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How to make a knife or axe sheath strong, easy, cheap

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  • How to make a knife or axe sheath strong, easy, cheap

    Recently, I lost the sheath for my beloved axe. At nearly the same time, my dog ate the sheath from my beloved hand made knife.

    Both were originally leather.

    What to do???

    For sheaths, rawhide is actually much better than leather for a number of reasons.

    SO, where do you get rawhide? Well, you could get a large piece of animal hide and remove the hair and have rawhide. That ain't for sissies. BTW, one of the most available tough hides is cat hide. Most of us don't have access to raw cattle or horse or buffalo hides, but how often are you driving along a country road and see a poor farm cat road kill? All the time, in these parts. BINGO. Skin the cat, and soak the hide in water until the hair starts to wipe off the hide easily. This will take between two to five days depending on the temperature. Yes, it can be stinky, so change the water every day to keep it pleasant. You should be able to easily wipe the hair off with a butter knife. If it is not easy, then put the hide back in the water. Don't let it soak too long. Just long enough to remove the hair.

    The OTHER easier way is to buy a big rawhide dog treat. Cheap from the Dollar Tree is OK, but you want it made with wide strips of rawhide.

    Soak the rawhide treat in water until it is soft and pliable.

    Wrap the wet rawhide in a cloth and let it set until most of the moisture is out of the rawhide, but while it is still soft.

    Fold the rawhide around your knife or axe head to form the sheath. Don't trim it yet. Pack cloths and heavy items around the knife and sheath so that the sheath forms closely around the knife/axe.

    Let the sheath dry thoroughly. It should dry hard and form perfectly around the knife or axe like a perfect formed glove.

    Use a drill to punch some holes along the open side of the sheath for stitching. Trim the sheath to fit the knife/axe.

    You can then either stitch the sheath along the open edge with leather thong, rawhide, shoe lace, OR you can use rivits to close the open side of the sheath.

    Varnish the rawhide sheath to make it waterproof.

    There you have it.

  • #2
    Re: How to make a knife or axe sheath strong, easy, cheap

    Hmmm Gotta ask,
    Was the sheath the dog ate made from a Rawhide treat?
    If so, Im thinking you baited em in...

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    • #3
      Re: How to make a knife or axe sheath strong, easy, cheap

      Originally posted by cunningman View Post
      Hmmm Gotta ask,
      Was the sheath the dog ate made from a Rawhide treat?
      If so, Im thinking you baited em in...
      That is a good question. Actually, it was a leather sheath. The amazing thing is that he somehow got it off the table and chewed the sheath off of the knife without cutting himself. He is still a puppy and he chews everything.

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      • #4
        Re: How to make a knife or axe sheath strong, easy, cheap

        Lol. Yup thats a puppies job. I used to sell advertising to the knife & firearm industry....used to get some cool stuff for free. Had to attend various Shows...one of em was the Blade Show in Atlanta. I got to know all the manufacturers and a bunch of custom smiths. Loved that show. I used to buy drinks for all the custom guys every night at the lobby bar in the Waverly Renaisance Hotel where the Show was held....was a Hoot
        Happy Holidays!

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        • #5
          Re: How to make a knife or axe sheath strong, easy, cheap

          I usually favor leather, both from tradition and ease of working it. (never tried rawhide, or cat hide) I have made some out of kydex but leather is easier to source; If I do another I might go with heavy nylon strap (i.e. seat belt material).
          Other than a speedy stitcher I don't have any leather working tools;
          figure out what you want (plan).
          Lay it out on the leather...
          ...Figure out how to make do when the leather isn't big enough...
          Trim the leather to rough size (I use a band saw).
          If its a thick blade cut a spacer.
          I use double sided tape to temporarily bond the layers into position.
          Do a trial fit and correct as necessary.
          Lay out the stitching holes; tedious with a ruler (if I did much of this I would get a marking wheel).
          I use a very small drill bit and a drill press to pre-drill all of the stitching locations (shoving a Speedy Stitcher through several layers of thick leather is too much like work).
          If the design needs a snap closure add the snap to the main body (plan well).
          Stitch it.
          Try it, if acceptable; add any grommets (for tie downs etc. you did plan for this right?) and the second part of the snap if you use one.
          I use a belt sander to trim the edges to size, a very sharp knife would also work.
          Finish the edges and surface.


          Enjoy!
          Attached Files
          Last edited by Happy Joe; 12-29-2015, 11:18 AM.
          2006 Jeep Rubicon, TJ; 4.11 gears, 31" tires, 4:1 transfer case, lockers in both axles
          For DD & "civilized" camping; 2003 Ford explorer sport, 4wd; ARB & torsen diffs, 4.10 gears, 32" MTs.
          Ground tents work best for me, so far.
          Experience along with properly set up 4WD will get you to & through places (on existing, approved 4WD trails) that 4WD, alone, can't get to.

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          • #6
            Re: How to make a knife or axe sheath strong, easy, cheap

            Nice!
            Im not a fan of Kydex-noisy & hard. I dont have any sheathes w strap & snap anymore. I like the wrap around one piece designs. Ed Fowler does a decent sheath for his knives. I have one sheath that was made by Gene Davis in Colorado in the 70s that's unlike any other I have seen. Its a one piece & both the front & back rise up over the guard and bout 2/3 up the handle but 'fitted tight' while being unattached-(front from the back)-for the length that came up the handle....kinda like two flaps- but fitted if that makes any sense to ya. It caught my eye at a gun show in Tulsa....doesnt look like itd be very secure but its surpringly so. Its reminiscent of the Finnish style. Leather is nit difficult to work with but it helps to have the proper tools and some artistic skill is a boon.
            One of the things about the custom smiths that I always admired was that you could ask em anything and they were tickled to tell ya exactly how they did their work.

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            • #7
              Re: How to make a knife or axe sheath strong, easy, cheap

              Sometimes you want an item close at hand: not in a pocket, but right there where you need it. A pocket watch, comp**** knife, cell phone, or any other item you don’t want to dig for are all great candidates for a leather sheath. You might want to make something to hold a multi-tool or any specialized tool you may want to keep handy at all times. If you’re a widget lover and can’t find a case for your widget, just substitute widget wherever it says knife.

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              • #8
                Re: How to make a knife or axe sheath strong, easy, cheap

                its sad to hear that you have lost your axe and knife and both of them was very good.

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