1st Pancake Knife sheath (own Design profile)

[dougfergy]

On 8/1/2019 at 11:12 AM, Vikefan said:

I used Brown antique stain on the stamped portion to try to make it pop and give it some depth.

Vikefan

I've been meaning to ask if that leather on your pancake sheath is oiled/baked in the sun?  It's got a nice oiled look to it. 

I just got a double shoulder of Oak Leaf from Tandy this weekend and it is nice looking leather but really light colored.  I just did some stamping last night and I don't think I let it case long enough cause my stamping seems kind of shallow and not as defined as I like it.  I'm casing a scrap piece now to do some tests with.  Funny thing, I did some stamp pattern testing with an old piece out of my scrap bin and it came out much more defined than this new leather did, cased for the same amount of time.  I'm still a beginner and learning that different pieces of veg tanned leather can act totally different.  How in the world do you know?  I guess experience, and testing with each new piece.

Your stamping is definitely deep and defined!

[BDAZ]

I've started to cut into my Wickett and Craig drum dyed leather I use commercially. Hopefully I'll cover leather costs. I have just had a spate of skinning knife sheath orders that will more than cover and short fall on the karambit.

EQachhide is different and some are selected by the tanneries for their carving and stamping properties. What weight is your double shoulder? 

 

Bob

[dougfergy]

It is mostly 7-8 oz. 

[BDAZ]

Was the scrap the same?

[dougfergy]

It was the same thickness, just from a different cow, some bargain leather I got on sale at Tandy.  It was a double shoulder that I paid $30 for.  This new leather is craftsman grade Oak Leaf double shoulder that was $108 at Tandy this weekend.  It is much more smooth, and more consistent in thickness.  Much lighter in color than the old piece, which is only a few months old since I bought it.  In this photo you can see a scrap piece of the older leather under the much lighter piece of new, Oak Leaf leather I bought Saturday.  By the way, the lighter leather is still wet.  I soaked it this morning and have been letting it sit, testing it with my thumb nail and rubbing the rounded edge of a large paper clip against it to test the burnishing effect.  I have tested about every couple of hours.  It seems to be getting to the right stage for stamping about now, which is maybe 5 hours since I wet it or so.

 

[BDAZ]

Shouldn't take 5 hours for stamping! I spray down my leather with a Tandy sprayer until it has absorbed sufficient water thane I cover it in plastic and let it sit for up to an hour. I may have to give it a touch up spray every now and then while I am working. Humidy in my work shop is at around 20%.

 

Bob

[dougfergy]

I usually dunk for about 10 seconds, let it sit for however long it takes to get back toward normal color then start stamping.  Usually about 20 minutes.  That's pretty much what I did last night with the new leather and it didn't darken much at all with the dunking.  I didn't let all the air bubbles come out like I did this morning.  It just seemed like the leather was tougher than normal when I was stamping and I just couldn't get a good burnish with my stamps.  I wiped water on several times during the process because it seemed like the leather was drying out too quickly by the way the stamping was going.  This piece of leather that I wet this morning is still cold like it is plenty wet.  I did let it soak til all the bubbles stopped rising.

Edited August 6, 2019 by dougfergy

[Vikefan]

Dougfergy,

No, not really.  I dyed it with Angelas Gold dye, letting it dry, then I put two coats of neatsfoot oil on it, then after it dried two days I decided to coat the middle stamped section with Fiebings Antique Brown stain, wiping off the excess.  After that dried well I put on two coats of Angelas acrylic Finisher (Satin) drying after each coat.

That's pretty much all I did.

Sometimes you might have to go back and re-stamp, to get the depth you need, I had to do that on a good portion of the stamping I did on this sheath.  I don't know why, but I did.

 

Hope this helps,

Vikefan

 

2 hours ago, dougfergy said:

I've been meaning to ask if that leather on your pancake sheath is oiled/baked in the sun?  It's got a nice oiled look to it. 

I just got a double shoulder of Oak Leaf from Tandy this weekend and it is nice looking leather but really light colored.  I just did some stamping last night and I don't think I let it case long enough cause my stamping seems kind of shallow and not as defined as I like it.  I'm casing a scrap piece now to do some tests with.  Funny thing, I did some stamp pattern testing with an old piece out of my scrap bin and it came out much more defined than this new leather did, cased for the same amount of time.  I'm still a beginner and learning that different pieces of veg tanned leather can act totally different.  How in the world do you know?  I guess experience, and testing with each new piece.

Your stamping is definitely deep and defined! 

 

[dougfergy]

I definitely like the coloring your sheath has. 

[rktaylor]

Vikefan,

Thanks for sharing. Here's my version of your design. A little rough, but it works.