Now that we've talked a little about mistakes in general let's get more specific about my knife and sheath.
I'm very pleased with my knife and she is complete. She looks good and feels good in the hand during use.
My makers mark could be a bit more asthetically pleasing but the fix for that while theoretically possible would be more work than it's worth to me so I can live with it.
The mark itself is functional and etched for life so what I would take from this experience is to practice this technique more before marking my next knife and I'd expect to get a very noticable improvement on knife #2.
Other than the makers mark she's a fine knife IMHO.
My sheath is another matter entirely ! She's a good looking sheath and I'm totally happy with how she LOOKS.
The function of the sheath in practical use is sorely lacking so let's take a look at WHY and what to do about it. REMEMBER- Any functional issues with our knife or sheath MUST be fixed or scrapped completely.
The "fit" that I achieved is exactly the way I want it. My knife is held firm inside the sheath and it passes over the cam with just a little extra effort. With this type of fit though it's imerative that the belt loop is very secure to the sheath body and the belt for proper functioning while on the belt.
The mounting of the belt loop is the source of my issues and it's just too flimsy and floppy to hold the sheath in place on the belt while withdrawing the knife. Put simple IT's NOT WORKING :jawdrop:
I actually have two seperate issues with the loop. The first is that the loop iteslf is not held securely enough to the sheath body.
The second issue is that the loop can open WAY TOO MUCH which allows it to swivel around on the belt.
I'm working at solving issue 2 by stitching both sides of the belt loop and the body all together. This is going to close up my loop so it doesn't have room to swivel around on the belt. You can barely notice I actually have my belt threaded through the loop to be sure I don't stitch too far for the belt to still fit.
Here I've layed out an additional stitch line
Because my loop is already stitched through the welt I need these holes to stay in perfect allignment to the welt holes. To accomplish that I'm going to drill these new holes while my sheath is still fully assembled. To prevent drilling all the way through the front of the sheath by accident I cut this door shim so it'll slide down into the sheath
Now I can go ahead and drill my holes
With my holes drilled I can now cut each individual stitch and pull all the thread out
I pulled off the belt loop so now I can split the welt open to gain access for stitching. I'm starting with a light scoring cut to get between the layers. This first cut is only about 1/8" deep at maximum
Now I can work my way in from the top to split the layers completely
Fully split with a nice "cut" that cleanly split the two layers
Way back at the beginning of this thread I cautioned that scratches, scrapes, and minor cuts are pretty much the norm for us knifemakers. Still true
I also cautioned that it's pretty easy to snap these small diameter drill bits. Weeeeellllllllllllllllllllllllllllll :biggrin:
Even being careful and these thing still happen occasionally. We have a saying among seasoned knifemakers- Without pics it never happened. So here we go in a split second from drilling my holes to a snapped bit and a bleeding finger.
I'm not a medical professional of any kind and never had any medical training whatsoever. This is just my opinion and what I do in my shop with my own injuries and resources. This isn't meant to educate you on what you have to do nor is it a request for advice for what I SHOULD do
I probably should have mentioned this in the first section on safety but it's a very good idea to keep a medical kit handy just in case. Mine is just a sealed container with some band-aid options in different shapes and sizes, some gauze, tape, and hydrogen Peroxide. Just the basics but right here if I need it.
The first thing I do is grab a paper towel and apply pressure to stop the bleeding and asses the carnage. Just a very minor scratch that needs cleaned and bandaged to keep dirt out while I continue working. Nothing more than a 3 minute delay of game.
Soak the cut with peroxide and select a proper sized band-aid for the location so we can get back to work
Here's the two pieces of broken drill bit. I forgot that I had my bit chucked up way out so get through my welt and belt loop area. Had I thought about it I should've moved my bit deeper into the chuck at least to the shank area and that would've most likely prevented the broken bit in the first place. I'm just happy I've got enough left to chuck up the piece and finish the last couple holes
This isn't a great pic but whenever you've got stitching inside your sheath body you want them to be recessed slightly below the surface of the leather. Here I've cut a tiny VEE shape over my stitch holes on the inside of the sheath body.
Now I'm ready to reassemble the belt loop. A dab of contact cement to keep things in place while it's getting stitched.
With my sheath opened up I can stitch my loop on without a problem
With the loop stitched I can reassemble the sheath body with my contact cement
My stitch holes must stay in perfect allignment when I stick my welt back together. I used the 3 needles that came in the kit to be certain my sheath goes back together exactly the way it cam apart.
I used the eye of a needle to clear out any contact cement from my holes. Just poke it through each hole to be sure none are buggered up
That has solved issue 2. You can see here I've still got some flop between my loop and body. I've drilled a couple stitch holes through the back of the loop and the body. Stitching this is going to elininate my flop without reducing the amount of belt space in my ly loop.
Now I've got my loop secured to my sheath body and the loop itself closed up to be a better fit to the belt itself and she's now a very functional sheath that stays put when removing or inserting my knife.
I could've avoided all this fixing by doing it right the first time but it is fixed up and I'm not gonna beat myself up over a small error.
I think it would be FAR superior to have a loop thats a couple inches longer so I could've stitched through the sheath body and both layers of the loop from the top of the sheath down to the welt but had I done that I wouldn't be able to fit a belt through the loop.
Working within the confines of the kit has been a challenging and fun experience. I'd like to thank BossDog for the oppertunity to participate in building a Stage 1 kit and encourage anyone interested in making knifes to give it a try.
Here she it ready for life on the belt
TAKE CARE EVERYONE !
-Josh