First Attempt

[Timothy]

Howdy,

I wore out the cheap sheath that came with my Leatherman, so I decided to make a new one. I used a piece of probably 6 ounce latigo, then wet molded the front around a piece of wood cut to size. That took two tries as it was my first try. I stitched the belt loop with a lockstich awl, and laced the edge with the Mexican basketweave edge braid.

Lessons Learned:

1. Leave more leather to mold. I used the width plus 2x the thickness plus 2x 3/8 inchfor lacing. Next time I'll add at least another 3/8".

2. Use flat slits instead of round holes. Since I made this I made a single prong lacing chisel, and I'll probably order a set in the future.

3. Mold the belt loop before sewing. I finally wet it and wore it a while. Also finish edges of belt loop better.

4. Backstitch belt loop instead of trying to just tie knots.

All of the methods I used came from this forum. It wasn't that hard. I can't believe I carried that cheap factory sheath all these years. I've got a couple more knives that need sheaths and I've seen patterns here I like so I'll put the lessons learned to use.

Any comments and suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,

Timothy

[Srigs]

I love the lacing detail on the knife carrier. Very nice design and good execution.

Edited April 16, 2008 by Srigs

[Grunt]

Looks great to me!

You learned some things, you had fun, and you got a nice sheath for your leatherman out of the deal. A real winner all the way around.

Regards,

Nick

[Hedge]

Nice job, Timothy!

Good, tight lacing and good design. I'm glad you posted what you learned. By passing on those lessons,

you'll help others.

[Shorts]

Good work on the sheath. I found it funny you said you wore the original sheath out. Mine's pristine - of course, it sits n the console of the truck and doesn't ever see the light of day!

I especially like the lacing. Where did you get instruction for that? Any particular book/technique? <-- as you can see I'm totally clueless to lacing!

[Timothy]

I think I made the Sheath just to try the Lacing! I got the lacing pattern from Bruce Grant's book Leather Braiding. You canalso find it here: http://www.kingsmerecrafts.com/page100.html

Thanks for all the kind words.

Timothy

[Rayban]

I think I made the Sheath just to try the Lacing! I got the lacing pattern from Bruce Grant's book Leather Braiding. You canalso find it here: http://www.kingsmerecrafts.com/page100.html

Thanks for all the kind words.

Timothy

Great job Timothy...I've always found latigo pretty tough to wet mold....wonder if you could get away with less leather if you used regular tooling leather...but I might go to 8-10oz as well.

The Mexican braid looks very nice.