Bowie Knife Sheath/First time Posting here

[WastelandOuterwear]

 

 

 

 

Im actually a Bladesmith, but i work with another bladesmith and its come down to me making all the sheaths haha... so now im trying my best to match the quality of the blades with my sheaths, but just made this today and im rather proud of it. But please chim in and critique this because i dont know any professional leather workers in person so i cant get a good insight.

[DJole]

My heart goes pitter-pat for pattern welded steel (I have a pattern-welded dagger blade blank up in my closet that SOMEDAY I will actually turn into the actual thing. But enough about that, this is a leatherworking forum!
Okay.. the sheath...stop looking at that blade...

That's a pretty clean job. Nice even stamping, with a pretty nice design. I can't tell if this is a welted sheath or not (2 layers or 3 layers-- top and bottom with a welted strip?)
The edges are hard to see at that angle-- did you slick them down?
The stitching looks fine -- you seem to be using a straight stitch rather than an angled stitch. Nice job with the contrasting/ alternating thread colors. 

That's an unusual mounting -- I can't quite get how the sheath part is attached to that round part. I'm curious to know why you decided to do it that way. 

But that's a nice blade,too!

[bikermutt07]

That's a cool looking rig. 

Welcome to the forum. There are lots of experts here that are really good about sharing their experience. I am just a hobbyist myself.

If I can offer anything, the stitching needs a little work. Work on getting consistent tension. It will help the stitches come out a little more uniform.

There is probably more to add to the stitching advice, but it's difficult to tell in the pictures.

Look up leodis Leather and Nigel at Armitage leather on YouTube. They have some great stitching videos.

Good luck and have fun.

[WastelandOuterwear]

6 minutes ago, DJole said:

My heart goes pitter-pat for pattern welded steel (I have a pattern-welded dagger blade blank up in my closet that SOMEDAY I will actually turn into the actual thing. But enough about that, this is a leatherworking forum!
Okay.. the sheath...stop looking at that blade...

That's a pretty clean job. Nice even stamping, with a pretty nice design. I can't tell if this is a welted sheath or not (2 layers or 3 layers-- top and bottom with a welted strip?)
The edges are hard to see at that angle-- did you slick them down?
The stitching looks fine -- you seem to be using a straight stitch rather than an angled stitch. Nice job with the contrasting/ alternating thread colors. 

That's an unusual mounting -- I can't quite get how the sheath part is attached to that round part. I'm curious to know why you decided to do it that way. 

But that's a nice blade,too!

It uh, 3 layers... not really sure what welted means to be honest.

I make sure i burnish and slick all my edges and everything it a pretty big pet peeve of mine to have a nice piece and then not take the time to do your damn edges... bugs me haha.

yea, normally I use an awl and do an angled stitch but i used a pricking fork which probably is a no no. 

 

and the mounting.. well the client wanted it so he could switch out and have a left AND right sheath, rather odd in my opinion but i rather like the idea. its held on just by friction and it holds pretty damn well which i didn't expect to be quite honest.

Edited May 24, 2017 by WastelandOuterwear

[DJole]

This is a pattern of a typical welted sheath design, borrowed quickly from Google, which uses a strip of leather between the front and the back to protect the stitching from the sharp blade edge:

From what you say, that's what you're doing, which is pretty standard procedure. Adds a layer of difficulty to the stitching, but makes the sheath last longer. 

I can't say that using a straight pricking iron as a chisel is a no-no. It's probably an aesthetic thing in this case.

My (limited) understanding is that the angled stitch is less likely to tear through the leather, since it grabs more leather or something. But on a knife sheath, with heavy leather like this, it's probably a matter of how much time you want to spend stitching (or what the patron wants) rather than wear and tear on the stitched line. 

[WastelandOuterwear]

2 minutes ago, DJole said:

This is a pattern of a typical welted sheath design, borrowed quickly from Google, which uses a strip of leather between the front and the back to protect the stitching from the sharp blade edge:

From what you say, that's what you're doing, which is pretty standard procedure. Adds a layer of difficulty to the stitching, but makes the sheath last longer. 

I can't say that using a straight pricking iron as a chisel is a no-no. It's probably an aesthetic thing in this case.

My (limited) understanding is that the angled stitch is less likely to tear through the leather, since it grabs more leather or something. But on a knife sheath, with heavy leather like this, it's probably a matter of how much time you want to spend stitching (or what the patron wants) rather than wear and tear on the stitched line. 

 

yea, I mean the stitching will be fine i guarantee that, but ya know it COULD be better... its still a thing that kinda bugs me and now that im looking at it im kinda annoyed i forgot to slick the holes where the braided cord is.

 

[bikermutt07]

The sheath is great. I just mentioned the stitching because it wasn't on par with the rest of the sheath.

I'm sure it will outlast all of us. And the blade looks wicked cool.