& another quick custom leather sheath's done!


even faster than yesterdays.

yesterday's took about 6 minutes to make the 'cocoon' inner layer from ah long poster. i use the posters coz its upcycling junk, is free, benefits the environment & the material makes a strong base casing to wrap the leather around. its tough, yet pliable.

then, the leather or pleather - derived from discarded sofas dumped in neighborhoods - is tightly wrapped around the ah long poster casing.

i then mark off the desired length after ensuring there's about 1.5 inch overlap & proceed to cut the leather.

i additionally cut a short strip to seal the bottom of the sheath. marking & cutting took 6 minutes.

all thats left now is to stick & seal the bottom part of the sheath with the cut strip first, then wrap the cut leather around the 'cocoon' tightly & stick the overlapping ends.

i use a glue gun + glue stick for this. both are easily found in daiso for rm 5 each. looks like this:


the entire sticking process took 7 minutes. so, all in, it took 19 minutes & your leather sheath is now complete!

i usually like to leave the completed leather sheath with the knife inserted inside a vice wedged between wood for a whole night. this helps mould the shape & better form fits the sheath to the knife through extended compression. no vice? just place a piece of wood on top of the sheath & place heavy things on top of the wood - same effect. it will 'roti canai' the sheath.

i brush the sheath with oil the next day & dry under bright sun for a whole day. this helps dry, stiffen & seal the leather further. polish with a final application of oil to add another moisture repelling layer & you now have a shiny, but tough light leather sheath!

the second sheath was made in about 16 mins, even though its a longer blade.

wish could add vid links to showcase my method, but there just isnt any - my speedy light leather sheaths are too unique. no similar vids unfortunately.

other than the blade length, the additional difference between the 2 is yesterday's sheath had a feeder line at the bottom. today's doesnt.

whats a sheath feeder line?... its when i make a small opening at the bottom part of the sealing strip of the sheath to allow a piece of rope or lanyard through. this string allows the bottom part of the sheath to be firmly fastened to your leg & stops it from flapping/banging around your leg or caught in undergrowth. particularly useful when waterfall rappelling or horse riding. pix shows sheath with feeder line on left and sans on right.


the above sheaths were put in a vice for a few hours & polished with oil too btw. they are snug fit & shiny now.


on an aside, if you ever find your leather is too soft, fully soak in water & dry in hot sun - its becomes super hard!

its a way how leather armour was made in ancient times... do note though that this method may well ruin your leather too if not done right. its also called 'leather wet forming' & these vids show the technique:


and this

leather working is another skill that most crafters eventually master. wood working, steel working & leather working all go hand in hand when it comes to modern knife making - so do give it a go & grow your skills!

any interested in visiting me can try their hand on any or all 3 of the above skills. all tools & equipment to get started will be provided

... so just come on down.

btw, using the last post of the day to list the tools needed/used for making my sheaths: ah long poster, recycled leather/pleather, glue stick & glue gun (can skip & melt glue stick over candle too).

tomorrow's posts will resume the continuing journey of the evolution of smithing & the intersection of old skool blacksmithing converging with the use of modern power tools.

lol.

just realised my 'p lesen' just finished. yesterdays' last post was my number 50... ergo my probationary period is over.

nice to no longer be encumbered by a daily post limit

i would like to take the opportunity to draw some attentions to another local malaysian smith.

this adventurous crafters' creations verve towards unique & fantastical elements. his designs & accents show a very creative aesthetic flair & he's definitely most familiar with the art of steel working. wonderful to see that he has mastered some of the fine aspects of crafting in the 4 years he's been part time blademsithing. well done

this is his actual video page > https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsAU4pCvs_...h9beIWmQ/videos

& this video showcases a highlight montage of most of his works:


some of his videos particularly appeal to me because he uses the same scalloping/faux hammer forge scale method for texturing that i love to do too. examples can be seen here:

a truly very creative individual who deserves to have his unique creations highlighted. keep up the creative work

and in our continuing journey, here's another great example of old skool bladesmithing aided along by modern tools.

