sheathmaker

Blake, your post confused me a little. If you are talking about Bob Dellis, he did live in Kerrvile for a couple of years and I got to know him quite well. Benny Veach (Moroe Veach's) son also lived here in Kerrville and had his saddle shop set up at his home in the double garage. Don Atkinson still has his boot and saddle shop in Ingram,Texas. Don was practically raised in Monroe's saddle shop with Benny in Trenton MO. Well with all that preamble, we all used to have coffee and visit in Don's shop for a few years. Bob moved to Florida and he was there when he died a few years ago. Benny moved to Green Castle (sp) IN. and had a stroke and carotid surgery which left him unable to swallow and he is no longer building saddles or anything else for that matter. Don is still going strong at 79, and I'm busy at my shop at age 75. We used to all get together at the annual Boot and Saddle Maker's Roundup at Brownwood, Texas and then it moved to Wichita falls, Texas. Bob made one trip to the Wichita show before he died. Don knew F. O. personally and visited him on numerous occasions when he was in Colorado. They were all professionally aquainted or tied to Porter in one way or another. If I remember correctly Bob and Ray Poja were both at Porters at the same time and shared a house to save on expenses. Bob said he learned half his carving expertise there with Ray. To end all this I don't know where F.O. died, but I bet Don does. I'll ask him tomorrow. Sorry to have bored all of you with this long winded post, but Blake's post just caught my interest. Paul

Common ordinary, every day hardware store Laquer thinner works just fine on Tandy NeatLac. (guess what Tandy NeatLac thinner was..................right, high priced laquer thinner.) Barge Thinner or any of the Toulene based hardware store thinners work on most rubber cements as well as they work on Barge contact cement. I don't use any dyes any more but regular old drug store "rubbing Alcohol" does the thinning job there on most dyes. I'm not sure if the Barge thinner changed the formula when the new formula contact cement came out. I heard, but not confirmed that it did not change. Paul

You are extremely talented...................and that about sums it up. thank you for posting. Paul

Very nice job on the fit and finish of that holster. Your manipulation of the stamps to produce a unique pattern was also very inovative and good looking. I assume the animals and dates were Laser produced? The whole package is very neat. Thanks for posting your work Paul

David, please see post number 5 for your answer. thanks Paul

Luke; The two machines I use are both Artisan. I have the 797ABLTHR which is a smaller flat bed and does all the finer, smaller stitching on my sheaths. The edge seam is done on the Toro 4000 which is still in the line up at Artisan, but being overwhelmed by the Toro 3000 for good reason....Price!!! I use number 69/69 thread through a number 18 needle on the 797AB and 207/207 thread with a number 25 needle on the Toro 4000. Both machines can use other thread and needle cobinations, but that's my standard set up for all my sheaths, holsters, belts etc. Paul

I don't have the opportunity to carve a lot so this was kind of a pleasant departure from stamping. This knife is a really old Case brand bowie and the owner wanted a representation of the map of the Rebublic of Texas circa 1845 depicted on the front of his sheath. I had done this dual line carved quilting before and I thought it would fit with the knife and the map. The lines were cut with a beader blade. Paul

I am fortunate to have a pretty large clientele of custom knife makers. The one in this latest post was done by Jerry Fisk, Master Smith, and he is currently in the high end strata of custom makers with everything he makes selling immediately. The better quality knives sell in the range of $1000 to $5000 and UP, and very few are ever put into service, although they certainly would perform to the highest standards if they were to be used. There are a few knife dedicated web sites such as Blade Forums, Knife Forums, The Knife Network, Usual Suspects Network etc. where you can read about the works of many fine custom makers and then you can by reference in the forums go to their indvidual web sites for more specifics on their particular works. My current roster of makers numbers about 29 or 30 so there are too many to list here. Regarding the sewing machines, I could never produce the quality or volume of work without those two Artisans setting in my shop. In my personal experience they are not only a welcome luxury but they have paid for themselves many many times over and continue to do so. I would highly recommend you get machinery if your volume comes any where near justifying it. It is an investment in profit...not an expense. I thank you for your comments on my work. Paul

