Sgian Dubh sheath slippage

[unixken]

Here's a thread that describes and shows my solution for securing a sheath in my hose, to keep it from slipping up and down. It works brilliantly.

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...an-dubh-75686/

[Father Bill]

Here's a thread that describes and shows my solution for securing a sheath in my hose, to keep it from slipping up and down. It works brilliantly.

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...an-dubh-75686/

I only wish that I was skilled enough at stitching! Ah well; perhaps sufficient motivation here.

[Nathan]

Thanks for the tips! I'll try them. Sheath this this style.

sgian dubh.jpg

[Dale Seago]

Wet-molded leather works very well indeed. My own sgian and sheath (made for me by someone here at Xmarks) stay firmly in place -- though I'm sure the fact that I use garter ties rather than flashes helps with that. The knife essentially "snaps into" the sheath, yet draws from my hose with no "drag" noticeable. You can see how it was done, here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=86ea3c07b3

As far as doing your own wet-molding is concerned, I once made a wet-molded thick leather half-liner fitted to the inside of a steel broadsword basket. Instead of using water, though, I used isopropyl alcohol (aka "rubbing alcohol") -- wets the leather just as well, and dries more rapidly than water with no worries about rust. After the liner was "set" and dry to the touch, I baked it at low heat for a while to really harden it. (One doesn't want to get punctured through the basket, don't you know!). It worked very well.

[artificer]

Wet-molded leather works very well indeed. My own sgian and sheath (made for me by someone here at Xmarks) stay firmly in place -- though I'm sure the fact that I use garter ties rather than flashes helps with that. The knife essentially "snaps into" the sheath, yet draws from my hose with no "drag" noticeable. You can see how it was done, here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=86ea3c07b3

As far as doing your own wet-molding is concerned, I once made a wet-molded thick leather half-liner fitted to the inside of a steel broadsword basket. Instead of using water, though, I used isopropyl alcohol (aka "rubbing alcohol") -- wets the leather just as well, and dries more rapidly than water with no worries about rust. After the liner was "set" and dry to the touch, I baked it at low heat for a while to really harden it. (One doesn't want to get punctured through the basket, don't you know!). It worked very well.

The only issue with using alcohol (and this is true of spirit based dyes as well) is that it can cause the leather to become very brittle, if you're not careful.
It shouldn't be too much of an issue with something as small as a knife sheath, but given how tight a wet moulded sheath can fit it could be problematic on some knife styles.

ith:

[Father Bill]

When I've done wet molding, I've also added a thin sheet of card-stock of the same shape as the blade, then the saran wrap, then done the molding. Thus, when dried, there's a wee bit of slack to allow the blade space to enter.

Another option is to include a piece of thin copper sheeting along the sharp edge. It's then incorporated into the sheath to prevent the leather from being cut, but a metal soft enough to prevent overly dulling the blade.

[Nathan]

Wet-molded leather works very well indeed. My own sgian and sheath (made for me by someone here at Xmarks) stay firmly in place -- though I'm sure the fact that I use garter ties rather than flashes helps with that.

I also typically use garter ties rather than flashes with day wear. but I don't like the whole handle (it's quite heavy) above the ties so I slip part of the handle below the garter tie, thus the pressure of the tie is not directly on the sheath, but rather on the antler handle itself.

[MNlad]

*** wet molding. You could also glue a very thin scrap of leather in the opening at the top of the sheath to take up the slack. However, you would have to be careful each time you resheath the blade so it doesn't catch the edge of the scrap, unless it is big enough to also wrap over the top and down the back of the sheath a bit.

[CMcG]

I've handled Nathan's sgian and the antler is massive. Very nice, sharp Sheffield steel too!

Just wet moulding his current sheath is unlikely to counteract the problem completely. I'd suggest getting a slightly bigger sheath and wet moulded to the knife, so that part of the handle is covered by the leather. That way, when the sgian is pushed further into the hose to counter balance the weight of the handle, some of the sheath could still be under the garter ties.

[creagdhubh]

Thanks for the tips! I'll try them. Sheath this this style.

sgian dubh.jpg

That's the same style of sheath I have on my bespoke stag horn handled sgian dubhs from Comrie Crafts. They have never slipped!