Lines on puukko sheath?

[JShapiro]

Hello, I am interested in making some basic Puukko sheaths. Many of the simple, traditional designs have lines pressed into the leather (see photo below). Can anybody tell me how to do that? It looks like it is pretty simple, but I have tried without success. I have pushed down the leather with a hard edge, and it creates a line, but the line fades over time. How do you make it permanent? Thanks very much.

 

 

[zuludog]

Search Google & YouTube for 'leather creaser' To make the lines more permanent you should heat the creaser, but practice to get the  right temperature You could also try rubbing the creaser back & forth quickly for a couple of minutes to try to get some friction heat

Adjustable ones make it easier to get a straight line, but will only reach about 5mm from the edge at the most. Single creasers can be used anywhere, but you need to be careful about getting a straight line

I've made my own by rounding and polishing a screwdriver

It looks like those lines were made with a single creaser

Nice knife & sheath by the way

[Dwight]

Another way to make it more permanent is to stamp it in dampened leather.  Veg tan works best of course, . . . but others in varying degrees also respond.

For that sheath if I wanted that particular design, . . . I would probably take a piece of thin, . . . polished and rounded aluminum, . . . that would go across the whole piece of leather so there are no beginning and ending marks in the stamping, . . . get the leather wet, . . . lay it on my marble slab, . . . and stamp away.  

It compresses the leather much better than a creaser in my opinion.  AND, . . of course, . . . that has to be done before making the blank piece of leather into a sheath, . . . so you can lay it down flat and stamp it.

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited December 29, 2019 by Dwight

[JShapiro]

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate it. I have two more questions:

1) I've found single-edge and adjustable creasers for sale. It seems as though you could set the blades of the adjustable creaser together and use it anywhere on the leather to create a single line, correct?

 

2) Here are links to two adjustable creasers:

https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/craftool-pro-adjustable-creaser

https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/craftool-adjustable-creaser

Is it worth it to buy the more expensive one? I will only use this a couple times a year on my own projects, so don't need top of the line, but I've also found that it often isn't worth it to buy the cheapest thing out there since it'll just break.

[TSes]

1) If you close the adjustable creaser all the way, the creased  line would be very wide, since both edges are working together. That would be OK on certain projects, but a single edge crease ( using either tool) is usually prefered. Your example is single edge.

2) The less expensive tool will work fine.

(Wetting the leather is the best way to crease.)

Edited December 30, 2019 by TSes
additional info

[JShapiro]

I have looked for single edge creasers online but can only find the kind that have a u-shaped blade profile, meant for compressing the edge of the leather. Can anybody point me to a reasonably priced ($20 and under) single edge creaser for making a single line?

 

TSes, can you tell me how long to soak the leather before creasing?

[TSes]

It doesn't take too much since only the surface will be compressed. Wipe the surface with a wet sponge and when the natural color starts coming back, you're ready to go.

[arashikage]

So I had never heard of this type of knife until yesterday when Youtube recommended a video on how they're made. In the video the maker inserts a wooden mold of the knife into the sheath and then proceeds to make most of the lines with a dull knife. If you have an old junk knife you could dull it or if you have a bone folder with a sharp-ish edge you could use that. 

The video is https://youtu.be/BLnqr6IGVgs The sheath making starts around 11:08 if you're interested.