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Oak Skinner Dos

Mike Stafford

Mike Stafford

Member
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2,350
Location
Coastal plain of North Carolina
Here is another of my latest skinning knives This little feller is only 5 1/2" long and several of my hunter customers just love it. They would love it better if I made sheaths for my knives. At this point I don't have any of the skills necessary to make a sheath and I am not sure I want to invest the money necessary to make leather or kydex sheaths. Both require a substantial investment in materials and equipment

Most importantly I have a finite supply of old saw blades I don't expect to be making knives forever as I am not going to invest the time and money in the necessary forging equipment to make knives from scratch.

Here is the little oak skinner....2.

IMG_8810 mod (Custom).jpg
 
Good looking knife Mike. :thumb:

Kydex isn’t too expensive and can be softened in a toaster or regular oven. Tape up the knife with masking tape and use a couple of pieces of foam to form the soft kydex around the knife until it hardens. Then it’s just cutting and drilling.

I built a small vacuum form a while back for doing holsters that worked reasonably well.

Vacuum forming

I've recently picked up a few new toys and need some holsters for them. I saw a few youtube videos on doing vacuum forming of kydex and thought I might give it a try. Here is the box I've built, which will have my shopvac connected to the port on the side. The top is a simple frame...
familywoodworking.org familywoodworking.org

And as Frank says tooling for leather isn’t that expensive
 
Ryan Mooney said:
Did you do anything to seal the more open oak grain for a skinner?

I like the handle shape, should work really well for the purpose.
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About the only thing I did was choose it from some scrap pieces I had saved.

P.S. I misinterpreted your question and gave you the wrong answer. I did nothing to fill the open grain except apply multiple coats of wiping varnish.

Thanks for the comment.
 
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Darren Wright said:
Good looking knife Mike. :thumb:

Kydex isn’t too expensive and can be softened in a toaster or regular oven. Tape up the knife with masking tape and use a couple of pieces of foam to form the soft kydex around the knife until it hardens. Then it’s just cutting and drilling.

I built a small vacuum form a while back for doing holsters that worked reasonably well.

Vacuum forming

I've recently picked up a few new toys and need some holsters for them. I saw a few youtube videos on doing vacuum forming of kydex and thought I might give it a try. Here is the box I've built, which will have my shopvac connected to the port on the side. The top is a simple frame...
familywoodworking.org familywoodworking.org

And as Frank says tooling for leather isn’t that expensive
Click to expand...
Thaniks.

At this point the only thing I have invested is some ceramic belts and discs for shaping and sharpening. I also bought quite a bit of silicon carbide wet/dry for polishing.

My concern is by the time I learn to make a sheath I will be out of saw blades. :unsure:
 
here ya go Mike.

Kydex - - Video Search Results

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and another...

Kydex - - Video Search Results

The search engine that helps you find exactly what you're looking for. Find the most relevant information, video, images, and answers from all across the Web.
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Weaver leather supply (great people, decent prices, but their web site... depends on what state of reconstruction its in from ok to unusable..) has a really great step by step series on hand making a sheath with leather. Not saying do or don't but might help guide the decision on level of difficulty/expense.

Updated link to the by project shopping guide: https://www.weaverleathersupply.com/c/products/shop_by_project/sheaths/leather_knife_sheath

You do NOT need all of those parts (round strap end punch and strap cutter are for example very optional, a wooden handscrew clamp can stand in for a stitching pony albeit a bit slower, etc..) and at least some of it (barge cement, wing dividers) is either useful for other things or something you probably already have, and other bits (the leather slicker, probably an awl) are as well or better made yourself out of hardwood, drill stock, etc..

The flat chisel set is highly recommended over the old rotary marking wheel and awl marking/punching method, worth it, stitch groover is very nice and really ups the stitch longevity/quality, edge beveler ditto for product quality. Punch and snap/rivet setters are generally useful.






https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYp8RpVV6no

Bonus wet forming for a box knife (useful technique to get a bit more of the handle in for regular knives)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgoxc0eaLGQ
 
Thank you for all the links. I have done a great deal of exploration about how to build leather and/or kydex sheaths. There are many videos out there that do an excellent job of teaching the ins and outs of making a sheath.

My biggest issue is the initial outlay for one sheath is pretty high. I am not sure my customer base will be willing to pay the extra for a sheath. And as I said I don't know how many more knives I can build before my old blade stockpile is just an outline in the dust on my workbench.

I haven't explored the cost of purchasing old blades yet. My material cost is pretty low.

Here is one of my favorite builders. He is the man whose video I saw that gave me the idea of using my old saw blades. He is an excellent teacher. There are hundreds of videos out there that are excellent.

 
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Mike Stafford said:
My biggest issue is the initial outlay for one sheath is pretty high.
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yeah that's definitely true.. really only worth it if you're going to end up with multiples or have other related projects. The latter is largely why I ended up with more leather tooling. It always seems like there's an unlimited number of things you can do though..
 
Mike Stafford said:
But they continue to buy my knives..
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And that right there is the crux of the matter :) Doing what you like, with enough customers happy enough to buy them for what you want to sell them for.. seems like an overall win to me.

And honestly thinking back on it.. Of the 3 knives I've bought that came with a sheath I was at least moderately unhappy with 3 of them and ended up either modifying the original or making my own. So I personally haven't actually had a great hit rate on the knife maker providing a sheath (granted somewhat more mass commercial products so definitely YMMV).
 
Ryan Mooney said:
And that right there is the crux of the matter :) Doing what you like, with enough customers happy enough to buy them for what you want to sell them for.. seems like an overall win to me.

And honestly thinking back on it.. Of the 3 knives I've bought that came with a sheath I was at least moderately unhappy with 3 of them and ended up either modifying the original or making my own. So I personally haven't actually had a great hit rate on the knife maker providing a sheath (granted somewhat more mass commercial products so definitely YMMV).
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One of my main concerns is how long will it be and how much material am I going to waste before I make a decent sheath? My knives are hardly perfect but I am proud of them. I would hate to sell a knife and have feedback from the customer about my crappy sheath.

By the way, I am selling my knives with a cardboard/card stock blade protector.
 
After the last knife I made (which was almost 4 years ago), I decided to make a sheath for it. Watched a few videos and decided I could do it. Got the leather free from my sister...she had some that had been my grandmother's, who used to do a lot of leatherwork. I ordered a flat chisel set on Amazon and picked up some needles and heavy waxed thread from the local Tandy store. And 4 years or so later, that's still where I'm at. Every once in a while I see the leather stored away in a closet and tell myself I need to get after it and get the sheath made. I know it'll be a fairly simple project (thanks to Grandma I've got a bit of leatherworking experience) but still, the project has stalled out.
 
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