the ends to make it thinner, then glued and stitched it onto the back of the sheath. Also, I would like a different way of covering the snap's back plate so it doesn't rub against the knife handle. I took a dot of leather, skived it down and glued it on...not the best but it works quite well. Short of lining the sheath, how would one remedy this? So, without further adieu... BTW, the knife is a bullnose skinner in 440C with Osage Orange scales.

Very nice!

Thank you all for the kind replies! dragonspit- yep, there are flaws lol. unfortunately we, as makers and craftsmen, see EVERY little thing wrong with our pieces. most people won't ever notice them, but they look as huge as mountains in our eyes

Hello folks! This is my latest order I just finished up last night. It's a gift for a friend's dad and she requested one of my display/gift boxes to go along with it. The knife is 440C, hollow ground stainless; a blank I picked up from Jantz Knifemaking. Stainless steel pins and thong tube. The handle scales are exhibition curly maple also from Jantz...I was a little leary on buying wood that I haven't seen first hand, but they did not disappoint and I highly recommend them for their pricing, quality and fast shipping! The scales were finished and sanded to 1000g, then several coats of stain was applied. The stain was a mixed and tested combination of Fiebing's Pro Oil Light Brown and Mahogany. Beautiful stain that made the grain jump out! The handle was finished with a couple coats of spar urethane, then wet sanded 800-1000 and a final rub down with 3 coats of Tru Oil buffing with ultra fine steel wool between coats. There are a couple flaws, but it is a learning process for me still. Lanyard is 1/8" latigo lace, also dyed to match and a wooden bead dyed, rubbed back with sand paper and urethaned. The sheath is 8/9oz veg tanned, hand stitched, and dyed using the same stain mix for the handle. Sheath was then finished with a mixture of beeswax, paraffin and neats foot oil melted in a double boiler and applied liberally with a brush to a very warm sheath just out of the toaster oven. The residue was then worked into the sheath with a blow dryer. It took alot of guts to try the hot wax method, but I absolutely LOVE it. The sheath turns water like a ducks back, yet still feels great and not waxy at all. The final luster was achieved with a couple coats of neutral shoe polish buffed with a micro fiber towel. The box is also stained using the same mixture, thinned out. I wood burned my logo into the center and put a coat of urethane over it to prevent the stain from coloring it. Then stained and urethaned the whole box. It is lined with decorative beige felt. I apologize for the quality of the pictures, my fiance's camera doesn't like me and tends to make colors appear odd sometimes. I really need a better camera and a light box! Enjoy and any comments or critiques are most welcome!

Wow, I'm a sucker for basketweave and this one is just awesome. I have that same half round flower stamp and I've been wondering what to do with it...got ideas now. Love the unique basket stamp, seen several in the tandy catalog that are more than your run of the mill type. I too am guilty of making sheaths a bit too long, but I'm always extremely concerned with the knife having the best retention and protection for the handle as possible. With stag you don't have to worry as much if you bump it...with other woods the threat to damage the finish is more so. Great work!

Very nice, what stamp was used in the background?

No top coat yet, was worried about the green hue showing up underneath. I'm going to hit it with a horse hair brush and buff with a cloth to get it off of there then. I had this happen with black once, it had a reddish tinge to it (very much like the color of a sharpie when the light hits it just right). It came right off with some brisk rubbing. This green seemed a little more resilient which had me a little worried lol. Thanks!

I finished dying a sheath last night, then this morning I gave it a soak in warm water to wet form. When I got home from work, the sheath has taken on a shiny green tint (I assume from the dye pigment?). How do I go about fixing this? It's Fiebing's Pro Oil Lt. Brown (which actually turned a fairly dark brown because I dyed the leather while it was damp). What would cause the 'green sheen' to appear and is it something I can remedy against in the future?

Thank you both for the responses, the 'hauling rock letters' idea is pretty cool and totally not what I would have thought of . I've only used lettering stamps up to this point, but I feel confident I could tool the letters into the belt to give me a wider range of fonts than the stamps I have. Guess I need to start searching for letter tooling tutorials. thanks again!

I have a friend who would like me to make a belt for him for this buckle. He received this buckle from a family member who was part of those railroad companies. I would like some ideas on tooling designs for the belt. He wants his name centered on the back, for certain. After that, he told me to do what I thought would be best. Well, I'm not doing too well trying to come up with ideas lol. I was thinking maybe a railroad track design around the belt...? Looking for any ideas here, thanks in advance!

I think the food is what most people come for!

Thanks Mike, I appreciate it! It is an addiction for sure, but a good one