Been asked to make simple knife sheaths. Please help..

[Baliskner1]

Hi

Brand new here.

Usually when I am asked to make a knife sheath I charge about $15 per. I can usually make it out of small parts from other projects. But that is my friends and family rate... 

[SUP]

@kgg, yes. I needed that starting point. Now I can keep looking until I am ready to buy. It is better this way.

@Baliskner, yes $15 is fine for friends and family. Usually, it is just the cost of the raw material is it not? But for others, maybe leatherworkers should educate the public about the work that goes into making leather items. They seems to think it is  of less value than the cheap merchandise from the East. 

Edited June 5, 2023 by SUP

[Klara]

21 hours ago, SUP said:

....

The thing is, hand stitching leather is, for me, a relaxing activity. The fragrance of the leather, the waxed thread, my large stitching horse, the rhythmic movements of stitching .. I do it when I am tired and it rejuvenates me. So a machine might take away all that. But needs must, I suppose. 

...

I am assuming that you don't live a self-sufficiency lifestyle in the middle of nowhere but are perfectly able to buy slippers if you should urgently need a pair. Then there is no "needs must". You can make what you want to make and your hands can take and buy (or do without) things you don't enjoy making or that you need urgently when your hands feel bad.  

If you enjoy handsewing (l do  as well), there is no need to buy a machine. Certainly not to make things for a neighbour who does not seem to appreciate good leatherwork at its just value. You could always offer to teach him how to make the sheaths himself.

Edited June 5, 2023 by Klara

[SUP]

@Klara Yes, I am living in a city with everything close available  by.

I plan to continue hand stitching but may buy a machine in the future. Hearing that I do leatherwork, my daughter wants  things made by her mum. I want to make things for my husband and her and her fiance (nothing as satisfying as having loved ones using things that are your labor of love) and family and friends are slowly dropping hints too! So unless I buy a machine to speed up things, I will have to keep turning people down. 

As for John, who wants inexpensive knife sheaths, I asked him why he did not make them himself. He said he had thought about it but then decided against it.  Maybe I could offer to teach him. 

[dikman]

On 6/5/2023 at 6:17 AM, fredk said:

I'll use it to make the holes for me to saddle stitch. Clever, eh, ? I bet none of youse ever thought of doing that!     

Sorry to burst your bubble, Fred, but I did that not long after I started leatherwork. I started off making holsters (no messing around for me, straight in the deep end  ) and used a Singer 201 domestic machine to pre-punch the holes. I could only do one layer at a time and it took a bit of juggling lining up the holes but it gave me nice straight, evenly spaced holes for the awl to go through. I made a few holsters and gunbelts using that method.

SUP, hand-stitching knife sheaths obviously won't be as fast as using a machine but they are relatively easy compared to holsters/gunbelts AND a saddle-stitch is far superior to a machine lockstitch. There is something intrinsically satisfying about hand-stitching a product but once you have to charge for your time you are in trouble as very few will pay the rate required. As long as it's only a hobby you can get away with it, in my case I covered my material costs and made a bit extra but I made them for fellow club members so wasn't concerned with getting the going rate for my labour. My wife said I'm not very good at charging for work I do.

[fredk]

21 minutes ago, dikman said:

Sorry to burst your bubble, Fred, but I did that not long after I started leatherwork. I started off making holsters (no messing around for me, straight in the deep end  ) and used a Singer 201 domestic machine to pre-punch the holes. I could only do one layer at a time and it took a bit of juggling lining up the holes but it gave me nice straight, evenly spaced holes for the awl to go through. I made a few holsters and gunbelts using that method.

Ach, durn it, I was gontae patent my method !   

[SUP]

@ dikman, I agree. I doubt John will pay much for the time taken to hand-stitch.  If was a couple of sheaths, I might have agreed to a lower price but so many? It will be maddening and it could end up putting me off leatherwork. 

I am more and more wondering about the whole thing.

And I see your point about pricing - I feel odd too, quoting a fair price. One of the many reasons I have refused to make anything for anyone outside family up to this point. Of course, that I do not have sufficient experience to make more than simple moccasins, bags and knife sheaths is another reason but why say that? LOL

[Klara]

9 hours ago, SUP said:

@Klara ...So unless I buy a machine to speed up things, I will have to keep turning people down. ...

 

By all means, buy a machine if you want to and think you will enjoy using it. But if you prefer to handsew, there is nothing wrong with starting a waiting list for your loved ones and filling it at your own speed...

[SUP]

Yes. That is the sensible thing to do. Regardless of whether I buy a machine or not, a waiting list is needed.

I am still reluctant to buy a machine at this point. I hate to spend unless absolutely necessary. Keeping friends and family happy can be done only up to a point. Maybe I should offer to teach them as well!

[AlZilla]

I think, @SUP, in this case some education would go a long way. First, with 100+ knives, I think it's unlikely he has high end knives worthy of hand crafted, bespoke sheaths.  Which is my second point, that there's a big difference between a Savile Row suit and one from JC Penny, though to the average person they look similar.

Make your husband a really nice knife sheath. There's plenty of inspiration in these pages. Stamp it, carve it, inlay it, something nice. Finish the edges beautifully. Then your potential customer might see the difference between your work and a Genuine Split Grain Pleather, mass produced sheath.  Maybe he even has a knife or two worthy of your level of craftsmanship.