Mocivnik

Whoa! That first chapter blew my mind! I thought that any skiver shorter than 20cm (8") is just for belts and that there are waaaay wider...but OK, thanks! 3mm veg tan really isn't a problem to cut with knife, but I'm having difficulties at curves - axe and knife sheaths. Having difficulties at making beautiful curves and that's what's bothering me. I though I could do it better with 3 in 1.

Thank you, this really helps me understand more! Yes, I actually just need something to cut 2.5-3.5mm thick leather, because I really dislike cutting with knives the large curves at knife sheats. Beside that, i'd really like to have also a splitter. I'm getting my leather quite cheap, but it's not the best on back side (i get half for 100€). I'd really like to get that 3 in 1, but they're all really expensive..I thought I could get some old (but still usefull for <200$). But if I could get a cutter for under 100$, that'd be even waaaaaaay better.

What dimensions should be holes for needle for thread? I'm using a 150D thread. Would be 1.5mm hole enough for it?

Thanks everyone for answers, I happily read them all! But the thing is, that my sheath-to-be has to be "half-open" as such, because the blade will be a bowie with sharpened back (not whole, just the tip). And that's why I'm so confused.

I'm actually having real difficulties right now, I'm struggling for a day straight now "how can I solve this"! You see, the photo below is my drawing of the sheath with knife. Red: The full tang knife. Yellow: Bottom layer (the one, which is slosest to human skin while hanging) Green: Top layer, the face of the sheath. The middle layer isn't properly marked with color, but it's about 0.5mm thicker than the knife blade. All three layers are from same leather, 7/8 thick (3mm). Handle of the knife is from very top to the slightly curved line, where the red matches the green part. What my problem here is is that I cannot figure out, how to "end" the belt loop. Can't determine length AND shape of upper part of bottom layer (yellow), neither how to fix it. Should I use rivets, should I sew...I'm lost here. I want to avoid a belt loop like this, I'd like to turn it outside-in, so the smooth surface will be seen (From bottom to the middle layer, just to be clear). I can't figure it out, whether how long it has to be, (I know at least 2 lengths of the knife handle + 1 inch (25mm) for the curve on the top?), where to reconnect with midddle layer and what shape it should be. I hope I was clear, although I don't think I was :D

The customer in this occasion is me And I'm just asking questions for myself And the only thing that holds me back now is the size of the leather I've got :D

Thanks! Are there any pros and cons of anything of these 2 options?

I've always got a dilemma, how high on the belt the knife should be. Are there any kind of unwritten laws about this? (we're talking about fixed blades, not folders, ofc) I've seen some holsters, which keep a whole knife handle over the belt, just like this pictuer below.. ...while some are super low, as the top of the handle barely reaches the upper edge of the belt, as shown below.

PS: I really hope I will geta a machine like this one day. How suitable is it for making holsters and sheaths?

First one is this: It's used for separating leather layers. I have some hide, which I'd like to take off the inner layer, since it's quite bad to use in my projects. PS: Does it exist the "big" as such to send through the 20-30cm wide sheet of leather? (~10 inches) Second one: I'd like to use this machine for cutting curves for leather projects I do (knife sheaths). I'd use it to cut ~3mm thick veg tan most of the time. PS: What are normal prices for these 2 machines? I'm searching for used ones, NOT NEW.

So I've bought a half of a cow of 2.5-3mm thick veg tan leather, which is quite good (i think id rate it 7/10), especially for the price, 120$. It's 2.4m^2. But too late (at home) I noticed, it has a bit "hairy" parts on the back, which means, it's not as smooth as it should be. It looks like there's a hair, long from 5mm - 10mm and it's quite a lot of it. There are some areas, where's a bit reduced, but mostly it's superhairy actually. Is this kinda leather used for anything? I cant really take it back, so thats why I'm asking. On front side it looks quite okay. A bit rough and witha strong texture (natural texture of leather, ofcourse), as it's also very stiff. What I want to use it for? Leather knife sheaths.

Is that a chrome tanned leather?

I just got an offer for Brother DB2-B705-503. I can get it for 300$ (250€), is it worth? It's an old machine, fully working. Will it sew 2-3 layers of veg tan 6/7 (or 2.5mm) thickness?

Thank you for your reply! Nope, I haven't bought it, but a friend of mine has it. He didn't mention, how much he paid for it, but as much as I saw what he does with it, I think it would be proper for me too. But yes, about the price..if it'd be half of that price, I'd really really consider buying it. My current budget for the sewing machine is 400€ (480-500$), so I'm more of a searching, what I could get for that money, but would still be doing the job. The job? 2-4 layers of veg tan leather, each thick 2-3mm. That's max what I'm planning to sew. (I'm really into knife sheaths, so that's why I'm buying a sewing machine).

Does anyone knows, what kind of machine this is? This is all the info I could get by looking at it, it had no other marks. I'm wondering, is it propriate for sewing leather knife sheats? What are the prices for this machine, if it's in working conditions? I think it's this one, from the picture:

Well, that's a bit too much for me. I've ordered at LePrevo previous week, so I should be getting the items any moment now.

Oh, I thought same. They are super friendly and polite, they take order kinda personally. I really like them.

I've contacted them and order tools, thanks! How would you compare their quality versus Osborne or Craftool?

@480volt: Outstanding, but it's really ruining the structure of the forum. Maybe should resize it to smaller? It would fit way better into the posts

@480volt: Thanks for all the info, but I've contacted in a supplier in the EU as @fredk adviced. ps: What's with that banner of a steel wick in your signature? @fredk: Thanks for the info, I've written an email to the leprevo and hope for a quick answer about shipping. PS: Since I live in Europe, we have metric system and leather belts made here are standard dimensions 40mm (1.575"), but end strap punches are availible only in sizes such as 1.5" and 1.75". Does 1.75" suits better for this kinda work?

Thank you both for informations! But asking for price/performance in both cases( Douglas and Abbey) versus Osbourne. Are they waaay better (since they are also way over 50$ each)?

Location:Slovenia, EU Having difficulties to buy any kind of tools here..

Okay, an update: Steckstore will not ship to my country, while Weaver wants 50$ for shipping. Both is too much for me. I guess I'm stuck with tandyleather. PS: How bad is crafttool company?

Well, both seems to be around 50 on Weaver. Are they that much better quality?

I'm desperate to find a good an useful 2 punch tools, and all I could come across is TandyLeather, stecksstore and ebay. First tool that I need is a 1" (or 25mm x 5mm) oval punch tool for belt tongue. On ebay and tandyleather I've found the proper tool, but I'm in doubt of quality. I've also found this 1" punch tool, but I don't know, whether is it worth it's money and/or should I search somewhere else? Second one is a 1-1/2 leather belt end punch tool (I would prefer 40mm, but I cannot find it anywhere :S ) I've found it on stecksstore, but again, doubting the quality. PS: Are craftool a good quality punches or not? Is there anywhere else I should be searching for those 2 items?