Chris623

Well, it's a long way from being that sharp. In fact, I may end up sanding all the blade away before I get it the way I want it. Already noticing I'm rounding my central ridge on both sides. This may end up costing me a new awl !

It's not sharp yet, but spent some time on the awl today. Amazing how much easier it penetrates. I'll get it sharpened all the way tomorrow. If I live long enough I might learn a bunch about this journey.

That's hilarious! I couldn't even push the awl completely through after drilling a 1/6" hole through the sheath. I'm doing something wrong, for sure. I'm beginning to think an "effort" is all I've made. Pretty disappointed in my results at this point.

Well, YinTx, you may not enjoy what you see. Turns out with all the stretching of the front of the sheath, the back didn't line up quite right and my stitch holes didn't go down the center of the "lane" they were meant to. Disappointingly, some are right on the edge of the stamp work. Newbie errors. It's good no-one is going to ask me to take the sheath off my belt and show them the back. Oh well, as I keep saying. This is my first and I'm learning as I go. They will get better. But these stacked sheaths are a whole lot more complicated than I realized. Most of the sheaths I'll be making will be for my own knives and will be of the folded, "Taco" style.

Ha-ha.................had to look that one up. I'm not that savvy! It's not finished yet. When the stitching is done, I'll post pics.

I put on the Resist and after it dried I Antiqued with Dark Fiebing's. Did two coats of the Antique. Topped that with two coats of Tan Kote. It's considerably darker than I'd hoped or intended, but I have to admit I like it. I bought some Brown Edge Coat. The color just doesn't look right on it. Wish I'd bought Black. I think it would have looked better with the Black handle of the Buck knife. Will have to get some and re-do that step. Ran into a problem. Have to drill my holes. Since I used the stitching irons prior to my stamping.............and the stamping caused the top piece to stretch, my irons won't match the hole spacing now...............so can't punch the other layers. Will have to drill the holes for the stitching. Whew! Learning a lot on this first one, for sure.

Well, battlemunky, I had to put on my bathrobe and go out to the shop to check it, but it's better than yesterday. Almost where I'd like it to be. Should I wait for it to lighten up to where I want before putting my Resist on it?

Thanks, Bigfoote.

Patience is not one of my more well known virtues. I oiled the sheath with light olive oil 3 hours ago. I watched a video a couple of weeks ago that mentioned "you'll think you ruined the piece when you oil it"........................the presenter was right. He also said to be patient and it'll go back closer to the original color over night. We'll see. I had my sheath dyed a really nice looking Saddle Tan and it's far............far..................................far from it now. I'll try and quit looking at it until in the morning, but right now it's a huge disappointment.

I just oiled it with Light Olive Oil. Will wait until tomorrow to apply the Fiebings Pro Resist. I need to make a trip to Tandy's to get some antique. I get so many opinions on antique it's funny. You say you've migrated to Gel and others tell me they've migrated to paste. Guess it's just a personal opinion thing. On my furniture, I used a thinned artist's oil paint................and few of my fellow furniture makers used that method. Personal opinions...........and what you get used to.

I never mind constructive criticism. It's how I learn. I never fear asking questions..............in fact I'm prone to ask far too many sometimes.

I used the tape method when doing the back. (learned my lesson on the front) Took measurements both before and after and the tape stopped the stretching.

Thanks for all the clarification, YinTx. I'm just gathering things as I go. Don't have any antique yet, but was planning on paste. I was only saying I'd wipe the leather with rubbing alcohol just because that's what my friend at the shoe repair told me to do. He said if there was any oil on the leather, the dye wouldn't penetrate uniformly. I had already dyed the leather when he gave the advice, so it was a moot point. I won't do that in the future. So I should add a thin coat of Neatsfoot Oil to the leather before my Resist?

Stuck with the size of the camo stamp for now..............it's the only one I have. Oh, I understand now. Thanks. It looks as if I messed up on my stitching holes because I punched them before I did my stamp work and the sheath stretched. Had to cut it off and unfortunately the holes had to end up where they ended up. Newbie mistake. There are several welts, in fact. There is a piece of leather covering the back of the stud so the blade won't be scratched. Don't know the definition of "corium", but I'm assuming you mean the part of the flesh that is exposed above the opening of the sheath. Since that picture I have slicked it down with Tragacanto. I beveled the edge on the back before using my camo stamp. Guess it wasn't deep enough. Okay, I've answered all your critiques. Thanks for all of them. I admitted I knew there were mistakes. Just didn't realize how many. I'll do better next time.

Thanks, battlemunky.

Thanks for the video. I've seen it previously. I've watched a lot of his videos and really respect his work and videos. I'm a retired custom furniture building and completely understand the process of antiquing by darkening the recesses and wiping the highlights. But Yin-Tex said "use Tan Kote to lift the remaining antique off the leather". I was just questioning why one would want to lift the remaining antique off? The idea is to leave some of it on the project. Okay, here's what my planned sequence is...........correct me it it's wrong. 1. Wipe the leather with rubbing alcohol to make sure no oils are on the surface. 2. Dye the leather. Allow to dry. 3. Thoroughly cover the dyed leather with Pro Resist. Allow to dry. 4. Cover the sheath in Antiquing material. Immediately wipe off excess to expose desired highlights. Allow antique to dry. 5. Finish with Tan Kote. Do I have it right or am I still misunderstanding something?

Well, my sheath is stamped and I plan on antiquing it. Sorry, guess I'm just thick headed, but your explanation has me even more confused. Don't mean to sound argumentative or unappreciative of the advice. I'm just new to all of this and don't understand the sequence. You say I could use one or the other, or both. Huh??? I could use Tan Kote to lift the remaining antique off. Why would I want to lift off what I just put on? I did "get" that Pro Resist is a little more shiny than Resolene................but I don't have any Resolene, so that wasn't a concern.

I stopped by Tandy's yesterday to pick up some dye for a sheath I'm making. While there, I bumped into a lady who claimed to have been carving leather for a "couple of years now" and asked what I was looking for and what was my project. Told her I was making a knife sheath that I wanted to dye and antique. I had already chosen the dye and had it in hand. She reached up on the shelf and handed me two bottles. One was Pro Resist and the other was Tan Coat. I "think" she said the Pro Resist goes on top of the stain to protect it while applying antique and the Tan Coat was to go on top of the antique to keep it from rubbing off on things, i.e. clothing, etc. Since I'm not positive of the order I "think" she told me, I got on the Internet and looked up the uses of each of those two items. It seems that either one of them could be used as a sealer or top-coat. So now this newbie stands confused, holding one bottle in each hand. Which product is for which purpose?

Where's a good source for quality wool swabs in the Central U.S.?

Not sure I understand your suggestion, HondoMan. Here is what I ended up with. Just finished the back of the sheath. Think I like it better than the front, but it is what it is. Can't complain.......after all, this is my first sheath. Hope they get better from here. Oh, and I purchased a Tandy #F910 to do the corner stamping. Subtle, but did just what I wanted. The dark spots on the front of the sheath are from a water application..........not stains.

The "squigglies" in my rough drawing are a Tandy #E294. The only camouflage tool I have is the Tandy #C433. The area adjacent to the maker's mark is flat.........no texture. Of course, the sewed area has no texture. I'm thinking a Tandy #C366 "might" allow me some texture back in those corners just so they aren't blank. On my way to a Doctor's appointment, so will be off-line for several hours.

Well, haven't started it yet, so a drawing (extremely rough drawing) will have to suffice. As you can see, I've 7 inside "corners" to deal with.

Hmmmmm. That's a thought. Thanks.

Wow! 69 views and no-one has a suggestion?????

Yup, yet another newbie question. I'm working on my first sheath. Sure making a lot of mistakes. Some I can ignore and just go on.............some have caused me to hang the item on the "wall of shame" and start over. (more of those than I'd like to admit!) Anyway, on a sheath there are some "less-than-90-degree" corners on my sheath and I can't get close enough to the corner with my background tool to come in with a camouflage tool and do the blending. (like the point, for example) Do I just ignore those spots on the sheath or is there someway to alleviate that problem? Do you have picture examples of how you handle "less-than-90 degree" corners?