So my kind girlfriend gave me my birthday present early!
I had been on about wanting leather working tools for a while. I really wanted to make leather sheaths for my Mora Clipper and Laplander Saw. As I started to try and come up with a template using cardboard for my mora I realised I should really start on something a little more basic to practice the essentials before I use a too bigger portion of my leather. The scapel I had bought for fine detail came without any sort of sheath meaning I was bound to stab myself if I just placed it loose in a drawer, and after seeing the way it cut leather like a hot knife though butter I felt it appropriate to make a sheath for that as my starter project.
I decided on a basic 'sandwich' design which I could practice grooving, stitchmarking, oiling, stitching, etc.
[edit]Thanks for the reply Dreadhead, i've done exactly that. Bevelled the edges and slicked them with some spit and my thumbnail (Ugg! Man go make fire now). then I re-neatsfoot'd it with a new tin of neatsfoot oil (which was much nicer than the old thick gloopy stuff I found in the cupboard before!) and here is the final product [/edit]
I was very careful trying to make sure I measured the pieces out right and ran the overstich wheel in the same place to make sure the stitches lined up! However, I still ended up with 2 extra holes on one side!!! Rather than skipping them I ran the thread through, looped it inbetween the 2 leather pieces and back out through the same hole so you wouldn't even know unless you counted the stitches on each side. I am very very chuffed
The best thing about it is that as my first ever bit of leather work, whenever I work leather again I will always be reminded of my first as it's the sheath that holds my scapel
Last edited by Emdiesse; 19-02-2012 at 15:44.
Reason: Finished!!! No longer a WIP
looks braw as a wee project. id just go ahead and stitch it up, then you can oil it or maybe rub it with a damp sponge tae take the stickiness off? and give the edges a wee buff and jobs a good 'un
a braw job youv done it looks great mate. i use spit and the edge of my swiss army knife for burnishing works a treat :P and instead of an overstitch wheel i find stitching prongs/forks are better for consistency but harder for rounded edges. keep up the good work
Cheers and thanks for the tips, i'll look into stitching prongs but last I remember is they were more expensive than the overstitch wheel and awl option. I'll keep them to the wish list or until I have money to burn. It was challenging but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Also I realised just how well priced some of the leather work for offer on this site really is. It took me hours to make this (plus the materials) so how people make and sell sheaths for around £30 has just got to be just for the pleasure of it!
i got my stitching fork fae the identity store website, was around £8 i think. you right though the vintage ones are extortionate!
ach once you get the knack youl be knocking out sheaths by the dozen
WIP: Leather Sheath for my Scapel
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