Mountain man inspired sheath

[Stetson912]

Well, this is my fourth or fifth attempt at a sheath. Back and forth on styles and such... And 3 that didn't work. This is what I ended up with. 

The knifewas sent to me by my uncle and was forged from chainsaw blades. The modified gaurd and proportions didn't lend itself to traditional frontier styles so finding something that worked and was similar in style was challenging to me. 

Specs: 10-12 oz saddle skirting covered in deerskin and stitched by hand with artificial sinew. I was inspired by dhaverstick as far as stitching is concerned. Although his is better. I decided to semi bind the edges of the seam too. And there is no welt. My hopes are that the retention will keep the blade from the stitching as there's a bit of room down there. 

Anyways, let me know what you think and as always, I welcome critiques.

[ScoobyNewbie]

Nice color. Are the 2 darker spots rivets on thestitching?

[Instinctive]

Really nice and a great looking knife too. Good luck on not having a welt. The stitch style (which I really like) should make it easy to install one if the knife works it's way through :-)

[Stetson912]

@ScoobyNewbie, unfortunately I got lighter happy when melting the sinew. So it got on fire and turns black :/ the other parts are also where I melted the sinew but they didn't turn black. 

 

@Instinctive, I'm thinking of wet moulding it a bit so it fits better and kinda wraps around the handle and gaurd better. There is a lot of room down near the blade but it's a gamble. Thinking back I could have done a 2 part welt and still "bound" the seam. Guess we will see. Haha

And if one is wondering about stitching. Just use one needle and do wipping in alternate directions if using sinew. That stuff gets stringy and you WILL mess it up piercing the thread haha. 

Edited September 27, 2018 by Stetson912
Forgetting stuff

[battlemunky]

That looks really good. I too am concerned about no welt, be careful in the event you bend down and put the knife through the stitching and into your leg or worse  Did you leave the flesh side fuzzy on purpose because if not, you could maybe hit it with some gum trag and stick it down some. 

That knife is mega cool.

[Stetson912]

@battlemunky that's a good point..pun intended. Hehe. I never thought about movement. I'll see if it'll be better with molding

[Stetson912]

Oh, and I usually slick the fuzzies down. It's cheap leather and I don't like working with it but it's stiff and worked for this. In this case, I kind of like the fuzzy bits. I think it adds to the asthetic of a fur trapper or something using what they had around to make something to protect their tool. I did sand it a little bit to get the longer stringies off

[bikermutt07]

I love it. And I really dig that knife.

[Stetson912]

Thanks mutt. 

Update: the sheath is more for presentation than actual hard use. So not having a welt doesn't bother my uncle at all haha. Phwew, that means I don't have to re-do it haha. 

[bdpeters]

nice job. I went to check out a rendezvous this last weekend and this piece would have fit in nicely.... some bead work would look nice with this style.

[Stetson912]

@bdpeters, I think so too, and some fringe. But I was told to make it plain so that's what I did. Brass tacks would look cool too. 

[rodneywt1180b]

I like both the knife and the sheath.

[Stetson912]

Thanks @rodneywt1180b. I am kinda jealous that I can't keep the knife haha