Mexican-style leather sheath

[Jaegar]

This one was new for me. I'm used to doing mainly belts in my tooling, so this presented a new challenge. I made it from a picture I found in a book on knives. The picture looked neat, and I adapted it to my needs. The tooling in the center is the mexican eagle. It matches the knife handle.


Thanks for looking, any comments appreciated.
~Brian

[Drac]

Very nice.

I tried a mexican loop a couple of times using Chucks instructions but the sheaths didn't turn out well for me. More practice.

Jim

[DC KNIVES]

Brian, that looks super,very nice. Let me show you something that Sandy showed me and I think looks better on this type of sheath. Instead of wrapping the collar around the outside of the main body of the sheath, notch the main body to accept the collar.It makes for a more streamlined style and better retention. Dave

Here's a pic of an example

[Sandy Morrissey]

Brian---That is a very respectable sheath, my friend! As Dave mentioned about the collar (or cuff) it really smooths up the appearance of the sheath when it is inletted into the main body of the sheath. It also LOCKS the cuff in place. Your basket stamp and border stamping is nice and even and your leather must have been properly cased to get such sharp impressions. I, personally, do not care for black thread for stitching unless it would be for black harness. I think your work would be more subtle if you used white thread as you can dye it any color you desire to match the sheath color. You can also color it in muted tone by using a high lighter after it is stitched . I like and often use the latter system. Try it----you may like it!---Sandy

[Jaegar]

Thanks for the comments!
I will definately take the thread color to heart. Maybe next time I'll use some sinew, for a different look. It is about the same color, so it will be subtle. As for the notching, that had not occered to me, as I made this one by looking at a picture...I'll see if I can post it soon...But that seems like another good idea for a future one, mainly to hold it in place. I was almost tempted to sew this one in place, for fear of it falling off, but after lacing it, it seems to have a lot of friction to hold it. Over time that will stretch, but the owner can lace it up tighter. As for the sharp basketweave marks, I have never properly cased by sticking my leather in the frige, etc., simply because I have never had the time. I just wet it with a sponge according to what I think looks best. I also took a lesson a while back with a guy here in town, and he had some good comments. That may be one reason for the sharp marks, but there is antiquing on the leather....that is the main thing that brings all the marks out so well I think.
Once again, thanks for the replies.
~Brian

[paul harm]

brian - like it with noch - i'll try that next time - thanks Sandy - paul