A wooden sheath is a great way to keep your knife close at hand. A sheath can also hold other items, such as a pocket watch, compass, cell phone, or a tool.
Sheaths are made of leather, but if you prefer to use wood instead, it is possible to make a sheath that will hold a knife securely without a strap. Sheaths can be made from basswood, birch, or other wood that is not prone to splitting.
Leather
A wooden sheath for a knife is an excellent way to keep the blade safely at hand. You can also use it to store other items such as a pocket watch, compass, or cell phone.
First you’ll need a piece of leather. Tooling leather, tanned with Oak bark, is the best option, but you can also buy small quantities of chrome tanned leather at a leather craft chain such as Tandy’s.
You’ll want to use a pattern to trace the sheath onto the leather. You can do this by tracing the sheath on paper, but you’ll have better results if you transfer it to a heavier piece of material.
Using the pattern, lay the knife on the leather; handle toward you, edge to the right (for right handed people). Then, draw around the handle and the sharp edge of the knife. Leave a margin for the seam. Lastly, draw an additional tab on the top of the sheath that will fold down to form a belt loop.
Wood
A wooden sheath is a great accessory for your knife, it protects the blade and makes it easier to carry around. It also keeps the knife sharp and prevents it from falling out.
A good wooden sheath is made from a quality wood. This wood should be durable and not prone to splitting. The best woods for this project are basswood or white pine (not spruce, that is too easy to split).
To make the sheath inserts first trace the blade outline on two pieces of wood and cut them with a stanley knife or dremel with a router attachment. Once they are cut out, remove the excess wood between the lines to create a depression that will hold the blade.
Once the sheath inserts are made, glue them together and let them dry. When they are dry, shape the outside of the sheath to fit your blade.
Stitching
If you want to make a wooden sheath for your knife, stitching is one of the easiest and most traditional ways to go about it. Stitching is a type of sewing that involves two needles on either end of a long thread and working both needles through the sheath to the opposite side on every stitch.
To do this, you need a leather gauge and a rowel tool to cut a shallow groove into the leather that runs along the edge of your sheath seam. Mark the stitches in the groove using a rowel tool, or you can do it freehand.
Once the stitching is done, the sheath should look like the picture above. Rub the outside with neatsfoot oil, and apply mink oil or Sno-Seal to protect it from water.
Finally, trim the sheath to size, taking care not to cut yourself. Then, sand it smooth and add any finishing touches you desire. It’s a good idea to seal your sheath with at least three coats of varnish, sanding between each coat.
Finishing
Wooden sheaths have a long tradition of use all over the world. They are incredibly versatile and are available in just about every style imaginable.
A wooden sheath protects the knife, keeping it sharp and preventing it from being lost or stolen. It also makes it easier to carry and transport.
Sheaths can be either a pouch-style, where the handle sits inside with just a few inches of blade exposed or they can have a strap that secures the handle and leaves only the blade inside.
After creating the pattern on paper, you can start developing all the components of the sheath. This involves sanding, cutting, gluing and stitching all of the pieces together. It is important to have the tools and materials ready before you begin, as this process can be time consuming.