filler or not for knife sheath

[JD Alan]

Howdy one and all. Work has had me up against the wall for the past few months so I've not done much with leather. Now I've got a friend who wants a plain black knife sheath for a nice little single edge 6 inch hunting knife with a hlt. His CAS rig is plain black so he wants it to match, which sounds easy enough.

Is there a rule of thumb for adding a filler to a sheath? Does it have anything to do with how thick the blade is? The belt loop will be a fold over sewn to the back, if that matters. I've had little experience with knife sheaths up to this point, so any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, JD

[ChuckBurrows]

Howdy JD - yes you should have a welt installed - on both sides if that's the style sheath or if a fold over pouch style than just along the cutting edge - (i.e. wherever there is a sewn seam). The welt itself should be at it's thickest the same or sighly thinner than the thickest part of the blade and 3/8" wide.

Som hopefully helpful free tutorials on sheathmaking....thes should demonstrate what I said above with pics included
http://www.wrtcleather.com/1-ckd/mexloop/_mexloop.html - this one can easily convert to a regular belt loop

http://www.knivesby.com/knifemaking.html - scroll down to the sheath making section

[Cliff Fendley]

JD, as Chuck said definitely use a welt for safety. My knives are from 1/8 thick to 1/4 thick, most hunters are 3/16. I regularly use 8-9 oz for all my welts since it's normally what I make sheaths from.

[JD Alan]

Well, I couldn't have heard from two better people for this information.  He wants the fold over style sheath, very plain and simple for his very plain black rig. He has no stamping or carving at all, and that's what he's looking for in a sheath. It ought to be easy enough to do, so thanks again gentlemen, I appreciate that advice.

JD   

[WaddWatsonEllis]

JD, Chuck and Cliff,

This information is great!  I have already added it to my 'Favorites' list so that I can go back to it and review it ...

Thanks!