Hand stitched

opaul

opaul

KNIFE MAKER
When I first started making knives I also made the sheaths. I never enjoyed the hand stitching part so I ended up with a sewing machine to complete the stitching. But I’ve always liked the way hand stitching looks.
So looks like I may go back to hand stitching on some sheaths.
This is one I did today.
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I like the way my hand stiching looks now. Opaul I'll suggest you get a pricking iron with 4.5 to 5mm spacing between the teeth. I was using the first pricking irons I bought and they were very close. I didn't care for the look. I bought a set with 5mm spacing use it to mark leather then drill the dimples with a 1/16" bit. After I'm done I spend some time hammering the stiching down to help the holes fill in.
 

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Gliden07 said:
I like the way my hand stiching looks now. Opaul I'll suggest you get a pricking iron with 4.5 to 5mm spacing between the teeth. I was using the first pricking irons I bought and they were very close. I didn't care for the look. I bought a set with 5mm spacing use it to mark leather then drill the dimples with a 1/16" bit. After I'm done I spend some time hammering the stiching down to help the holes fill in.
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Yes, these were very close but it’s a small sheath so I thought a closer stitch would be more in scale. I wouldn’t use this iron for a full size knife sheath.
 
So how about something like this for a stitching pony? Anyone else have other ideas? I haven’t tried it out yet. The idea came to me last night. I have several of these clamps and thought I could use it for the stitch ing pony. There are probably many ways to mount it for use but this is a way to experiment.
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I bought a cheap one off of Amazon ($20ish) Looks like the same one that Tandy was selling for about 50 bucks. Still had to add my own leather to the jaws though.
 
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Looks like that will work fine to hold the leather, but I like the cheap stitching pony I bought which has a plate that I can sit on in my shop chair. Sitting makes it a lot more comfortable to use.
 
Owl said:
Looks like that will work fine to hold the leather, but I like the cheap stitching pony I bought which has a plate that I can sit on in my shop chair. Sitting makes it a lot more comfortable to use.
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Can you post up a picture?
 
I agree that the rig that you put together will hold your work to stich a sheath with but I think that the "plate" Owl is referring to is the wood board that the jaws are mounted to at a 90° angle. This allows you to sit on the board and have the work close to you at a better height than clamping you rig to a bench top. For a picture, just call up an add for a stitching pony.

Doug
 
The one that I have has the plank running at right angles to the one shown so that it rests under your thighs. Looks lake both models will get the job one.

Doug
 
Maybe not quite as good as a "real" stitching pony, OPaul, but I think the fact that this one mounts and works differently could be pretty handy at times. Just be sure to add a good, thick layer of leather to those jaws or you'll get clamp marks for sure. Keep us up to date with the changes you make and how they turn out.
 
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