we go to taiwan today in this video to watch wu sifu make old bombs into artistic bombs. lol.

in addition to all the modern tools already mentioned in past posts, the additional new tool used today would be the oxy cutter used to quickly cut steel down to manageable pieces.

here's another longer, more detailed behind the scenes vid of what goes on in the factory floor.

do also note the nice manual powered shearer used to trim the knives to desired shapes.

moving on, the below video demonstrates how an oxy cutter cuts steel

& this video shows how a knife maker cuts steel with a plasma cutter. he's making what is known as a 'blank'

both are great fast steel cutting options. main difference is one uses flame to cut steel, while the other uses electrical current arcing through a gas medium. both require great practice too.

below is a good vid that compares both:

the above cutters are more often used by stock removal crafters to cut blanks from ready made billets. i'll detail about this style further down the line.

in today's post, we see the usage of many new powered modern tools to aid smiths!

in this vid below, we are introduced to, in sequence, the band saw, the belt sander, the drill press, a polishing wheel mounted on a lathe machine & a drill modded to act like a dremel rotary tool:

as there are lots of new tools used here & each plays a pivotal role, i will go into detail about each in a daily post starting tomorrow.

for now - enjoy how this crafter made his beatiful dimple textured knife with the aid of modern tools!

This post has been edited by CRAFT_COACH: Nov 21 2019, 11:40 AM

following yesterday's video, i said i'll detail the 5 new power tools mentioned within it - so lets get started with the first; the band saw.

here's a master craftsman (& forged in fire alumni!) discussing it. walter's indepth explanations saves me having to explain its merits & uses. enjoy


and in the below vid we have a different version - there are many types; portable, vertical, horizontal, table, etc.

more info on various the types here > https://www.southernfabsales.com/blog/the-d...pes-of-bandsaws

here's a breakdown on the types of band saw blades available & their respective uses (for wood, metal, etc)


& lastly, we have a video of diy band saw for all you diy experts out there. time to put those old bicycle wheels to good use:

all these posts on band saws has me motivated/itching to go play with mine. since the weekend draws near....

... think i'll fire it up & go make something tomorrow. been mulling making a unique type of karambit for some time now... so its a strong possibility that it will be on tomorrows' quick speedy project agenda - i might make a wooden prototype tomorrow. we'll see.

these are how karambit @ kerambit look btw:

yup... def makin a wooden mini karambit 2moro...design is all done.

will post pix as soon as done.

hope its sunny...

gonna start in 20 mins.

as usual - there will be 40 mins on the countdown timer

lets see how far i get

i'll post results soon as i'm done - give or take few mins

... and we're done!

nearly fully completed by the 40 min mark - just have to file the finger hole & make it fully circular for it to be fully done.

here's the design. free handed sketched on the wood direct:

... this is after cutting it out

... and this is after filling down & drilling a finger hole.






i'll detail about the process & my take on it in further detail later.

i made another wooden karambit yesterday. will post pix & detail about it later.

for now though, will be continuing on detailing the 5 power tools mentioned in the previous wu sifu video. here's no 2 on the list - the belt sander.

as it relates to knife making, you use this very essential piece of equipment for cleaning up knife blanks, beveling, edging & texturing blades, as well as shaping & texturing handles. they are just as commonly referred to as 'belt grinders', 'bench sanders' as well as 'belt sanders'... all 3 refer to the same tool... but do note - they are totally different from bench grinders. thats a different tool & will be detailed upon in much later posts.

here's master craftsman (& forged in fire alumni!) walter again, providing info about the belt sander & its uses

and in the below vid we have a different version. there are many types. below is a portable version. in my experience, its rare to see these types used for knife making. they still get the job done though, so use em if u got em

as mentioned, there are many types of sanders. here's a comprehensive look at the top 12 more popular variations: https://www.garagetooladvisor.com/power-too...nders-and-uses/

there's even a new version these days where you can buy it as an angle grinder attachment. naturally, its connected to & powered by an angle grinder. they are woefully under powered with a very narrow sanding strip. this results in overheated angle grinders and taking too much time to actually do realistic heavy grinding

it might be better off just using an angle grinder with a heavy grinding disc, followed by a flap disc, rather than using an angle grinder attached belt sander for knife making.

