Making a paper patern for a knife sheath

Von Gruff mentions "hot waxing"....not to make your body smoother but your sheaths more weather proof...lol. I'm going to try this method soon. here is his excellent, simple video.

 
I love the color of the leather after the wax. If you wanted a different color I'll bet you could tint the wax.
 
I have a tan and a dark brown dye that seem to come alive after the hot waxing. It is important to get the wax fully melted but stop short of it coming to a simmer or it will damage the leather. You will need a 2 - 3 lb of paraffin to fill a tin deep enough to get over half the length of the sheath in and by the time that has all melted it should be at a good temp so turn the heat off at that stage as it will hold that heat for long enough to do 10-20 sheaths. The paraffin will expand by about 20% when it heats so take that into account when adding more to the tin.
 
A good job Von Gruff - I especially like marking the front of pattern to prevent goofing up and making a left hand sheath when a right hand was planned. You did good!

Just watched the hot wax video and I just might have to try that.
 
I learned something handy today as I was doing another few sheaths. Instead of making the welt the same shape as the sheath edge I simple cut straight strips at 5/16 and using the contact glue as I normally do I was able to easily bend the strip to follow the curve of the sheath edge so no more cutting exact shapes unless there is a longer finger guard that requires a shaped welt in that area and even then I will still be able to run with a simple straight strip after the guard area is done.
 
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