Making a Wooden Knife Sheath

This is a step by step instructions of how I make wooden sheaths for the knives I make.

Step 1:

Step 1: Gather the material needed.  Here I have three pieces of wood, two reddish pieces for the sides and the lighter piece for the center.  I planned the three pieces just a hair thicker than the knife blade on my thickness planner.

 

I do not know the types of wood as it is pieces I salvaged from wooden pallets we received at work.

Step 2:

Step 2: Lay the knife blade on the center piece and trace around the blade to get the shape. Make the appropriate changes to the lines to ensure that your knife can slide in and out of the sheath.

Note: I cut a slight angle on the board to accommodate the slope on my handle.

Step 3:

Step 3: Mark a second line about 1/4" larger than the shape/size of the blade ( this will be the outside diameter of your sheath).

Step 4:

Step 4: Cut out on the inside lines you drew on the center piece. I use my "dremel" and cleaned it up with a utility knife and some sand paper.

Step 5:

Step 5:  Using a good wood glue and lots of clamps (no you cannot use to many clamps), line up and glue the center piece to one of your out side pieces.

Step 6:

Step 6: Once your glue has set, it is a good time to test to see if your knife is going to slide in and out of your sheath.  If you do not make any adjustments now, it will be too late, later on.

 You can see my secret for keeping the knife in the sheath.  I use a forstner bit, and epoxy to set one or two small thin earth magnets in one side of my sheaths.

Step 7:

Step 7: Trim the two glued piece to the second set of lines you drew on the centre piece.  I use my scroll saw and 1X32 inch belt sander for this step.

Step 8:

Step 8: Again using good wood glue and lots of clamps, line up the second side of the sheath and glue it to the other two pieces.

Step 9:

Step 9: Once glue has set trim the second side to match the other two and finish shaping and sanding your sheath to the desired shape and smoothness.

 I sand to a 400 grit, but a 220 grit would be sufficient.

 

Step 10:

Step 10:  Seal your sheath with at least three coats of varnish, sanding between each coat.

I applied one coat of vanish, and then painted my design* on the sheath followed with three more coats of varnish

*My son commissioned this knife and wanted one that represented an arrow.  The design on the sheath suppose to represent a feather in the totem style of painting. The knife is made from 3/16" welding stock all steel including the handle.  The blade length is 8", with an overall length of 15".  Needless to say the knife is fairly hefty.