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The Sheath/Holster Makers Forum This is the place to discuss all forms of sheath and holster making.

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  #1  
Old 11-20-2014, 08:31 PM
donnymac250 donnymac250 is offline
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Unhappy cracked sheath

well i dyed this sheath before i folded it for sewing , as i have done in the past with no problems .used same leather on this one as i had used on my other ones with no problem . this one cracked when i folded it over to stich , i used fiebings dye .would any one know why this would happen .im still a newbie at this whole knife making process .hanks don
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  #2  
Old 11-20-2014, 10:30 PM
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sheathmaker sheathmaker is offline
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Your leather may have been a little old and dry. Regardless, to keep this from happening in the future, it's a good idea to dampen (case) the flesh side (inside) of your sheath along the center line where it will fold. This will allow and encourage the leather to stretch as it folds and eliminate the cracking. Also folding slowly in steps is good way to keep from cracking.

Paul


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  #3  
Old 11-21-2014, 08:24 AM
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MVPeterson MVPeterson is offline
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Pretend like you did it on purpose Call it your "distressed" or "antiqued" finish, and charge extra for it.
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  #4  
Old 11-21-2014, 04:32 PM
donnymac250 donnymac250 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MVPeterson View Post
Pretend like you did it on purpose Call it your "distressed" or "antiqued" finish, and charge extra for it.
lol , never thought about that trick . can i sell it to you then .
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  #5  
Old 11-21-2014, 04:35 PM
donnymac250 donnymac250 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sheathmaker View Post
Your leather may have been a little old and dry. Regardless, to keep this from happening in the future, it's a good idea to dampen (case) the flesh side (inside) of your sheath along the center line where it will fold. This will allow and encourage the leather to stretch as it folds and eliminate the cracking. Also folding slowly in steps is good way to keep from cracking.

Paul
should i wet it just before bending it . or wet it then put in fridge over night then bend the next day ? i did wet the out side before i stamped it .
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  #6  
Old 11-21-2014, 05:50 PM
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Andrew Garrett Andrew Garrett is offline
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Bob Loveless shows a neat trick in his book that I use on every sheath. It will help you here.

Skive the centerline of the sheath to thin the leather there.

Then, use the stitching grover to groove a center line (not too deep now). Then, grooves on either side about 1/4" to 3/8" where the handle will be and grooves about 1/8" out on either side where the blade will be.

This process allows the leather to bend without 'compressing' the fuzzy fleshy side and thus, 'stretching' the smooth outer side.

You never want to just bend full thickness leather IMHO. Even if you get away with it by wetting the leather. It will dry and weather over time, and some of that stored stress will still be there ready to crack in the future.

I also dye after the sheath is made so the color is even everywhere, and not lighter where I have bent or stretched leather during construction.

That's my two bits.


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Last edited by Andrew Garrett; 11-21-2014 at 05:53 PM.
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  #7  
Old 11-23-2014, 06:20 AM
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Crex Crex is offline
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Sounds like aged dry leather. Wetting or casing will help with the bend. I don't put it in the fridge, just dip in water and get it wet let it sit until it starts drying out make your bends. I do not dye before form fitting to the knife (which includes bending/shaping by hand).
I do thin the flesh side down a slight bit, but not as Andy does it. I just take it to the belt grinder while it's still damp (not soggy) and thin the flesh side down a bit on a worn 220 belt. I also sand off all the "fuzzys" to slick up the interior at this time. Can do it quicker than I can skive or slot/groove and get a nice smooth bend as result.
Don't think my way is better, just works best for me. I never bend dry leather.

Hate to say it Donny but that looks like a re-do. I'd say give it to the dog, but some might worry about the dye. I never did, but then the things my dog ate.......well.


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  #8  
Old 11-24-2014, 09:35 PM
donnymac250 donnymac250 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Garrett View Post
Bob Loveless shows a neat trick in his book that I use on every sheath. It will help you here.

Skive the centerline of the sheath to thin the leather there.

Then, use the stitching grover to groove a center line (not too deep now). Then, grooves on either side about 1/4" to 3/8" where the handle will be and grooves about 1/8" out on either side where the blade will be.

