How to Make a Mountain Man Knife Sheath
Making a mountain man knife sheath can be accomplished in just several hours if some advance thought and effort are dedicated to the project. A mountain man knife sheath accommodates a large knife that typically does not have a guard between the handle and the blade. The sheath covers one half of the knife handle so that the knife will not easily be dislodged and lost when traveling through rough country. The sheath is made of leather and the seams are secured with long rawhide strips that hang down from the side of the sheath as decoration.
Things You'll Need
- Knife
- Pencil
- Regular paper
- Heavy paper, 12 inches square
- Marker
- Scissors
- Leather, 12 inches square
- Razor blade cutter
- Awl
- Rawhide strips
- Scrap leather
- Rubber cement
- Heavy book
Instructions
-
-
1
Design the sheath and draw it on paper, deciding on the style and color of the leather and determine if etching, studs or other decoration will be worked into the sheath.
-
2
Lay out a piece of heavy paper approximately 12-inches square and fold it over evenly one time.
-
-
3
Line up the flat edge of the mountain man knife along the folded side of the paper and position the tip of the blade 3/4 inch from the bottom of the paper. The paper should be large enough to trace out the entire length of the knife plus an additional two inches; use a larger piece of paper for longer knives. Smaller knives will fit on the 12-inches square piece of paper.
-
4
Use a marker to outline the pattern for the knife. Draw the line 3/4 inch out from the tip of the blade up along the side of the knife until the hilt is reached, then continue the line straight up to the top of the handle. Remove the knife and use a pair of scissors to cut along the pattern line, making certain to cut both sides of the paper.
-
5
Fold the pattern open and place it on a piece of leather, available from hobby and craft stores, about 12 inches square. Use a razor blade cutter to cut out the leather for the sheath.
-
6
Position the knife on the leather the same way it will fit into the finished mountain man knife sheath. Fold the leather over to form the sheath and cut off the leather in front where it covers the top one half of the handle. The objective is to leave the leather behind the handle in place and to cut off the leather that covers the top one half of the handle so only the top of the knife handle is accessible.
-
7
Cut two slits in the top of the leather behind the handle where the belt will slide through to hold the sheath. Cut the 2 slits two inches down from the top of the leather.
-
8
Use an awl to punch matching holes evenly 1/2-inch apart along the open seam of the sheath. Wet four inch strips of rawhide, available from hobby or craft stores, and tie a knot in each individual hole. Pull the rawhide tight, but allow the two strands of rawhide to hang loose as fringe decoration.
-
9
Cut a piece of scrap leather that conforms to the dimensions of the knife edge and overlaps it by two inches on both sides. Apply a coat of rubber cement to one side of the leather and slide it evenly over the seam on the inside of the sheath. Use a heavy book to place on top of sheath until the rubber cement dries. This piece of leather will prevent the knife edge from cutting the rawhide stitching.
-
10
Moisten the leather, insert the knife and allow the mountain man knife sheath to dry. The leather will conform to the shape of the knife.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
The cut edges of the leather can be sanded with sandpaper to make them smoother.
The cut edges of the leather can be colored with shoe polish if desired.
The rawhide strips that tie the seam together can be dyed different colors to add decoration to the sheath.
Keep the knife and sheath away from curious children.
References
- Photo Credit The Kirghiz knife image by vin5 from Fotolia.com
