Traditional knife sheaths - what weight leather?

[Ladobe]

Maybe slightly OT - but figure the folks that would have some answers will be here.

Need some input on what weight leather to use for traditional sheaths for 35 Green River knives I am building.   These are the traditional blades for mountainman reenactments (belt, buffalo, Dadley, boner and butcher).

8-9 ounce is a guess for the belt blades - lighter for the cookies.   Am I anywhere near the right ballpark?

Thanks,

Ladobe

[quickdtoo]

Those that I have made were with heavy leather soaked and shaped or with a rawhide core and thinner leather on the outside. They were good enough for me to join a couple of very strict primitive fur trade era groups. Designs were taken from Book of Buckskinning, part IV, IIRC.

[lostid]

yup, that's about right.
 I use "oak tanned" leather,,the stuff is very rigid,very tough. It's actually scraps from a "Saddle" maker,,,,
  After the wet clamped form fit for each blade, I prefer a stitched welting on the cutting edge vrs. rivets. I use a 4 prong punch I got from Tandy to get even spacing for my stitch,,,,that's what I do,, best wishes all

[TimWieneke]

"8-9 ounce is a guess for the belt blades - lighter for the cookies."

Just right.  It will take the wet forming well.  If you don't have clamps, I've found that sliding the blade into the pages of phone books with weight on top work well as a "wet forming" clamp and seem to spread the pressure uniformly across the sheath's surface.

For the thinner stuff - a friend of mine makes braintanned buckskin.  Don't know how much and how often, but I could put you in touch with him if you're interested.

Tim

[cbagman]

Howdy.. Go with the 8-9 oz oak tanned cowhide. I have made a couple hundred cases/sheaths. If I have a tang on the knife, the spacer is jogged out to fit.. I make a pattern with the completed knife for the spacer and the body. I make the spacer out of 10-12 leather and cut it out on a band saw..I usually have a belt loop doubled at the top and riveted below the top @ 1 inch down and then again two inches below that.. I glue up the sheath and after it sets, I dress down the edge on a belt sander.. I drill 1/16 holes about 1/8 inch or a bit more apart all down the edge. I wrap the knife in Handy wrap and souse down the whole sheath with whatever alcohol base die I am using with a dauber.. I wear rubber gloves. I insert the knife in the wet sheath and form the leather to the knife with a  blunt antler tip. After an hour or two I carefully remove the knife and let it dry. I sew up the edge with artificial senew or nylon or linen thread.. I burnish bees wax into the edge and finish the sheath with a waxy coating and sometimes a hard coating depending if it is modern or primitive. This dye method gives a hard case form fitted. It is extremely hard for the knife to fall out of one...At one time I was making a lot of leather possible bags of custom design. The first 30 or 40 I tanned the deer skins and dyed them. They called me the Carolinabagman at rendezvous.. cbagman