hey guys,
i was wondering what thickness or weight leather most of ya'll use for knife sheaths and stuff ? i have a stitcher and i need to know what size thread and where to get it to sew it ?
thanks , Dom :pray:
8oz or 9oz veg tan is what I use but I'm no master leather smith. I get my leather and wax thread from Jantz Supply
I used to get my from Jantz but the leather seams mor like 7-8 oz, so i get my leather and thead from Tandy Leather, if you dont have one close you can order online, but Craig is right about the 8-9 oz veggie tan. good luck in your search
I tend to use 7/8 wt
i like 10-12 oz leather and not perfect veg tan, seems to not have any charicture to it.
I use 8-10 oz tooling leather from Wicket & Craig. Very nice leather. What kind of stitcher?
Thread and leather do and dont matter. If it is 8oz stacked 3 layers versus single ply does. Heavy leather dictates a heavyer needle other wise you will have deflection in the needle. I sew all my sheaths and most of my archery gear with 207 thread. I get by most of the time with a 160 needle I bump up to a 180 if it gets thicker. I sew my saddles with a 180 neddle and 277 thread. It also has to do with the finished look you want. If you use a 200 needle and 207 thread it does not fill the needle hole very well and looks pretty bad. Machines can be finicky and it took a lot of polishing and futzing but I run my 160 needle at 8 stitches per inch with 207 thread on top and 138 on the bottom. I realy like the refined look. 6 stitches per inch will give you more lee way.
Scott pretty nuch summed it up pretty well, with good info on most everything.
I order my leather by the roll in 12- 14 oz.
most goes into horse gear. The small amount I use on achery or sheaths is split to the thickness that best fits the blade or archery gear. I usally hand sew those items as my harness stitcher has 346 on top and 277 in the bobbin.
I let the knife determine how thick the leather needs to be. Funtion first, then how it looks.