mikeymoto

Welcome and great first post. I'm a sucker for celtic-inspired design.

Ah, just what I was going to comment. The basketweave on your second sheath, in particular, is excellent -- quite straight and good impressions. The edge and around the belt loops on the first sheath do look rough with their squared edges, and I think it would look a lot better if you bevelled that.

I used the GIMP for years before touching Photoshop. Nowadays I have GIMP installed, and Photoshop. I do light retouching with Lightroom, and only whip out Photoshop if I'm doing extensive retouching or creative modifications. For simply resizing photos you can't go wrong with the GIMP. I have heard good things about irfanview, but have not used it myself.

I'll have to make myself one of those leather thimbles. In the meantime I ordered some of the tape Steve mentioned, from Lee Valley. I needed some more sanding belts anyways.

Hi Dave, I don't have any photos showing the thicker sheaths I've made (for heavy use/camp knives), but here's a smallish knife sheath with 5 layers. 6 only if you count a small skived section where the belt loop tucks back in. I apologize for my poor edge slicking.

Great info, thanks folks.

I stitch with needles from Tandy, and I use Marlow (or other brand 40 lb. test polyester 3-ply waxed) thread, and I work with holes drilled with a 1/16" bit. I find that the sides of my fingers get very sore, and on some occasions have abraded through, from pulling the stitching tight after each stitch. Is there a glove or something I can wear to keep the thread from digging into my fingers so much as I pull stitches tight?It might be worth mentioning this is when I'm working on knife sheaths. I generally have several (3-6) layers of glued leather to sew together. I like pulling the stitches tight to snug up the sheath.

I really like using Marlow #4 whipping twine. It's a waxed poly thread. I use it on needles I got from Tandy, and I too drill my holes with a 1/16" bit. With this combo I can get the needles through with relative ease until it comes time to do the back stitches, at which time I use pliers of some variety as well.

Hi, I'm a newbie, and maybe this answer will obviously reflect that. I've used gum tragacanth on the flesh side of leather to smooth (and burnish) it out. I use the polished edge of a long-handled screwdriver. It may work better if you slick it in one direction only, rather than a back-and-forth motion.

I'm primarily a sheath maker. I often have 3-4 stacked layers of 7/8, 8/9 ounce leather and I want to find some eyelets that will go through that thickness. I want metal all the way through. I don't know, but Tandy only sells rivets suitable for one or MAXIMUM two layers of leather. Anyone know where I can find these, assuming I know the lengths I need? I have seen eyelets in this length before on commercial sheaths, but I can not find a supplier.