Hey guys I recently purchased a hand made damascus steel scabbard knife at a deer show around the house. I love the knife but the sheath is a different story. It is leather but the knife doesn't seem to "fit". The knife is real loose in the sheath and rocks around in it so to speak. So my question is, is there anything I can do to fix this besides getting another sheath made for it? I'm not really familiar with leather working so any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
Can you post a picture? Depending on design, you may be able to wet mold it to get a better fit. In case you aren't familiar with it, it is exactly what it sounds like. Soak the sheath with water and mold it around the knife. When it dries, it'll keep the shape that you mold it to and fit the knife perfectly. It can cause some distortion to tool work on the leather, but it should be minimal and usually isn't noticeable at all. If the knife is carbon steel you can wrap it with plastic wrap or just remove and clean it immediately after molding to prevent it from rusting. If its stainless, that shouldn't be an issue. If you can post a picture showing what style sheath it is, some of the other guys on here with more experience may be able to give a better/easier solution.
Hope this helps.
Matt Toms
Thanks a lot Matt I may need to try that. Here is the only photo I have of it right now. It is somewhat hard on the sides so I don't know if it would shrink very well but I'll give it a try.
(http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a499/Cmane081/Facebook/Mobile%20Uploads/942421_10151581368131284_2080469909_n.jpg) (http://s1280.photobucket.com/user/Cmane081/media/Facebook/Mobile%20Uploads/942421_10151581368131284_2080469909_n.jpg.html)
Looks to me like you will have to go with a new sheath made to fit Caleb. There are some dandy Leathersmiths on here that can help you out.
Yeah I agree with Doug. I was thinking it may be a pouch style sheath that would cover all or part of the handle and could be formed around the handle. Great looking knife by the way.
There is a nice "build along" in the "How to resources" forum. Leather work can be a true piece of art, as demonstrated by some of the leather workers on this forum, but a simple sheath is a lot easier to do than you might think and will be better made than the one in your pic. There is no need to get involved in the tooling of the leather for just a simple, well made sheath. The one in your picture doesn't even appear to have a welt, although it's hard to tell from the angle of the pic. If you enjoy knives, and apparently you do, you might find it an absorbing hobby too.
http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000082
Thanks guys and yea it is a great knife but the sheath is pretty terrible. I may try and make my own and if that fails I'll get someone on here to. Thanks!