Thread: Playing with leather

jeez @hunter Al.7mm08 , your leather carving is really coming on in leaps and bounds mate !!

the sheath and the belt are looking very professional , awesome stuff mate !!

I have been asked to make sheath for a small knife for a wedding present so currently on the hunt for more leather again . Thinking I might try some carving on it but should probably get extra leather so I can remake the sheath when I cock it up and it looks like doggy-do ... lol

Very impressed with your new found skills though .... perhaps you could start a new leather carving thread or add a few instructions/hints/tips to this one , tools used/needed etc - teaspoon not required !!

An engineer mate asked if I could do a double knife sheath for a Svord and Gerber knife , this was what I came up with. The smaller knife on the front had a plastic liner in the pouch it came with so I used that by wet molding around it. He plans on carrying it in his pack but I added a slim belt loop as an option. As payment I asked him to make me a spinner target "for the kids". Made from hardened steel he reckons it will handle center fire to but haven't been game to try it.

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Finally did the wedding pressie sheath. Couldn't afford more leather so ended up dismantling a large pouch I'd made and ' repurposed' the leather.
Same modular style as I usually do but tried to add a little bit more texture to the sleeve with my favorite tea-spoon and added the extra wrap around the top section. Didn't turn out to bad in the end.

Looks good @Ftx325. I like the "textured" look

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The latest creation , more along the lines of @hunter Al.7mm08 's traditional style sheaths than my usual 'sleeve' style.
This I made by repurposing the scabbard I had made for the 45/70 as that rifle is gone.
I went for a bushcraft feel with this one and went with lace rather than stitching for an old skool look.
Patterned the leather with an old piece of antler and added the antler handle to the firesteel and also made the beads from antler.
The sheath is also lined with nice soft suede.







The skull bead is to prevent the blade cutting the lace as knife is placed/removed from sheath which my daughter had laying around for a Halloween costume she had made and just happened to fit the gap perfectly and saved me making a specific shaped antler bead (just being lazy)

You couldn't buy something finished as nice as that.

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The skull looks badass!!

Well done @Ftx325 looks awesome. Did you use a needle for the lacing or just make a large enough hole to thread it through?. How did it compare time wise to saddle stitching. Have been meaning to try some but haven't had the project for it yet.

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Used 6 mm wide goat leather lace (super strong it is too) and punched 3 mm holes . No needle , just tapered the ends to a long point and poked through holes . Used a little screwdriver to stretch holes open for second pass through holes which closes up again a few minutes later .
Yes it's time consuming ....
Have since removed the antler bead from top and added a bit of bling to the front but that's easily removed....




Looking at making a matching pouch for plb and first aid kit. Pouch itself out of remaining suede and top cover/flap and reinforce pouch with the rest of the leather and match the pattern on the leather with the sheath using old antler again with a bit of matching lacing around the flap edge.
See how that ends up....

Had some time lately so I made a GPS pouch for my hunting belt. Happy with the finished product.

Originally Posted by joelhenton

Had some time lately so I made a GPS pouch for my hunting belt. Happy with the finished product.
Attachment 210936

Nicely done mate. Did you dye the leather yourself or is it pre dyed?

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It's a chrome tanned buffalo leather, already dyed. Not as versatile as vegetable tanned leather but it's been perfect for my purposes. Made some really nice pouches from it. Regards, Joel

A new secatuers pouch has been on the list of things to do for a while now. I wanted a slim design so it wouldn't crowd my hunting belt. Finished it this evening, turned out nice.

Originally Posted by joelhenton

It's a chrome tanned buffalo leather, already dyed. Not as versatile as vegetable tanned leather but it's been perfect for my purposes. Made some really nice pouches from it. Regards, Joel

Do mind if I ask where you got it from and what thickness it is?. I brought some Buffalo a while back. It is great for knife sheaths but would struggle to make pouches or anything that has corners as you can't wet mold it.
Cheers

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Originally Posted by hunter Al.7mm08

Do mind if I ask where you got it from and what thickness it is?. I brought some Buffalo a while back. It is great for knife sheaths but would struggle to make pouches or anything that has corners as you can't wet mold it.
Cheers

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It is 3.0mm Black Alaska S/Butts from NZ Leather Suppliers. Just had a look and they have Black Alaska vege tanned in stock. Maybe I was wrong about it being a chrome tanned leather... I picked it up right before our first lock down. I haven't been interested in wet molding it, I've preferred to design my pouches so water can easily run out the bottom. I've dunked my hunting belt on more than one occasion, crossing slow waist deep rivers.