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I have a commission to make a sheath for a karambit. This is a working knife and retrieval has to be quick and easy and reinsertion, at least simple and not fiddly. Unlike all of the Karambits detailed here, this has an extreme curve, is not for show and will be used for self defense. It is extremely sharp and immediately sliced open the seam of test sheath I constructed. I am not sure simply adding an extra layer of leather around the perimeter of the blade would work. The worst area is along the outer edge towards the tip. Suggestions or ideas are most welcome. Thanks! Bob

Hi I have been working with leather a while now, mainly on saddlery, bridles, chinks/armitas and plaiting and am wanting to make my partner a decent sheath for his muela hunting knife It wont be your normal sheath that hangs down off your belt, it will be a sheath that sits the knife as in line with the belt as possible. I have made rougher sheaths for my own work knives but am wanting to make something tight fitting and slightly decorative Does any one have any tips or advice, on making the pattern right through to finishing the sheath? All tips, do's/ donts are welcome Thanks!

Here is my latest knife sheath.

I had a custom karambit made for my big ol' meaty hands by a local knifemaker, I made a vertical sheath for it when I first got it but I've come to prefer/love horizontal carry. I also love/prefer friction fit sheaths for ease of access and don't like straps for retention. While perusing the interwebs I came across the idea of magnets for retaining a blade that kydex sheath makers have been using, I also read a topic here on this forum too. So I decided to try my hand at using magnets and so far I love the results! So far it is holding very well for my use, I don't think it would hold should I fall down a mountain but that would be the least of my problems if that came to be . I used 8/9oz leather, 2/3oz for the inlay ring, rattlesnake skin, Fiebings Oxblood dye, acrylic resolene and Tandy's super waxy 1mm thread (which I prefer for sheaths to add some life-length to the thread in my sheaths). I cut a circle from the 8/9oz, filled with rattlesnake skin and 3 neodymium magnets, and covered it with 2/3 oz leather on the inside to hold the magnet and protect the blade. I tried with 1 magnet which didn't hold, two did but I found that three fit the width better (and perhaps holds stronger). I jogged in place and jumped up and down with the sheath and didn't really feel it shifting or coming out so I think that it will work for my lifestyle. Feel free to critique my work too (I haven't figured out how to get my stitches to look great when saddle stitching two layers together and NOT going over the upper layer instead going off to the side to not cross over the upper layer and having the thread cut into it, if that makes sense). Oh and the edges in many of these pictures were taken before finishing the edges. The last picture is of the original sheath I made at first. All thoughts and comments welcome

Fairly new to leather working and opted to make a sheath for a knife I've had since I was about 12. Came out serviceable but quite a few things went astray in the process. Was also my first go at doing saddle stitching.

Anyone else hiding in their basement to finish a last minute gift project? Yes I did make a make shift work bench out of a folding table, a cardboard box and some BBQ skewers, don't judge. Happy Holidays

It's been awhile since i've posted pics, so figured i'd show off some of my recent projects from decembe

I have an order for a horizontal phone case. I have never made one and I have a couple of concerns.; hoping someone can help me. 1. On vertical cases, I use a simple spring belt clip, but the ones I have are too long for a horizontal case. I am concerned shorter clips might not be secure enough. I've been thinking of some type of decorative clips that can be exposed on each end, or belt loops (perhaps a single wide belt loop) if the customer agrees. 2. If the phone case is horizontal, especially with belt loops, wouldn't this put torque on the phone? Seems like each end of the phone will need to be away from the body. This would have the tendency to flop around and/or hang on things. (construction worker) 3. Seems like with a horizontal phone case the flap would be annoying, since it is so long. Or the flap could be molded and "hinged" to the case with a thin piece. --- or the phone could come out the front and not the top, which seems to me would make a more secure holster. Perhaps I am overthinking this - I hope so. I've scouted around for examples but not seen anything other than the factory made

