Gentlemen, this weekend I am basically tied up, bound and gagged at home, cleaning up after a paint job. Even the puppy has got POP in his fur!!
Next weekend will work, or better still, mid to end May, when BH and Jr are off for the holidays, leaving me free to play with metal and leather and wood!! Weekends of 16th & 23rd April, I can spend full day in the august company of CMGians!
Brihaji, no technical expertise required in making sheaths.
1. Draw a rough outline on the leather, both sides.
2. Put the leather (the sole leather, 5 mm armour plating!) in warm water for a few hours till soaked and soft. Soaking should be throughout the thickness. Slow is better here.
3. Cut it using awl. DO NOT USE SCISSORS. They give a very very bad result. Been there, done that.
4. Wet it again. Again, slow and steady, like the tortoise.
5. Wrap knife in cling film, basically this waterproofs the knife against the wet leather. Do not make too thick a wrapping, else the sheath will come out loose. Cling film is basically an evil substance which sticks everywhere except where you want it to stick, so please ensure there are no bumps and major unevenness. This will not be good for the final sheath.
6. Hold the cut out pieces of leather around the clingfilmed knife, in the form you want the final sheath to be. Fix the edges with binder clips. Put a lot of binder clips, ensuring the entire edges of the two halves of the sheath are tight against each other, without gaps. Ensure leather is thoroughly wet throughout its thickness. If reqd, soak it again before this step.
7. Let dry. Leather will conform to the shape. 24 hrs or so. Do not force dry with hairdryer or sunlight or something. Again, tortoise mode, slowwwwwwww. You don't want non uniform drying to create wrinkles!
8. Sketch line for stitches. Mark holes. I do 5 mm or 1/8".
9. Use hole punch or drill / Dremel with 1 mm bit to drill holes.
10. Stitch. I personally use double needle method to stitch leather. Wax the thread beforehand.
11. After stitching is finished, rub a candle over the stitches, use hairdryer to melt the wax and impregnate the threads. This makes the thread slightly stronger (I hope) and also improves waterproofing.
12. Use Dremel sander or manual sanding to smoothen or shape the edges.
13. I normally sand the surface of the leather to remove the pre-existing polish / colour and then colour and polish it myself. First coat leather conditioner, then shoe colour, finally neutral polish. Brands I use are Woly or Hush Puppies. Final polish can be the old time "spit and polish". Replace "spit" with water for hygiene purposes
14. If you want a logo or your initials, you can use leather stamping tools or burn the leather with soldering iron. Use an old soldering iron, as the burnt leather forms a very adhesive gunk. Do this before polishing.
Do all this in a well-ventilated place. Wear a mask, or at least a handkerchief, bandit style. Leather dust is bad. Don't blame me if your lungs look like an abandoned shoe factory 20 years hence! Do not let kids or animals get too close when working. Do not let animals come close to the leather even when it is stored away. Dogs love to chew on it!
Voila! You are now the proud owner of a sheath you made yourself!! Isn't it far better than a purchased one???
