Fitting the sheath to the knife?

[Kevral]

I have a couple of real rookie questions about fitting sheaths....

- How close should the welt be to the edge of the knife? Meaning, will the welt dull the edge if they touch? Instinctively, I'd want to try and keep the edge "free-floating".

- With a decent size guard, I can cut the welt so that it keeps the knife from slipping further into the sheath. What if it doesn't have a useful guard? Just use wetforming to make the bolster area fit snugly against the back and front of the sheath? (Assuming I shouldnt let the knife rest with its tip against the bottom of the sheath)

Figuring this out is my current big hurdle, as I'm a little reluctant to start cutting more expensive leather without more of a clue.

The knife that's giving me the headache is a Fallkniven F1, by the way.

Any help greatly appreciated!

[Chuck Burrows]

Howdy Kevral -

1) I make my sheaths fit snug - there is absolutely no way you can keep the edge from never touching the welt during unsheathing or re-sheathing. Now by snug I don't mean TIGHT but well fitted with minimal slop.

2) Yes wet mold the bolster so that the is seated against the leather rather than the tip. The tip shouldn't have a lot of slop - just enough room so as the knife wears in to the sheath the tip will seat against the welt without punching through.

If there is too much slop in a sheath there is a good chance of the blade slicing through the leather over time.

[Kevral]

Originally Posted by Chuck Burrows

The tip shouldn't have a lot of slop - just enough room so as the knife wears in to the sheath the tip will seat against the welt without punching through.

Hello Chuck!

So it's allright if the edge/tip is seated up against the welt?
I keep wanting to "freefloat" the entire edge of the knife, but it seems I didn't manage on my latest attempt.

[Chuck Burrows]

Kevral - the blade shouldn't be real tight against the welt but touching won't hurt a thing.
Actually using the blade is going to cause more wear and tear than the amount of wear against the welt. When just sitting there touching the welt there is no wear - only wear would be when drawing or re sheathing and how often is that?

[Dementia]

personally i would be more worried about the blade cutting through the sheath than the blade being dulled by the sheath.

good thick leather is not the softest thing a blade will have to stand up to, but it sure shouldnt be a cause of too much concern or id suggest you look at your heat treating

so long as the blade is not tight enough to force the blade to cut into the sheath, then its not going to be a problem... at least not in my book.
(im sure Mr Burrows will jump in if i say too many stupid things)

[Chuck Burrows]

Howdy Dion - No stupid comments there - I agree wholeheartedly.