My take on leather Leatherman Sheaths

[Poncho65]

Well as everyone knows I have been searching high and low for the old school LM leather sheaths for the PST and a few other various sizes I finally tracked some Supertool sheaths down but I searched for the PST but to no avail So I thought why not make a sheath for it myself I had some leftover leather from my leather strops and it was about the right thickness so I went out to the garage and took a SAK and cut the leather into the shape I wanted then with a big rubber band took and wrapped the sheath around a PST and left it for a a day or so, until I could get some snaps and rivets Well I found the snaps and rivets and put the sheath together and here is the results I really like the feel of it and it seems to ride my belt as good if not better than the LM sheath does I guess it's the softer leather

[Sean]

nice job on those!  good pic's as well showing what you've done.  pride in doing it yourself is hard to beat. 

[Poncho65]

Thanks Sean Yeah I did enjoy making them

They are actually the same exact dimension of the original sheath but they came out as a little bigger in the pics but they are the same size Not replying to you Sean I am  just now noticing that they look a bit bulkier after looking at the pics on here Plus does anyone know how they got the leather to be stiffer I would like to try that and see if I can get that squared look of the sheaths as well

[DaveK]

Great job poncho - they look great

[Benner]

Nice one mate. 

[appletree_man]

Great job   
Did you use large washers on the inside ?  And where did you get the rivets themselves ?

The old style LM sheaths do something to me, just love them. Word of warning though, I used some leather cream on an unused old stock PST sheath and it took a lot of the stiffness out of it.

[DaveK]

I like them better as they wear and soften. A well beaten PST sheath is a sight to behold

[Poncho65]

Thanks guys For now I believe that I will leave these as is they seem to be doing the job just fine

@ ATM I used some rivets that just hammered together once you had a hole just put the backside (the washer side) thru and put the top on and hammer them in I guess that both sides of the rivet are the same size diameterwise anyway I got the snaps a Wal-Mart in the craft dept. but I had to go to a hobby shop for the assorted pack of rivets

The packet of snaps came with a leather hole punch and the tools to put them on with.  The rivets came with the tools to put them on but not a leather punch but I ended up buying a better punch than came with the snaps cause I thought if I do several sheaths that that particular hole punch might not last

[MultiMat]

So Poncho when will we see some black sheaths for Crunch's 

[Poncho65]

So Poncho when will we see some black sheaths for Crunch's 

I'll have to go and buy some black leather 1st I have a few thousand brick to lay for the next few Saturdays and don't know when I will be able to make it over to the leather shop When I do make it there I will try and get some black leather and make a Crunch sheath

[appletree_man]

Thanks guys For now I believe that I will leave these as is they seem to be doing the job just fine

@ ATM I used some rivets that just hammered together once you had a hole just put the backside (the washer side) thru and put the top on and hammer them in I guess that both sides of the rivet are the same size diameterwise anyway I got the snaps a Wal-Mart in the craft dept. but I had to go to a hobby shop for the assorted pack of rivets

The packet of snaps came with a leather hole punch and the tools to put them on with.  The rivets came with the tools to put them on but not a leather punch but I ended up buying a better punch than came with the snaps cause I thought if I do several sheaths that that particular hole punch might not last

Ah, good stuff. I've got a quality British made hole punch. Can't remember the name but it's the type with a rotating head (6 different sizes I think). I don't use it so I might trade it on here later.

[RaptorMan]

The stiffness comes from a lamination process, along with the coating on different leathers for different types of resistance for different things. I work with a couple of the leather suppliers out of Mexico for automobile seats. I could find out if there is a simple way to "stiffen" it up.

[Buzzbait]

Leather can be boiled to stiffen it up. It can also be heated up and waxed. Both methods will stiffen the leather to a certain degree, as well as allow the leather to be molded to a specific shape.

But in the end, it pays to buy the proper type of leather. Some kinds of leather are just stiffer than other kinds. The stiffer stuff is usually the more expensive. This comes from the thickness of the leather, the type of animal that the leather comes from, where on the body the leather is taken from, the type of grain, and the tanning method that is used on the leather.

Ponchos leather appears to be an inexpensive type of bonded leather. Whether it would survive treatment and shaping would depend on what the layers were bonded with. My guess is that boiling or waxing would destroy the bond.

[RaptorMan]

The backbone area gives the greatest results. I would agree tanning is some of it but there is a lot to the process that gives it the stiffness. I know it automobile seats the softer the leather the better to manipulate and produce a wrinkle free product.

By the way if anyone is looking for leather I have some if interested. This isnt that thick but its good material. I come across pcs of leather (mainly black) here and there and keep it for projects.