Belt Case For A Browning Folder

[jackd942]

Here are a couple of pics of a belt case I made recently. Also a link to about a 20 min YouTube video I put together while making it.

Edited December 21, 2013 by jackd942

[Ran]

Those look like fun little projects, Jack. Nice work!

[petersenj20]

I made a knife sheath recently no where near as nice as yours.

I like the videos. Just your straight forward process without all the talk.

[RWP]

Good pouch sheath and good video I like them both!

[benlilly1]

Very nice Jack! I'll check out the video!

[jackd942]

Thanks everyone.

I made a knife sheath recently no where near as nice as yours.

I like the videos. Just your straight forward process without all the talk.

The reason for no talk is that I can't stand the sound of my own voice on audio recordings:) I decided sometime ago that I was going to start recording video clips in the shop just to show the amount of work that goes into what we all do. Hopefully they will be of some benefit to someone. Thanks for the comment.

[Leprechaunleather]

Thanks everyone.

The reason for no talk is that I can't stand the sound of my own voice on audio recordings:) I decided sometime ago that I was going to start recording video clips in the shop just to show the amount of work that goes into what we all do. Hopefully they will be of some benefit to someone. Thanks for the comment.

hahaha join the club , i hate hearing my own voice too ! nice sheath by the way

[vaalpens]

Jack, great looking case! I like the snap you used. I have seen those at Tandy but haven't found the right projectm to use it yet. I am a bit disappointed in you. I was expecting the next post to be showcasing a Texas Range rig. Just pulling your leg. I just finished a sheath for a Kershaw and probably should have made a pouch type sheath/case for it. The pouch lends itself better to a small pocket knife I would think. Here is a picture of the small sheath I finished.

I just have a few questions regarding your belt case. Do you find it is better to stamp the leather before or after the wet forming? I would have thought you would lose some of the definition if you wet form after stamping. Is that an edge Kote you used or burnishing? What color dye did you use?

Keep up the good work!

[jackd942]

Jack, great looking case! I like the snap you used. I have seen those at Tandy but haven't found the right projectm to use it yet. I am a bit disappointed in you. I was expecting the next post to be showcasing a Texas Range rig. Just pulling your leg. I just finished a sheath for a Kershaw and probably should have made a pouch type sheath/case for it. The pouch lends itself better to a small pocket knife I would think. Here is a picture of the small sheath I finished.

I just have a few questions regarding your belt case. Do you find it is better to stamp the leather before or after the wet forming? I would have thought you would lose some of the definition if you wet form after stamping. Is that an edge Kote you used or burnishing? What color dye did you use?

Keep up the good work!

Ahh...Vaalpens...a Ranger rig...Don't have a clue when I'll ever get the time to make one, but it's definitely on my list. That's a good looking sheath you made there. I've made a few of those myself and I really like them. The reason I went with the case for this one is the knife is more of a hunting/outdoor knife instead of a tactical folder and I think the case goes better with a non-tactical type knife.

As far as stamping, there are many different opinions on it, but for me personally I almost always carve/tool/stamp before wet forming. I have never had much problem with losing detail at all. Most of the time the tooling I do doesn't really get touched during forming, so it probably doesn't matter as much. At lest that's my thought process and it has always (thus far) worked for me. I did not use edge kote, it is regular Fiebing's black dye. I've changed up my process a little since I made this case, but generally I sand and bevel, rub with saddle soap/canvas followed by burnishing stick. After this, I apply a couple of coats of black spirit dye and after it dries for a little bit, rub with a burnishing stick. Finally I work paraffin wax into it and rub it very briskly again which leaves a very nice shine.

[vaalpens]

Ahh...Vaalpens...a Ranger rig...Don't have a clue when I'll ever get the time to make one, but it's definitely on my list. That's a good looking sheath you made there. I've made a few of those myself and I really like them. The reason I went with the case for this one is the knife is more of a hunting/outdoor knife instead of a tactical folder and I think the case goes better with a non-tactical type knife.

As far as stamping, there are many different opinions on it, but for me personally I almost always carve/tool/stamp before wet forming. I have never had much problem with losing detail at all. Most of the time the tooling I do doesn't really get touched during forming, so it probably doesn't matter as much. At lest that's my thought process and it has always (thus far) worked for me. I did not use edge kote, it is regular Fiebing's black dye. I've changed up my process a little since I made this case, but generally I sand and bevel, rub with saddle soap/canvas followed by burnishing stick. After this, I apply a couple of coats of black spirit dye and after it dries for a little bit, rub with a burnishing stick. Finally I work paraffin wax into it and rub it very briskly again which leaves a very nice shine.

Jack, thanks for the kind words. I know you have dyed the edges before and these came out great again. I have never dyed edges specifically for burnishing, but should probably try it out. Do you make your own paraffin wax or is there a specific brand you use? I was watching your video and saw this big spool of thread. So did you finally bought some Barbours, or are you still using Tejas thread?

[jackd942]

Jack, thanks for the kind words. I know you have dyed the edges before and these came out great again. I have never dyed edges specifically for burnishing, but should probably try it out. Do you make your own paraffin wax or is there a specific brand you use? I was watching your video and saw this big spool of thread. So did you finally bought some Barbours, or are you still using Tejas thread?

I used to dye first after sanding and then burnish. That was about all I did and it worked pretty well. Now, I burnish with water and saddle soap after sanding. After this, I dye and burnish again, followed by the wax and a final burnish. I do use a wooden dowel chucked in my drill press with grooves cut in it some. I put quite a bit more work into the edges now, and overall I like them better. For one thing, after burnishing with water and saddle soap, the dye line is a lot more defined or crisp. When I would dye raw edges before, the dye would soak in more and I had a tendency to have a "fuzzy" edge line.

The paraffin is just Gulf paraffin wax. I pick it up at my local WalMart in the canning section. There are 4 or 5 "bricks" in a pack and I just soften the end of one up next to a heater and rub it into the edge. Seems to work pretty well. It's actually wax that I've had around the shop for a few years now...so a little goes a long way. I originally bought it to rub on the soles of my handplanes for woodworking. Makes a plane glide over wood almost effortlessly. Still haven't picked up any Barbour's yet and not sure if I'm going to anytime soon. I really disliked the Tejas at first, but now, I love it. I guess I just had to use it for a bit to get used to it.

[Ran]

I just watched your video, Jack. Its fun to see how other leatherworkers do the various steps. I do some thing just like you do, and other things quite different. That's part of the fun of this type of work... Nice job!

[jackd942]

Definitely Ran...many ways to skin a cat. All comes down to what works for us I guess. Thanks.