Recreating the sheath for an historic knife

[Tommyboy]

http://www.faeringdesigninc.com/instruct2.html

Here's an example of how to use clinch nails. This example is used for wood, but it's very similar for leather. Fair warning, it's a pain.

[electrathon]

You don't need a burr to set rivets.  They make it so that you do not have to flair out the peening as far, but not needed if you set them proper.  I think the tacks you are seeing are likely plated steel and not solid copper/bronze.  Steel will have a short lifespan around leather.

 

Clinch nails are used a lot in the custom shoe industry.  I have never seen one that was not steel (but that does not imply that are not made).  They are not pretty on the back side but work well in places like the inside of a shoe that you cant get inside of easily.  They are driven into the steel plate on the stand as the shoe is being assembled.

[malabar]

1 hour ago, electrathon said:

You don't need a burr to set rivets.  They make it so that you do not have to flair out the peening as far, but not needed if you set them proper.  I think the tacks you are seeing are likely plated steel and not solid copper/bronze.  Steel will have a short lifespan around leather.

 

Clinch nails are used a lot in the custom shoe industry.  I have never seen one that was not steel (but that does not imply that are not made).  They are not pretty on the back side but work well in places like the inside of a shoe that you cant get inside of easily.  They are driven into the steel plate on the stand as the shoe is being assembled.

Thanks for the education. Don't know a whole lot about leatherworking outside of holsters, belts and knife sheaths. 

[Ken Kent]

I use clinch tacks on a regular basis building saddles & harness repair.I use them to hold 2 pcs of leather together that doesn't need to be glued before stitching.In the harness making industry contact cement doesn't stick to harness leather because the leather has waxes & oil infused into it at the tannery so clinch tacks hold the pieces together sometimes they are driven all the way in making the clinch & become part of the fastening system .Temporary clinch tacks I will sometimes put in the stitch groove & pull them out as i sew up to them the thread covers the hole.There are tube rivets that are made solid except a portion at the end which is hollow that will roll over & capture the material at the bottom eg tin bound stirrups.I'm thinking this might be in your case these rivets are made from steel,brass,copper,aluminum so on & so forth.I don't know a supplier but I do know Weaver uses them on their tin bound stirrups as I've used them on lower end saddles.Hope this helps you out not examining the sheath its only a guessing game.How I use the clinch tacks is I put a piece of steel under the work & that will turn back the end forming the clinch.

Cheers, Ken

[malabar]

On 4/18/2017 at 10:44 PM, Ken Kent said:

I use clinch tacks on a regular basis building saddles & harness repair.I use them to hold 2 pcs of leather together that doesn't need to be glued before stitching.In the harness making industry contact cement doesn't stick to harness leather because the leather has waxes & oil infused into it at the tannery so clinch tacks hold the pieces together sometimes they are driven all the way in making the clinch & become part of the fastening system .Temporary clinch tacks I will sometimes put in the stitch groove & pull them out as i sew up to them the thread covers the hole.There are tube rivets that are made solid except a portion at the end which is hollow that will roll over & capture the material at the bottom eg tin bound stirrups.I'm thinking this might be in your case these rivets are made from steel,brass,copper,aluminum so on & so forth.I don't know a supplier but I do know Weaver uses them on their tin bound stirrups as I've used them on lower end saddles.Hope this helps you out not examining the sheath its only a guessing game.How I use the clinch tacks is I put a piece of steel under the work & that will turn back the end forming the clinch.

Cheers, Ken

Ken,

That's good information. Thanks for the insight.

[Chef niloc]

Cut tacks ( may be the same a a clinch nail?) is what those are, see them on a lot of old sheaths. Not the best thing to use IMO but if your trying to " copy" that look that's what you need brettunsvillage sells them

http://www.brettunsvillage.com/trunks/howto/parts/nails/