Sheath thickness?

Mark Barone

Mark Barone

Well-Known Member
Maybe a preference, but what thickness leather should I order to make my KITH sheath. I can only find the thin stuff in the stores around here? I never made a leather sheath before.
 
Much of it is personal preference. That being said, I personally use 8-9oz Oak or Vegetable tanned. Steer clear of chrome tanned leathers (these are the cheaper leathers). Hides that are chrome tanned use chomatic acids for the tanning process. Problem is that you can NEVER total rinse the crhomatic acids out of the leather. Ever seen an old leather sheath and/or knife that had green gunk on it? That is the chormatic acid in the leather reacting with the knife materials.

Oak and/or Veg tanned leathers use only natural tanning ingredients, and the resulting leather does not react with knife materials. You will also see the term "natural" tanned to describe these leathers. This type of leather is just overall easier to work with then chrome tanned, and will wet mold much easier/better then chrome tanned.

Leather is just like any other item...you get what you pay for. DO NOT seek out/buy "cheap" leather..... it'll come back to bite you in the future.
 
Last edited:
What Ed said. Also with a smaller knife 6-8 oz leather should be fine.
I’m using 8-9 oz on the Bowie exchange.
 
As Ed says, it is personal preference. I like 6-7 oz leather personally, but it also depends on the style of sheath you make. If you're doing a taco style sheath where you are essentially bending the leather around and that bend tension is what is holding the knife, then thicker is better. Leather stretches, so a sheath that feels very tight when you make it won't be tight a year from now if the knife sees a lot of use (going into and out of the sheath constantly). Thicker leather will retain its tension way better than thinner leather will. But if the sheath is on old military style (a retaining loop with a strap that snaps around the handle) then you can get away with thinner leather. Personally, I think thicker leather always looks better and customers tend to see it as "quality".

Something else to remember: Leather gets thinner as it dries out. When you buy a shoulder or a big sheet of leather, it feels thick and supple. After you dye the leather and it dries out, it is going to feel stiffer and quite a bit thinner than you remember it feeling when you cut it out.
 
Lots of good tips , thanks. Also I forgot what you call the small piece of leather between the two pieces. To protect the stitching. Just curious, does that have to be the same thickness or can I use a thinner piece than the sheath leather itself?
 
Retroguy said:
Lots of good tips , thanks. Also I forgot what you call the small piece of leather between the two pieces. To protect the stitching. Just curious, does that have to be the same thickness or can I use a thinner piece than the sheath leather itself?
Click to expand...
Typically a welt is the same thickness but some sheath builds require a step welt to accept the thicker handle.
 
Gene Kimmi said:
I can't remember who I learned it from, but I sand my welts to match the thickness of the spine of the knife. This helps the sheath hold the knife tighter.
Click to expand...
That makes sense but seems like a lot of extra work. For a knife that only has the blade in the sheath it will most likely have a retention strap.
But that works for me. Your method definitely adds the custom touch though!
 
I use 8-9 ounce. Where I have welts I usually skive the mating surfaces (front and back) to 1/2 the thickness of the leather to keep the edge from looking to bulkie. Just like making knives do your best with what you have, learn from your mistakes and make the next one better!
 
I just got my leather in the mail so I’ll start it tomorrow. I am a little confused on what shape to make the sheath. With this knife would it just be a sheath that covers the blade and a strap around the guard from back to front? It seems like the guard might be too bulky to go in a sheath.


thguard48BB0F95-4718-4B7C-8A54-B08C284ECDF8.jpeg
 
I had to smile when I read your post, saying that you were confused about what type of sheath to make. Generally the type of knife dictates the type of sheath.....in this case you're choices are very limited ..... best, and easiest would be to build a sheath that covers the blade, using a snap (hate them :)) or "frog" to retain the knife in the sheath. Personally what I'd do is either make a separate belt loop....IF you need a belt loop.....if not, I've made MANY bowie type sheaths that just covered the blade with a large "frog"....that way the knife is retained in the sheath....and is worn, it's worn UNDER the belt, and the "frog" catches atop the belt and holds it there.

A suggestion that will save you a TON of leather (from mistakes)..... use brown paper grocery sacks, cut them open, and use them for pattern materials. Personally I go to home depot, and buy a roll of the "masking paper" in the paint section....and use it to pattern every sheath before I start cutting leather. ;)
 
opaul said:
That makes sense but seems like a lot of extra work. For a knife that only has the blade in the sheath it will most likely have a retention strap.
But that works for me. Your method definitely adds the custom touch though!
Click to expand...

It's really not that much extra work. I cut 3/8" strips for my welts. I can thin one to a taper in less than a minute on the 2 X 72 with an 80 or 120 belt. Just have to be careful, it's easy to thin your fingers too while doing this.
 
Retro - The thickness of the guard on a bowie style knife makes for limited selection for a sheath. As an example, here is a sheath that I made for a bowie and completed a WIP here on KD. Hope it helps you a bit.

Bowie Sheath

In another WIP I did my best to make my very first Bowie knife. Or my interpretation of a Bowie knife. The knife is almost complete, so it is time to make a sheath. For all that struggle with leather sheaths, I will do my best to chronicle this sheath build in a WIP/build along. If anyone...
knifedogs.com
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top