I made this one some time ago for a customer who wanted the sheath to relect the engraving on the knife. This is what I saw and produced. The leather is, of course, my old stand by, Wickett&Craig in russet. The pebble grain around the flowers is from Bob Beard's pebble tool. Sewing done on my two Artisan machines. Paul

Yes, the interior, smaller stitching was done on my Artisan 797AB using an 18 needle with 69 thread. The outside edge stitching was done on my Artisan Toro 4000 using a number 25 needle and 207/207 thread. I still have a small quantity of that good old Rice thread. I bought all Jerry had left in the colors/weights that I use. Paul

No Scouter, those are actually two different sheaths and different knives. They are for the same guy though. Tracy, the studs were supplied by the owner of the knife so I don't know who exactly made them. Paul

Tracy, if you are talking about the stud on the front of the sheath, it is a custom made, hand turned and then the design on top accomplished with a CNC machine, then gun blued and high spots polished bright. It took the place of a common Sam Browne stud from Tandy/LF. Paul

The Sam Browne studs are available several places, but I get mine from Tandy/Leather Factory. Go to their web site and enter the stock number 1309-02 (nickel) and it should take you right to them. That is the rivet back. They also have a screw back, but the rivet back sits flush when installed and the screw leaves a hump. They are also available in brass, 1309-01 I think. They also sell a little bench anvil which makes installation a breeze. Paul

Release one side of the bow tie and swing it around to the front of the sheath. It still hangs on the stud by one end. remove the knife...reinsert the knife and reattach the loose end. Or take it off completely if knife is just going to be dsplayed. It is not attached to the sheath. Paul

Don asked in the Pasadena thread about retention straps and frogs. This is an example of my removeable bow tie retention strap for sash type sheaths. It works equally well on any type sheath where the Sam Browne or similar type stud is used. Paul

Don, this particular sheath is meant to function as a sash sheath where the stud locks on the top of the belt or sash. It is set up where a seperate frog attachment could be built and used, but the customer plans to use this sheath primarily as a dislpay piece along with the knife. I do make a "bow tie" retention strap that can be used as well. I'll post a picture of it in a new thread. Paul

The knife was made by Texas Master Smith Harvey Dean. The link below is his web site and you can see many more beautiful knives there. http://harveydean.com/index.htm Paul

The color is a rich cinnamon brown and I think that color was part of the tanning process, but yes it's the color I received to do the work. Paul

I promise this will be all for a while, but here's another one I made up for one of my California pardners. This one is still Wickett and Craig but the inlay is dark brown Lizard. Here's a better picture of the sheath along with the knife it was made for. Paul

Here's a sheath I did for one of my African Safari freinds (he's the safari guy, not me). This one is Wickett and Craig pre dyed black 8 oz. skirting with a cape buffalo hide linay. He took the Buffalo himself. Mighty thick leather but I was able to coax it through my splitter. I'll be back in a minute and post up another picture of a similar sheath for the same guy. Paul

Pepin, your work is getting better with each sheath you complete. Your carving skills are some of the best. Keep up the good work and come back often! Paul

The area you asked about is sanded really more heavily to produce a very smooth surface and contour. I start with 50 grit to remove as much as possible and then go to 100 grit, then 320, then 400. I then burnish with saddle soap and an old rag. I don't use edge coat at all, but I do use Feibing's Professional Oil Dye for color on the edges. Then the edges get the same finish as the rest of the sheath which is Neatsfoot Oil, followed by TanKote, followed by NeatLac. thank you for the compliments. Paul

I just finished this foursome for a trip to New Jersey when the post office opens again Tuesday. The large sheaths have my "removeable" retention strap, and the two smaller ones are set up for center of the back, right hand draw and right hand cross draw. Paul

The buckles are on the way to Montana via Priority Mail as of a few minutes ago. Paul

The knives come from all over the US and International from the makers and from individual owners. I do sheaths for probably thirty custom makers on a regualr, and repeat basis, and countless individual owners. I did about 575 custom sheaths in 2007. Paul