I recently was gifted a rondel dagger simulator (Cold Steel model) in my longsword class. This particular dagger design has a pretty, floral/star design on the rondels, which actually are rather jagged and pointy (as you will see below). Those rondels can scratch and scrape a bare arm. I read that some people modify these by taking them to a belt sander and grinding off those tips, but I decided to do it differently. I wrapped the lower rondel (the one most likely to scrape a person's arm) with a leather "boot", kind of like a steering wheel wrap. Then, I thought that I should make a sheath for it, so that I could actually carry it and even use it during longsword practice (as a secondary, backup weapon). But this dagger is triangular in cross section, and those rondels don't lie flat, so what kind of sheath would work? Also, the balance point (where the knife will hang blade-down correctly) is actually on the rondel itself, so any working sheath will have to go past that. But the rondel is round... so...what to do? My brain said, "It's got to go into a little cup, kind of like an inverted ice cream cone (the cake kind, not the conical sugar cone kind.)" A bit of research later on confirmed that this "cup" method is actually shown in medieval art, which made me pleased. And of course I have to break out my tools, to make it look nice: I decided to lace up the triangular portion (since it will likely see some wear), and I actually used my filigree punches for decoration here. The color is a British Tan antique paste, from Tandy, which I have had for...hmm...many years now! I am pleased with the barrel stitching (the round bottom of the cup)-- I have nearly got it figured out! The triangular part (to the left) is not yet riveted to the cup (on the right) in this photo. Here is another shot of the dagger, resting in the cup: And now for a shot of the "boot" around the rondel: The boot also creates a nice friction fit against the sides of the cup. The last thing to do will be to create the hanging loops -- I'm thinking of some way to do a dual system, so I can hang it vertically or horizontally.

I was asked to do this but, didn't want to it a look like a case for a Pez dispenser. Because of its shape I wanted to get away from its natural looks. So I used one of my basic design for a sheath and built up a welt really thick 5 layer. I was able to keep it from looking like it didn't belong. I used 3 different colors to dye tan, mahogany, and black

Another sheath for a kitchen utensil with a sharp -ish edge: a cheap pizza cutter. Made from some vegtan scraps. Sheath will likely outlast the cutter it is meant to protect.. Still struggling consistently hit the line at the back... I do little projects such as this to practice - looks like I'll have to look for more scraps!

In our kitchen there is a serated knife for slicing sourdough loaves - another of my hobbies is sourdough baking. The knife is around 30 years old, and still as sharp as when it was bought. I've always wanted to make a sheath for it, but never got round to it. Until this week. Here's the sheath. ("Broodmes" is Afrikaans for bread knife) Here's the back of the sheath with the knife unsheaved (and placed strategically to hide some wonky stitching...) The leather is 3.5 mm vegtan, from a bunch of scrap I bought from a local shop. The sheath is about 11.5 mm thick, as it has a welt of the same scrap leather. Stitching was done by hand, 1mm brown braided thread I discovered at a shoe repair supply store. It was an absolute challenge to keep the stitch line at the back relatively straight.. Stamping on the front also not as straight as it should be, and the "s" has a horrible bounce shadow... Learnt a lot making it...

Custom knife sheath I made out of 8-9 ounce veg tan. My own custom design tooled onto the sheath. The customer wanted a leg tie because of the knife size. Hand sewn with ritza 1.0mm.

Haven't posted for awhile and thought I'd share this. I did this sheath for a custom knife maker that had a customer wanting a leather sheath with tooling.

I have been watching a good bit of YouTube lately and came across Don Gonzales' channel and got inspired by his pancake sheath video. I've been wanting to get my tooling in shape and the sheathes aren't huge and still allow you to get in some skill while making a functional thing still. I don't have a stockman style knife so I winged it and made up my own pattern and tried to put some scrolly stuff on the sheath. I dyed the background Fiebings Dark Brown (Pro), the flat parts Mahogany (spirit), and hit the vines with some Eco-flo saddle tan gel antique. I left the backside natural. Finished with Fiebings Leather Sheen. My stitching is coming along nicely and the edges came out super nice. The leather is 8/9 oz Craftman Oak from Tandy. I really need to grab a bag punch-cutting those slots sucks and is risky! This is not my first attempt at tooling but it is my first attempt at anything close to floral. I accidentally put this in "Show Off" but please critique as you want. Mods, feel free to move this to Critique My Work if needed.

