Wet Forming With A Lining?

[LeatherNerd]

Hi All,

Making a knife sheath, where you stitch the front and back together, and then the back goes up and over and folds down with a closure to connect to the front.

I'd like to glue and then stitch pigskin into the sheath to line it 100%, but after than I want to wet the veg-tan leather through the pigskin so it can be wet formed by forcing the knife into the sheath to stretch it.

So, is this an awesome idea or an awful one? Normally I'd just try it and learn from the experience but if the experience is "the project gets wrecked" I would be very sad.

I'm confident I can wet the leather through the pigskin, but not confident I can wet it through the pigskin AND the layer of contact cement that'll be holding it on. I could glue the pigskin just at the stitching, but I worry it will pucker.

Anybody have any ideas? This is mostly an aesthetic choice, but pragmatically I'm just trying to cover the back of the Line 24 snap to keep it from scratching the knife, and if worse comes to worst I can leave the grain of the leather exposed and just recess the snap.

Thanks in advance!

Dave

[Dwight]

I have routinely lined holsters with both pigskin, . . . and suede, . . . sewed the things together, . . . dressed up the edges (first pass), . . . then dunked the whole doggone thing in a bucket of warm water, . . . did all the bending, shaping, forming that I wanted to do, . . . hung it up for a couple days to dry naturally in the shop, . . . they come out nice.

When I say line, . . . I mean two layers of leather, . . . stuck together with Weldwood contact cement. They were laid flat when I put them together, . . . rolled the rolling pin over them, . . .

May God bless,

Dwight

[LeatherNerd]

AWESOME! Thank you! Yes, I'm planning to line in a similar fashion, but with Eco Flo Water-based Contact Cement. (I *think* that stays cured once dried? If not I'll grab some barge.) I was worried that getting water into the leather would be hard through the cement. Did not occur to me to wet the leather from the *outside* as well. Thank you!

[LeatherNerd]

Dwight--

THANK YOU! I glued, lined, stitched... and then DUNKED. The piece wet-formed BEAUTIFULLY.

Keep in mind that I'm an amateur and this is my first sheath ever, but I absolutely LOVE it.

Thank you! I'll be using this technique in the future for sure.

Dave

[TinkerTailor]

It looks great for a first project. One thing, I would switch snap suppliers if i were you. It appears that that one rusted alot just from the wet forming. I always use solid brass to help prevent this. The plating on brass/nickel plated steel will always get damaged on the inside from setting them, and they rust. Cheap ones rust faster.

I also put either a light coat of laquer (with a small brush) or wax on the the little spring in the snap to prevent rust. They are always steel.

I also have a small collection of little bars, blocks and plates of steel i can put inside things as mini anvils to attach the hardware after forming.

[Dwight]

It looks great for a first project. ......I also have a small collection of little bars, blocks and plates of steel i can put inside things as mini anvils to attach the hardware after forming.

I agree that it really looks good, . . . and the last part is some very, very important advice. My pieces probably don't look like Tinkers, . . . but they do the same job, . . . if you came into my shop and saw them laying there, . . . you'ld wonder what in the heck was going on.

They allow me to fasten, snap, rivet, etc, . . . before AND after forming, dying, finishing, etc.

May God bless,

Dwight

[TinkerTailor]

I agree that it really looks good, . . . and the last part is some very, very important advice. My pieces probably don't look like Tinkers, . . . but they do the same job, . . . if you came into my shop and saw them laying there, . . . you'ld wonder what in the heck was going on.

They allow me to fasten, snap, rivet, etc, . . . before AND after forming, dying, finishing, etc.

May God bless,

Dwight

I have this weird 3 lb forged "hand anvil?" i found in a junk shop that is awesome. I will post pics tonight. I also use a marble rolling pin as an anvil and as a tooling surface for curves.

[LeatherNerd]

I have this weird 3 lb forged "hand anvil?" i found in a junk shop that is awesome. I will post pics tonight. I also use a marble rolling pin as an anvil and as a tooling surface for curves.

Yes, please!

I attached the eyelet and stud before dunking because the main point of the lining was to cover the eyelet so it didn't scratch the knife. I did attach the cap and socket to the flap afterwards, but the piece was still sopping wet from the dunk, because I wanted the wet-form to dry in the snapped-closed position. Alternate approaches are much appreciated. I was worried about sliding an anvil inside for fear it would damage the tooling on the backside of the case. Will definitely start sealing my snaps before dunking. They're cheap Tandy nickel-plated soft steel.

Fun Fact / Blooper Reel: I now have two of those knives because I ruined the first one making the case. Oh, I wrapped the knife plenty and it came through nice and dry, but I clamped the edges of the case to try to crease it into being more form-fitting. The clamping squished the handle closed AND bent it so far that once I pried it open, the lockback would not engage and the blade could not be coerced into folding back up. I flipped the handle and clamped it in reverse to remove the bow, then I slid a screwdriver into the handle and twisted. This opened the split but ALSO gouged huge divots into the handle which turned out to be VERY soft aluminum. So then I had to grab the 600 grit paper and sand the insides and outer edges... the result was a knife that opened grudgingly, tended to nick the handle when closing, and had a blade retention clip that could no longer be locked in place. They're $4.95 at Home Depot, so I picked up a replacement this morning.

Edited November 21, 2015 by LeatherNerd

[TinkerTailor]

One of the tricks with wet forming is to get the leather into the basic shape when it is really wet, and then go back in later when it is half dry to put in details. At this time you can use moddling tools, or the handle of a butter knife, or whatever is smooth and the shape you need, and get in there and push the leather where you want it to go. Timing is the art, you want the leather wet enough to mold but dry enough to stay where you put it, when you create the definition. Its just like stamping, to early after casing, and the impression does not stay, too late and you get no impression.

This was done this way: First pic is initial molding, next is after detailing. I want to say i did the detaling 2-3 hours later. This is 16 oz leather btw..

This little holster for my thread nippers is done the same. I defined the shape after forming. I do these types of things when i test things out, or test dyes etc. May as well make something if i am experimenting. I figured out a finish to keep the leather very natural looking, and also found out what i needed to adjust on my machine. Bonus is the nipper shieth i use every day, just don't look at the back.....Who says experiments have to be useless scrap after?

And here is the 'Tinker Hanvil':

Edited November 22, 2015 by TinkerTailor

[jdb92126]

Dwight--

THANK YOU! I glued, lined, stitched... and then DUNKED. The piece wet-formed BEAUTIFULLY.

Keep in mind that I'm an amateur and this is my first sheath ever, but I absolutely LOVE it.

Thank you! I'll be using this technique in the future for sure.

Dave

That's a great looking holster; I like the border pattern.

[silverwingit]

From the FWIW section, I make pigskin suede-lined wet formed harmonica pouches but I apply the lining after I've wet-molded the vegtan.

http://silverwingleather.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/SDiatonic3.jpg

I see no need to line your pouch before wet molding.

Michelle