When I first picked up my FF machete the only thing that drove me crazy was the black handle with the naturally tan sheath. So I thought to myself why not dye it black and see how it turns out. Well, I did and it came out looking great. Looking a little plain, the following steps are what I took to finish off the project. Plain Jane Sheath After dying the sheath black I sketched a design on a sheet of paper and inked it in. this was a little different for me because I was drawing the negative for the next steps in the process. Next, I placed heavy wax paper over the drawing and using an Xacto knife cut out the pattern, making a stencil. Once cut out I used a spray stencil adhesive to adhere the stencil to the sheath. If you do this, spray only a thin layer of glue and let it dry for 2-3 minutes before placing it on the sheath. Waiting will allow the glue to get more "tacky" which will allow the glue to not only stick better, but not leave residue when you pull it off. Lastly, once you have the stencil on securely and using acrylic paint, squeeze a small amount of paint onto a piece of plactic, plate, ect. and spread it out into a very thin layer. Next using a sponge, pick up some of the paint and dab it on a test surface until there is nearly no paint left. Then you are ready to dab the paint on the stencil. removing most of the paint will ensure you get a good even coating, it won't allow the paint to get under the stencil and you can create a "weathered" finish that looks great. Still a little clean up to do at this point and you can add a coating of Bag Kote to help protect the paint and keep the black dye from transferring.
Thanks. It probably won't be too durable, but that will be just part of the aging process of the sheath. Since everything is water based, I can always scrub it clean down the road and redo the dye and stencil.
Cool design, man. You can probably carve it in permanently, somebody made a tutorial for it on this forum. I don't know about you, but I had a problem with the front part of the sheath opening and the belt loop a couple of months into use, they got loose (I dragged this baby through Jeff's torture-fest a.k.a. Field Survival Course). I reinforced the sheath opening by epoxying a piece of leather on the inside, and I made a dangler and stitched an extra piece of leather inside the belt loop. So far, it's been working well. Oh, and I made a retention strap with a toggle lock on it...just for fun. Again, I'm not sure if you'll encounter the same problems, but if it happens, you know what to do.
Thanks so much for the compliment. I made a trip to Tandy to figure out exactly how I wanted to do it and originally I wanted to carve the pattern and then also paint, but when I added up the cost for all the leather tools I decided to go the less expensive route while still being able to make a drastic improvement to the sheath. If I ever get the time where I may make a sheath or two and do some tooling I may take the plunge and purchase the necessary equipment.
Tandy has been a good local source for some of the basic leather working tools that I've purchased. The most used tools that I've purchased have been a rotary leather punch, for punching clean holes to take rivets and snaps (about $12 on sale). Also a set of setters and various sized anvil base for setting the rivets and snaps (about $25 on sale).
