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About a year ago, I bought a Leatherman Charge TTi multitool which came with a rather bad leather sheath. The famous inventor of multitools once produced very fine leather sheaths, like the beautiful brown one that came with my first Leatherman Wave in 2003. But for some unknown reasons, their current sheaths (since 2004, actually) are either bulky, ugly or too stiff – and also do not really offer the space required for a Leatherman Charge TTi (or Wave 2004) and its bitholder. Everything fits inside but it takes a lot of force to pull the bitholder out. Also, there’s a hole at the bottom of the sheath which is supposed to be good + so that you can rest the opened tool inside the sheath. It's not that bad but I actually never used it.
I may not be the only one with this problem, and have in the past used a variety of other (+ nylon) sheaths to tackle this problem (tool & bitholder in one place). There seems to be a market for customized solutions, but I am based in Germany where it's very hard to find such ready-made sheaths, so I had to make my own. This time I wanted to make a sheath out of leather.
I may not be the only one with this problem, and have in the past used a variety of other (+ nylon) sheaths to tackle this problem (tool & bitholder in one place). There seems to be a market for customized solutions, but I am based in Germany where it's very hard to find such ready-made sheaths, so I had to make my own. This time I wanted to make a sheath out of leather.
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Signing UpStep 1Prepare your leather
First step was to surf around and check various online resources for inspirations. I actually already knew what I wanted to build – my first Leatherman Wave sheath from 2003 had set the standard for me. I wanted something like this…. but only bigger.
Next step: leather. Found a very nice & cheap offer for leather stripes (2-3 mm thickness) on eBay, which was exactly what I was looking for.
Ok, now how do I get this material into shape? Does it really require to be formed into shape? And when does this need to be done? Prior to or after sewing the parts together?
Sometimes you just have to do things your way. If it feels right, do it. So i dampened the leather, sealed the knife and bitholer in a plastic bag and placed it inside the leather which I then pressed into shape. Placed all of it on the heating in the bathroom and waited for it to dry up. Oh, and I used a stapler to hold it all together. This stapler method is rather primitive, but it gets the job done.
Next step: leather. Found a very nice & cheap offer for leather stripes (2-3 mm thickness) on eBay, which was exactly what I was looking for.
Ok, now how do I get this material into shape? Does it really require to be formed into shape? And when does this need to be done? Prior to or after sewing the parts together?
Sometimes you just have to do things your way. If it feels right, do it. So i dampened the leather, sealed the knife and bitholer in a plastic bag and placed it inside the leather which I then pressed into shape. Placed all of it on the heating in the bathroom and waited for it to dry up. Oh, and I used a stapler to hold it all together. This stapler method is rather primitive, but it gets the job done.
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instead of dampening all the leather, only dampen the "front" piece, ok, dampen isnt right, i almost SOAK it so that i can do my next step.
instead of using staples, i clamp the dry back, knife (or MT) and front dampened leather onto a board with 3 pieces of scrap wood the clamping makes the stretch tighter and more form fitting, it also give you a beautiful square bottom for the sheath. (side, other side, then bottom)
NEVER PRECUT the leather, wait till after it dries completely, and you sew it around the edges.
round the leather edging ("dressing the leather") with a dressing knife, basically a fork with a knife edge in the "V" it will give you a professional look.
after you finish the stitching, dye it, then add leather conditioner to lightly soften it back up. then polish like you would a dress pair of boots, (wax, burnish buff correct color polish)) for a high luster.
youve done a good job, it reminds me of the ones i built back when i first started. I learned the information i gave to you over the years. youll be "ahead of the curve" in no time.
one last tip. eventually all your friends will want one, polish your skills, get knife "blanks" out of wood (folders or MT) or scrap metal (straight knives) so that you can easilly make a sheath without the knife (or MT)
get practiced with these tips and i cant WAIT to see how you progress!
I am waiting to make another project like this one, so much fun and joy while working with leather. Especially the edging is addicitive - simple but efficient. I used the wodden end of my awl to flatten it out. I've seen the tool you've mentioned here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c8_8wD_mnc
another great tool is a common spoon.... it can smooth out areas that are rough with lightly dampened tool grade leather (vegetable tanned)