& lastly, we have a video of a diy version for all who want to make their own. plenty of vids available online to choose from. here's my top pick:

today we touch on the third power tool mentioned in the previous wu sifu video - the drill press.

as it relates to knife making, you use a drill press basically to drill into wood & steel. thats it. with a little ingenuity, you can even turn it into a milling machine - thats another modern tool & i'll delve into it in much later videos.

for now, here's master craftsman (& forged in fire alumni!) walter again, providing info about the drill press

and in the below vid, we have him again talking about the different versions available

though a drill is used rather minimally overall in knifemaking - it plays a very critical role. this is particularly so for those making full tang knives & other tang types that require the use of pins to hold the tang and scale (handle material) together.

so, while a drill is a critically needed tool... a drill press? not so much. especially for my needs.

personally, i never felt the pressing need to use or own a drill press. i've always found workarounds & other ways to get around from using it. its not mission critical for me personally.

but, it would definitely aid in more faster, precise drilling & allow for easier drilling of thicker materials. to that end, attached is a diy version for all who want to save some $ by making their own. plenty of vids available online to choose from. here's my top pick:

today we touch on the 4th power tool mentioned in the previous wu sifu video - the lathe machine.

as it relates to knife making, i generally use this machine to shape wood into handles with a uniform, circular shape. its particularly useful when making long wood handles for spears or polearms.

for now, here's master craftsman (& forged in fire alumni!) walter again, providing info about the lathe machine.

personally, i have never had the need to use the lathe machine as walter does above. my needs are different & my use is more to this way below

its not a critically needed tool for me. i've always found workarounds & other ways to get around from using it.

but, it would definitely aid in mass producing perfectly shaped round handles & in the other uses walter mentions above. to that end, attached is a diy version for those keen to make their own

as far as diy builds go, building your own lathe machine is actually one of the easier ones. i just use a drill with some modifications to serve as my lathe machine stand in. my jig is more like this, but simpler

... and another weekend is here!

i will definitely be doing some metal/woodworking later today.

got a few projects in mind - lets see what i end up eventually doing

did a few projects yesterday.

but as it was gloomy weather throughout the day - skipped posting till could get some decent pix.

first was the modification of the previously made mallet






after using it for a few weeks, felt i needed a more robust front wedge to allow for better tamping of materials on wider surfaces. so added a thicker wedge of heavy wood on 1 side to make it more heavy duty.

it has to be noted that the more wider the surface - the more even the force can be distributed. good for instances when you have to tamp things down, like heavy carpets, without damaging the surface.

additionally, i also wrapped the handle with rubber cord for better gripping & traction.

i'll prob use it a few more weeks & work the kinks out, before eventually finishing & 'beautifying' the exterior once i feel no further modifications are necessary.

... kerambit post follow up coming soon

this was the most recently made wooden kerambit



i haven't fine finished either with tapering or texturing the handles. just made quick 40 min versions/blanks with scrap wood for now. fine work later.

still feel more tweaks needed to the design. feels very much like other metal karambits. nothing unique.

so, think my next one is going to be really off the design charts - it'll probably have crazy angles/shape.

the tools i used > drill with hole maker bit, jigsaw with bandsaw modification, file.

wood material > recycled plywood for the first karambit & recycled hardwood for 2nd one.

here's a vid showing how i made mine:

this vid shows how to texturise/thicken handles though. its a more 'finished' version of mine: