some firsts for me

J

JasonSCarter

Well-Known Member
Hello all I dont post much here but I try to lurk every once in a while. anyway I wanted to show off the sheaths I made and ask a few questions. These sheaths represent a few firsts for me. first time I've ever tooled leather, and MADE my own leather punches I bought some 12"x24" 8-9oz leather from Boss Dog's site. and made a pattern and used the wet form method. The punches I made were out of a junk short 13mm 12 point 3/8"s socket and a Torx T-30 bit. the Socket I ground the lip off the front so the points would show. Then ground the other 5 half away so it makes the half circles. I used black leather shoe dye, and black Kiwi shoe polish on a buffer to make them shine Hope ya'll like it

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Now for my question... When wet forming these sheaths, they turned my water dark blackish purple.. could they be chrome tanned instead of Veg Tanned? If It's chrome Tanned I wont be able to ship them with the knives they go with. Chromium Sulfate will eat a knife in short order. Not blaming Tracy or anything I'm sure the mix up would have happened at the factory he imported from.

Jason
 
Jason, interesting problem ,that I have not heard of before.First,I'm reasonbly sure the leather sells is veg-tanned, first off chrome -tanned leather does not tool or form well at all, and it is doubtful his source would send him CT even as a mistake.My question to you, is do you use a well or have a water filtration system that uses Potassium permanganate? Also, it looks like you didn't use a welt on your sheaths.If I'm wrong sorry but the edge looks awful thin to me, and without the welt the sheaths will fail quickly when a sharp knife cuts the threads.Dave
 
Thinking it some and a discussion with one of my Northern leather buddies , he thinks its the iron in your water, so try distilled water the next time and the problem should go away.Also for any stains including blood, fingerprints, get some oxalic acid ( wood bleach) at a hardware store and mix with some water(in your case distilled water) and rub down the leather.The stains will go away for the most part if not all the way.Dave
 
Thanks for your reply DC, I found a test from Boss Dog himself where you burn the leather and if the ashes are green it's CT and Grey = VT leather... I did it and got Grey so I'm happy. Good to know about the iron in my water, I do have HIGH iron in it. Thanks for tip on the wood bleach i'll try that next time. no I did not use a welt on these because the threads were a good 1/2" away from where the blade rests in the sheath. I made sure of that before excluding the welt. Thanks again for all the great info I'm so relieved and my Customers really liked them too. :D

Jason
 
For me, the welt in a sheath is as integral as the belt loop, they are both very important. Protect those stitches, or your customer may send you a bill for his stitches. Its really that important.

Nice work so far, you have some talent! :)
 
Those look great, but leatherman is right about the welt... that's your spine and strength, as well as protection for the stitching...
 
I agree it should have a welt. I really like the way to made the tool from an old socket, that turned out looking great!
 
Jason, I really think that you should consider remaking those sheaths. There is a real danger that the blades will eventually cut through the threads and possibly lead to an injury. Bummer, because those are really nice looking sheaths, but sometimes not quite right is just not good enough. Also your name and reputation go with those sheaths. You might try pulling out the stitching and seeing of you can get the glue to part. Then you might be able to salvage the sheaths by gluing in a welt and restitching them. You could get some edge dye to make the welt the same color as the body of the sheath. If you can't do that then toss the sheaths and start over. I think that we owe it to the people who carry our knives to have a safe, well made sheath to go with them or not supply a sheath at all.

Doug Lester
 
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Doug has a very good point, adding a welt and restitching only takes a couple of hours. A little time spent now saves a great amount later.

I can think back many times taking the stitching out of a large sheath, for various reasons, and restitching. Its a difficult decision, sometimes downright painful, but I do feel better having done it.
 
Jason, take a minute and read posts # 9 and 10 again and then read them one more time. Good enough should not be in a professional's vocabulary. good enough has been replaced by "Perfect". If you accept money for your work then like it or not you are either a professional or at least posing as one. The most important thing is your own reputation and how you REALLY feel about the quality of your work, this work.

Scrap those sheaths, start over and correct your mistakes using advice you got here and feel really good about the results.

Paul
 
Definitely add a welt. Doesn't matter how far the threads are from the blade when situated perfectly in the sheath. When the blade is drawn it can and will eventually slice the threads.
 
Also on a pouch type sheath without a welt the user could fall or the handle could get hit pushing the blade through the threads and cause injury. A freak accident is one thing but if there is an obvious design flaw it could lead to a lawsuit.

Your sheaths look really good, just consider those practice redo them with a welt.
 
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