A work in progress I have to form and stitch and touch up dye. Almost there. Oh and make a little dangler.
Dragon Hide for my new blacksmithing apron. I'm very excited to finally get her in my hands. Gonna be the best smithing apron ever!
I made my very first leather anything a couple weeks ago, a sheath for my newly acquired JG3. Oh man, did I learn a lot from this.
- have a clear plan or sketch of what I want the end result to look like, including belt loop, opening, welt, retention (I sort of knew what I wanted, but some of it I punted on). - test the pattern on card stock - wet the leather before bending and forming - don’t go through all three layers of leather with the hole punch (should have done the front and welt, then an awl to finish the back) - leave extra leather on the edges of the pattern and then trim to fit. Don’t work backwards towards the knife and reduce clearance for the blade. - make sure needles and threads cross the same way through each thread so the knots are uniform - moisturize or oil the leather before and during the process - if desired, apply dye/antiquing before stitching. In this case, I wanted the stitching and holes to be dyed at the same time, but because I didn’t use any oil or water during the whole process my holes got a bit cracked instead of smooth - Carve out the right amount of time in order to do the job the right way. This sheath took me a total of maybe 5 hours. I’ve never done anything with leather before, so a lot of that time was learning as I went along. Now that I sort of know what I’m doing, I’ll use my time smarter in order to make the product better. Did I miss anything? Probably
Here's my take on the clipped pocket sheath that's becoming so popular these days. The clip is ugly ad hell but it's all I could find that was reasonably priced. Somebody on Instagram reached out and asked for one for his ESEE 3 so I'll have one of those in the works soon.
I got busy with some leftover scraps of goat skin last week. I bought tarp which came with some nice and beefy stakes crammed into a really cruddy Ziploc-type bag. I was worried about them puncturing through and gouging my tarp when rolled up. @Menace I feel you on the spring clips. But that sheath still looks very handsome to me. That's some even and tidy stitching you did. It looks like it would be comfy to carry. @Bushman5 I would not have taken that as your first go at a sheath. It's sturdy and slim looking at the same time. I also like what you did with that JG3.
I made a neck carry sheath for the Izula today. It turned out nice! It's very comfortable especially under a t-shirt against the skin. What do you guys think?
Ooh, I like that a lot. I've got a neck knife that came with a JRE sheath. It's nice but doesn't have great retention. Wet forming seems to have made it worse. Don't ask me how that happened cause I don't have a clue. Anyhow, that's a good looking and functional sheath you made. I'd like to make something exactly along those lines.
Well, got some dye from Hobby Lobby and a spray bottle to mist it on. I thought it would come out a whole lot more even, but it looks very splotchy. The apron is a Tilman 48", made from chrome-tan leather. The idea was to darken it evenly so stains didn't show up as clearly as they do on the OEM "orange" finish. Of course, I only bought one little jar of the dye and ran out before covering the whole apron. Monday, I'll head back to HL to get some more dye. Mottled, for sure! I would have thought the dye would spread out a bit more than it did. The mister sure didn't do much in terms of giving it an even coat.