Brokenolmarine

My daughter didn't receive the knife for Christmas obviously, since it wasn't completed until March of this year. However it was still Her's and she chose a feather to accent the new sheath. I hadn't done one yet, and didn't like the first attempt. The second turned out better and she seemed happy with it. I went back and reapplied the antique and added another coat of sealer prior to the second picture. I was much happier with the sheath at that point. She'll probably beat it to death, not oil it, and I'll make another in a year.

I then worked my way up thru the grits until the shape and finish was to my liking. Then stained and waxed the knives and buffed them out.

So, surgery to have the wrist repaired and a metal prosthetic inserted. Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. A type of Nerve Damage. No movement in the fingers at first, then limited range of motion. Over a year later, I have about 85-90% of the range of motion back and about 40% of the strength back. It can continue to improve for two years post surgery. I have been in Physical Therapy for a year. But, by February, I felt like starting work on the knives. I installed the brass pins, cutting and fitting each individually from brass rod.

I started these knives back in March of 2021. I was working on them for Christmas presents for my daughter and Son in Law in Southern Oklahoma. My daughter has the little knife she carried daily, but wanted a slightly bigger one for skinning goats, among other things. Farm Gals, what cha gonna do? So, one for her, one for him, and an extra Tanto for me. I wanted it to match the Cocobolo grips on my Match .45. I got as far as shaping with 100 grit when I fell working on the range and broke my wrist in two places requiring surgery. The knives lay dormant on the bench for a year.

I'm guessing you'd like to see the utility knife IN the case...

Miss T ordered me a surprise for my shop. She got a good deal direct. We put it together in less than 90 minutes. She met the freight driver with the tractor and pallet forks at the post office a mile from the house and brought it home and we took the boxes into the shop, so we could put it together in the AC... it was 99 that day. SHE has a hobby sewing shop and is gifted. She sews, crochets, quilts, embroideries.. I'll have someone to teach me. I sewed one item so far, a cover for my head knife. A couple small mistakes, but it worked.

We have only been in Oklahoma about two years and are still settling in on the new "hobby" farm. Back in May of 2020 we sold the place in VA when they elected an Anti-Gun socialist to office. I had 30 years in Law Enforcement and had retired to enjoy our little slice of country heaven, and he made sure to tell everyone that he was going to enact EIGHT gun safety laws his first week in office. Our daughter in Oklahoma was ill and mama wanted to be closer, we have a son in Texas as well, so we put the VA farm on the market, it sold in five weeks. We have two daughters in VA, but all the kids are adults with their own lives and can come visit now and then. We moved into a Ghost Town. My leather working gear got packed away a couple months before the move and stayed packed nearly a year. Then I broke my left wrist and spent a year recovering from the surgery. Just getting started again. I was preparing to build my 100 yard range when I fell and broke the wrist, and hopefully can start on the berm again soon. I miss the time on the range. My upcoming leather project? Once I feel ready? Western Gunbelt, Holster and sheath for a single action. All tooled, OR trimmed in rattlesnake. I haven't decided. But, population is 300 in town, and WE live outside town. Guess you could say it's guiet.

I asked Miss Tina to picked up a new Razor (Utility) Knife for me when she was at the Home Depot, and she came home with a nice high quality metal one. No plastic garbage for the boss. My old one was probably in the coop, her barn, the tractor shed, or her sewing/crochet/quilting shop.... I took it out of the package and noticed that it was a fixed blade model. I could already feel my fingers getting cut. I told her NOT to worry, I'd just make a case for it. NOT a sheath, no belt loops, just a protective case to keep the blade sharp and fingers protected. I didn't want this ending up riding around the farm on boot cut jeans. I dug a scrap of leather out of the bin, and knocked out the design in a couple hours. Tooling? Yup, I need the practice so I tool scraps laying on the bench from other projects. (Yup) What I really need to do is start practicing floral carving. I suck at it. Got it knocked out, the edges burnished and the holes knocked out, and then sewed it by hand. I was happy.

This was my very first leather project involving carving and stamping. I had made another sheath the year before, exactly the same, but done very little else in leather since. Funny the things the kids get you into. She wanted the flag carved in the sheath and I found one that worked vertically. Hand stitched, and while I had her knife here I refinished and sharpened the dang thing. She had carried it around the horse farm every day for more than a year. It got used daily and showed it. When I told her I had refinished the knife as well, she laughed. "Of course, I knew you would."

I have set up a corner in my woodworking shop to work on leather projects. My tool bar holds the stamps and the like, but the rest of the tools were stored in the drawers in the table. It's a nice Husky Table we caught on sale at Home Depot, height adjustable which works well with my wheelchair, or when needed, with the Table Saw as a catch table. This one is set up as my leather working table permanently. I had been banging the idea of mounting a peg board behind the table as I had seen in some of the You Tube vids, but I didn't care for that idea, then shelves with hooks in the back, but landed on slots for certain tools and holes for others. I added a couple shelves over those for the most used dyes and supplies. I'll add a rail to the top shelf in the next week or so, to make it functional, and a dowel across the front edge of the middle shelf as now and then if I strike an oblong punch for a belt loop.. something wants to fall off. But, overall, the project came out just as I had hoped.

Woodworker, split off into knifemaking, then daughter wanted a custom sheath for the knife I made her for Christmas. I don't do leatherwork. You do youtube. I made the sheath. Later she wanted a tooled sheath. I don't do that. Youtube. Now I have a leatherwork corner in my woodworking shop. Less stress on broken ol body.