Some time ago I forged a small blade. Then I put in the drawer where it spent a lot of time. Since I need a present for friend o' mine, I pulled the blade out its hideout, assembled the knife and also made neck sheath for it. Hope, she will like it.

I finally broke down and got myself a high quality tool, a Barry King Edger. The problem with nice tools is that I really want to keep it protected when not in use. This one in particular likes to roll well, so I need something I can stash it in right away when I am done using it. I am guessing the end product will be similar to a sheath, maybe with a clamshell like opening so I can snap it shut for storage. I have not been able to find any threads on the topic, so I just wanted to ask and see if anyone had any samples or solutions they like for protecting a single tool like an edger. Thank you, Andy

I made this a few months ago but haven't been very active on this forum (something I look to remedy). I had Rich Greenwood, a local bladesmith, custom make me a karambit for my gigantic hands. I then made the sheath for it, going for a friction fit. I feel like the tooling is my personal best (I know there isn't much tooling) but I don't do a lot of tooling so my growth is slow. I am a big guy with ham-sammich hands so the handle/knife is big. To many it may be a weird looking knife but I love it and Rich did an excellent job meeting my specs. While the tooling came out well, I ran into an issue when putting the knife back in the sheath. The shape/design and thickness made it very difficult to get a smooth re-sheathing. I still have to fiddle with it when trying to return it, but it draws fairly smooth. I think that I will make another sheath for it someday, perhaps using a combination of wood and leather. I know this is the show off section and people feel a little uncomfortable adding critiques, but I have improved so much because of your input. If you see something you would like to add your two cents on feel free! I appreciate it!

Haven't posted for awhile, so thought I'd throw these up here. I was asked to do a couple knife sheaths for someone making custom knifes, so thought I'd give it a try. I was happy with the way they turned out, hopefully the customer is as well.

Here is a sheath I made this past weekend. This is my 5th project I have made. I used a scrap leather piece that I got in a remnant bag. It holds my Buck 110

Here's a sheath I made for my knife. The patterns you see on the knife were done all by hand. If you want to see how I did it, click here. You can also check out my channel where I do all kinds of different leatherworking if you're interested. Let me know what you think!

I've made some wallets and a bunch of headphone wraps by looking at what was out there and figuring out what I wanted. With the axe sheath, I have seen a lot of knife sheaths that are wet formed and thought I would give it a shot, I have wet formed catch alls in the past and they turned out well. Any and all pointers appreciated.

I had left this question as part of another thread, but wanted a bit more general audience for a possible answer. I have a USMC Ka-bar leather sheath that has a rivet in an unusual place. My brother who has had the knife/sheath for a LONG time doesn't remember the rivet at all. I don't see any possible reason to put a rivet there, maybe someone has some info on this?

I can't believe it! Once more, I've gone and wasted a precious hunk of leather on a stupid, stupid...did I mention stupid?, mistake. There is something about knife sheaths, that makes me cut at least one piece of leather with the wrong side out. Now, this time, the sheath DID have the grain side on the opposite side on the back piece, from what I usually do. Still, I KNEW THAT! Still screwed it up. I really need to only make symmetrical sheaths. All the other sheaths I've made have had the belt loop fold away from the front, and rivet on the back of the "back" piece. (I screwed those up, too). This one, has the back piece fold towards the front piece, and fit in between the back piece and the front piece. Yeah, that's it! It's not my fault! The Ka-Bar people are just bas-akwards! Oh, thank goodness. I feel so much better. Never mind. Jeff

Haven't been there for a long time. Let me show you my last work. Benchmade Knives Snody Design 201 Activator custom vertical sheath.