This process allows the leather to bend without 'compressing' the fuzzy fleshy side and thus, 'stretching' the smooth outer side.

You never want to just bend full thickness leather IMHO. Even if you get away with it by wetting the leather. It will dry and weather over time, and some of that stored stress will still be there ready to crack in the future.

I also dye after the sheath is made so the color is even everywhere, and not lighter where I have bent or stretched leather during construction.

That's my two bits.
ok thanks a lot .
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  #9  
Old 11-24-2014, 09:38 PM
donnymac250 donnymac250 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Crex View Post
Sounds like aged dry leather. Wetting or casing will help with the bend. I don't put it in the fridge, just dip in water and get it wet let it sit until it starts drying out make your bends. I do not dye before form fitting to the knife (which includes bending/shaping by hand).
I do thin the flesh side down a slight bit, but not as Andy does it. I just take it to the belt grinder while it's still damp (not soggy) and thin the flesh side down a bit on a worn 220 belt. I also sand off all the "fuzzys" to slick up the interior at this time. Can do it quicker than I can skive or slot/groove and get a nice smooth bend as result.
Don't think my way is better, just works best for me. I never bend dry leather.

Hate to say it Donny but that looks like a re-do. I'd say give it to the dog, but some might worry about the dye. I never did, but then the things my dog ate.......well.
well i hope its not old bought it 5 months ago from tandy. still have a bunch left .never had this problem before with this chunk of leather .thanks for your time crex.
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  #10  
Old 11-25-2014, 05:33 AM
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Crex Crex is offline
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***tandy***
Used to be I'd jump right on that with "there's the problem", however I have also gotten what I call junk leather from W&C and Weaver in the recent past. I hate buying via mail order and prefer to hand select when I can. I've gotten good, ok, and bad from Tandy (but never good by mail order). Used to buy all from Seigel of Cal. because I knew the owner and he would hand select for me, but that's out now.

Sorry you are having issues with that piece, may be as simple as thinning, casing and bending before dying. Hopefully it's just a bad spot in the hide, some of the tanning practices leave hard spots. These are usually felt when cutting or show when flexing the hide. The hard spots are a real buggar to those of us who carve and tool a lot.
My mentor and dear friend Sandy Morrissey put it this way: The leather work is cheap in comparison to the work you put into your knife. Don't skimp now, figure out what went wrong, cut another piece of leather, and do it right.
That was a hard one for me because I always tried to cut too "tight" and wound up fighting to get things to fit at finish. Dad (Sandy) broke me of that. He's taught me more than I could have learned in any class or school plus the added bonus of the general wisdom of his years. He's been a true treasure to me and many others.


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  #11  
Old 11-29-2014, 09:46 PM
donnymac250 donnymac250 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Crex View Post
***tandy***
Used to be I'd jump right on that with "there's the problem", however I have also gotten what I call junk leather from W&C and Weaver in the recent past. I hate buying via mail order and prefer to hand select when I can. I've gotten good, ok, and bad from Tandy (but never good by mail order). Used to buy all from Seigel of Cal. because I knew the owner and he would hand select for me, but that's out now.

Sorry you are having issues with that piece, may be as simple as thinning, casing and bending before dying. Hopefully it's just a bad spot in the hide, some of the tanning practices leave hard spots. These are usually felt when cutting or show when flexing the hide. The hard spots are a real buggar to those of us who carve and tool a lot.
My mentor and dear friend Sandy Morrissey put it this way: The leather work is cheap in comparison to the work you put into your knife. Don't skimp now, figure out what went wrong, cut another piece of leather, and do it right.
That was a hard one for me because I always tried to cut too "tight" and wound up fighting to get things to fit at finish. Dad (Sandy) broke me of that. He's taught me more than I could have learned in any class or school plus the added bonus of the general wisdom of his years. He's been a true treasure to me and many others.
thanks again crex
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bee, belt, blade, dip, folding, grinder, hand, handle, holster, knife, knife making, leather, leather die, leather tooling, made, make, making, mentor, newbie, sand, sell, sheath, tanning, thickness


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