Puukko and Sheath Build Along

[4estTrekker]

I'm working on a few puukkos for friends and thought I snap a few pictures of the process along the way. This one is built around a 4" Mora Classic blade in carbon with some added spine jimping and a forced patina. The handle is stacked brass, walnut burl, copper, birch bark, figured maple, and whitetail antler. This thread focuses more on the sheath building process, but I did catch a few pictures of the knife itself in progress. Finished pictures will be coming soon!

DESIGN and INITIAL FIT UP


ROUGH INITIAL PROFILE and BUTT CAP RAW MATERIALS


BUTT CAP ASSEMBLY and LAY OUT


BUTT CAP GLUE UP


FULL HANDLE ROUGH PROFILING

[4estTrekker]

LAYOUT of SHEATH TEMPLATE
I've been experimenting with a different style of Scandinavian sheath construction wherein the leather is cut to shape before sewing begins. Circumference measurements are taken incrementally along the handle/wooden inner sheath via a thin scrap of the sheath leather and transferred to graph paper.


CUTTING the SHEATH BLANK
The sheath blank is cut out with an inside bevel along the sewn edges. You can also see how to the top edge of the sheath has been skived and folded/glued back on itself to create a nicely finished edge.


STITCH HOLE LAYOUT
All of the stitch holes are laid out and made with a triangular stitching awl at an angle such that they are only visible on the finished side of the leather. They come through near the bottom edge of the beveled side. This allows for a butt joint seam, which produces a much lower profile seam (less than 1 mm) compared to other traditional techniques.


STITCHING the HANDLE SECTION
The handle section of the sheath is first stitched without the knife inserted.


INSERTING KNIFE and FINISHING STITCH LINE
Because the leather is worked wet, it stretches easily to allow for the insertion of the knife/wooden inner sheath. As it dries, it draws up to a very snug fit.

[4estTrekker]

FINISHED SEAM
The sheath is set aside to dry for about an hour before I start the forming and tooling process.


FORMING and TOOLING LAYOUT


TEXTURE TOOLING PROCESS
I like how this breaks up the sheath and helps define which way the knife blade goes in.


PRESSING MY MAKER'S STAMP

[4estTrekker]

BELT LOOP LAYOUT
I've come to favor this style of dangler belt loop. It requires no sewing or mechanical fasteners.


EDGE FINISHING and TOOLING BELT LOOP
The texture tooling is mirrored on the belt loop. The edges are burnished as well.


SHEATH and LOOP PREPPED FOR ASSEMBLY
The belt loop is formed by feeding the two integral laces back through the loop and attached to the sheath by threading them through the graduated holes in the sheath. Friction alone holds everything together. The laces also help make for a really tight, snap fit between the knife and sheath once everything is burnished and seated.



FINISHED ASSEMBLY


Everything is ready for a good finish waxing, buff, and photo session. Then it's off to someone who can put it through its paces for years to come!

[MRaske]

Thank you for taking the time to put this together. I have made a few knives and sheaths like these, and I learned a lot. Well done!

[Bjorkman]

Wow! It is near to see the artistic part of a functional handle and sheath. Very impressive. Thank you very much, absolutely beautiful!