First Timer needs some help

[ragnik]

Hello to All,

Just want to thank everyone for this site and the insight provided!! I had a few Whitetail antlers left over from deer season and before i knew it i decided they needed to be knife handles! So I up and bought some blades and set to work on my first attempts at making a knife. I have read and looked into this hobby for a while and enjoyed my first attempts and now i want to make a sheath for the one knife. I was wondering if anyone can point me in the direction of the type of leather i need and more importantly where i can buy it! I have done a lot of reading on how to make a sheath but am not sure what i need for leather!! Any help would be great!

Thanks

Ross

[Ray Rogers]

Thdre are several places to get leather that I know of. Generally, you want vegetable tanned leather. Tandy Leather shops sell it as oak tanned. If you live in or near a big city you may have a Tandy Leather store - look in the yellow pages. If you do, then you can go there and buy a few scrap pieces.

Most leather is sold by the side which is quite a few square feet. Sheffield Knife Supplies is another source but I think they only sell sides. They also have an artificial leather product that I haven't tried but maybe they sell that in smaller pieces.

We have a sheath making forum on the CKD. If nothing else, someone there can probably sell you enough to do a few sheaths ...

[ragnik]

Ray,

Thanks for your help i will look into everything you mentioned!!

Ross

[ragnik]

Ray,

After looking around the sheath area on CKD, i found mention of leather on ebay from a respectable dealer and was able to pick up big pieces that are plenty big for sheath making and several at that and for a cheap investment too!!

Thanks again

Ross

[Chuck Burrows]

Ragnik-

Welcome to CKD. Check thoroughly through the Sheathmaking forum and you will find some tutorials that should be a big help. I've written a couple recently, Sandy Morrisey always has some good advice, and there is lots of other info there too. In general you should be able to get most of your questions answered over there. If not give me a shout I'm always glad to give a helping hand.

Chuck