Two sgian dubh

[sevenoaks]

Very nice job.
I have a couple of blades I will try the mustard trick on.
Thank you and a great instructional post.

[Standard]

Wow, great job! Those blades look like an old antique blade, and I mean that in a good way.

[MT4Runner]

Thank you and a great instructional post.

Thanks! I love to build things. I'm always more intrigued with the process than with the finished product...I guess I'm posting pics in the way I'd want to read a thread!

Wow, great job! Those blades look like an old antique blade, and I mean that in a good way.

Thank you!


Sheaths will be a hybrid belt/hose sheath. The belt loops will be to the sides of the sheath so I can wear it on my belt, and will lay flat under my hose.
Rather than two separate sheaths for each knife, I'd prefer to have the knife live in a single sheath--and have them "wear" together.

Stay tuned! I've got some more I'm working on. I really want to build some with either bone/antler handles, or wood with bone/antler details.

[MT4Runner]

These blades need sheaths!



My brother likely won't be wearing his in his socks, and I may wear mine on a belt with my p@Nt$, or in my hose, so I made a pair of hybrid sheaths.



First, I make a pattern.

Trace each blade. Sketch ~1/8" outside this profile for the stitching, and another 1/8" outside that for the edge of the leather:





Roll the knife on its edge and trace the outside of the handle. This gives me enough leather for the top piece of the sheath:







Sketch in the slot the belt passes through, plus 1/8" for stitching, and 1/8" to the edge of the leather. This is the pattern. For simplicity's sake, I'll leave it a big triangle and cut it down later.







Cut the leather:





Soak it:

[MT4Runner]

Lay the lower wet leather on a towel.


Cover with plastic wrap:


Knives in place:


More plastic wrap to protect the knife from the wet leather. Like I'm worried about the antiquing!


Top pieces, roughly pressed into shape:

I want the back piece to be nearly flat against my leg.
I want the top piece to hold the bolster area of the knife securely--this is where all the shaping happens.



I cover the leather with soft, open-celled foam, then a piece of plywood, then clamp the whole thing to the countertop and leave it for the day. A lot of the moisture in the leather soaks into the foam and into the towel. Remove the foam and towel a day later and let the leather air dry.

[MT4Runner]

Finally, time to stitch.
After the leather is dry, I tooled in my "MT4Runner" logo.


Drilled 1/16" holes with a cordless drill and stitched with waxed nylon thread with a tapestry needle.
The stitching is more even on top than on the bottom--I didn't hold my drill perfectly straight, so some of the back holes wandered.




Cut the belt loops to shape:


Cut them out and then re-wet the leather at the stitching. I used the bottom of a pub glass to press the stitching down into the leather so it lays flatter. Also burnished all the edges


Finished with leather dye:

[Ryan Ross]

Arg... Can't see the last three images.

[Mipi]

Thanks for many ideas and detailed working process.

Well done!