Knife Sheath Pattern

[ChrisS]

Hi,

I have enjoyed all of the topics on this forum and they have helped on many simple projects. I have been asked by a friend to make a Knife Sheath for a large knife, 6.5" blade. A seemingly simple project has me stumped, does anyone have couple of different style patterns you could share? you can email me privately at ChrisSpanos@me.com

Thanks in advance

Chris

[electrathon]

Every knife is going to have a differant shaped pattern. Basicly you just lay the knife down and trace around it. Cut a welt in the same shape. Cut the top, sew around it.

Basic picture attached.

[mlapaglia]

This is from The-Art-of-Making-Leather-Cases-Volume-1-by-Al-Stohlman page 18. It and Vol 2 and 3 are must haves if you want to do sheaths and cases etc. (I left it large so you could print it out.

Edited February 16, 2013 by mlapaglia

[ChuckBurrows]

A freebie with the basics which can be adapted to various styles - http://www.wrtcleather.com/1-ckd/mexloop/_mexloop.html

[ChrisS]

Thanks Chuck and Mlapaglia, Its always the simple projects that are stumpers. I will get Al Stohlmans book and the article has some great tips. This is why I enjoy leatherworker.net so much. Folks are always willing to help one another out!!

Chris

[olds cool]

I highly recommend all 3 books as well as the Art of Hand Sewing Leather, which he refers to quite a bit.

[Cyberthrasher]

If none of those fit the style you want, here's the tutorial I used for my first one. This filled in a LOT of the gaps I was struggling with figuring out.

http://www.knifenetw...ead.php?t=41280

Here's the sheath I did off of it.

[ChrisS]

that is some really nice work!!

[HEAVY LEATHER]

Ian Atkinsons videos on youtube are very helpful and informative.

[ledbetter]

I also have a failed attempted at making a knife sheath. It's one of those projects that seems simple enough, but actually takes a high attention to detail. I will probably revisit the project at some point in the future.

[drman63]

ChrisS pm me and I will go over a fold over sheath and how to fit it. I have 3 knivs I just finished and have to make some sheaths. It's really not difficult but you can make it hard by embellishment ESP at first.

[Cameroo]

Here's another tutorial that helped me on my first sheath.

http://www.beebeknives.com/html/make_a_sheath_tutorial_-_detai_0.html

[Cyberthrasher]

That's a pretty good one. One common thing I found was that most of the tutorials out there are for that pouch style sheath, which wasn't what I, or that customer, wanted. Also, I couldn't get over the fact that most people expose the flesh of the leather for either the belt loop or the back of the sheath. It seemed like they were always making a compromise that required flesh to be shown somewhere.The tutorial that I posted was the only one I could find that addressed both of those issues. It's a little more work (and therefore a little more confusing at first), but I think the finished result is just that much better.

[DavidRM]

I have made a few knife sheaths that turned out well.  These have been fitted without a significant guard on the knife.   I am making my first knife sheath for a knife with a significant guard so I will need to add a fastening strap to the sheath.    I am thinking about placing a snap above the bottom (blade edge) guard and running the strap over the handle to the snap.    The image of Stohlman's sheath the strap begins where I would place the snap and ends at the center of the sheath over the knife blade.    I know some folks don't like the snap end facing towards the front of the knife - easy for the strap to get caught during normal forward movement.   I see many knives use a center snap - in the fashion that Stohlman recommends against so even though Stohlman recommends against this many knife sheaths are made this way.    I don't see any sheaths with a snap above the back guard and a strap running to it - like I am thinking about doing.   I am sure someone else considered this - Can someone explain the reason for this?   Yes, I would have to extend the knife sheath back further to allow space for the snap - that should not be a problem though?