Wet forming Leather...How do you do it?

Pretty self explanatory,

How do you guys wet for your sheaths (If you make em that way)

heres how I do it
My sheaths are all one piece of leather usually, and instead of snaps etc. to hold my blades in their sheaths I much prefer a deep pouch style sheath which is wet formed to the Contours of the knife.

The first few times I formed a sheath I did it by hand. just wet the leather (warm water) and wrapped it around the knife and formed it to the contours by hand. I wasen't getting a tight enough fit that way.

Now I use two 2" thick pieces of foam glued two pieces of plywood to mould the sheaths.

what I do is cut out my basic frofile in the leather, sew the belt loop, wet the leather good with warm water, wrap the leather around the knife (which is sealed covered in plastic wrap) in the position I want it to be in the sheath.

now I place the knife wrapped in leather between the two pieces of foam and clamp tightly in a big wood working vise.

Now i just let it sit clamped like that until it is dry. Once its dry I remove it and contour, hand stitch,dye etc. as normal.
I get a really tight fit this way, and it looks much better than when I was doing it by hand, mainly its more consistent.

so how do YOU do it?

regards
Eric

Eric,I have never tried the foam trick but it sounds good.I will have to try it.I glue up my sheath and when dry,stitch it,then soak it.I then push the knife in and form it.After drying I can burnish the edges and dye.Dave

I use the same general method but I use 6 or so spring clamps and leather pads to form the leather to the knife.
Works real good too. I like your idea with the foam & plywood. If I get a big vice I may have to try it.

I do *two* wet formings, a la Bob Loveless. The first is while the sheath is still an open piece. Wrap it around the knife and just push and prod until it stretches in the right places. Let it dry, and finish the sheath. Wet it again, and put the knife in it.

Here's where I depart from other comments- I use what leather workers call a "bone folder." It's not bone, and it doesn't fold. It's like an oversized popsickle stick (thicker too) with one end rounded, and the other a rounded, flat point for getting into corners. I'll post a pic or two in the couple of days- I made mine from water buffalo horn, highly buffed and polished.

The bone folder is used to push the wet leather into every crevice and contour of the knife. Moving it back and forth clearly defines the shape of the knife, and makes the sheath both more "grippy" and more attractive.

Pull the knife out carefully and dry it off very well (even if you had it wrapped in saran wrap)- might even put another coat of floor wax or Renaissance wax on it at this point just to make sure you didn't leave any moisture behind.

I wet vegie tanned leather with alcohol (called methylated spirits here but I think it is methyl -or ethylalcohol) It evapourates quicker than water and draws more oils to the leather surface. Place the whole knife in alfoil or plastic shrink wrap before starting.
It works well for embossing and tooling too.

Here is a picture of a couple of the bone folders that I made from water buffalo horn.

I wet form by hand, working slowly to avoid digging my finger nails in. I like the bone folders Don, gonna have to make a few. One thing I'd like to add is to wrap your knife in plastic wrap before wet forming, I've heard horror stories of wet leather rusting a knife in a hurry so have always used the plastic wrap and haven't had a problems with rust (knock on wood).
Jon

I use a stick similar to Don?s.....I coat my blades in a teflongrease and plasticwrap...I have had blades rust even when coated in plastci...I used oil but the water must have forced it away...the grease goes nowhere

I don't use anything to protect the blade, and never have had a speck of rust, even on carbon steel.

Now, I do not leave the blade in the sheath any longer than I need to for the molding and forming process- usually less than a minute at most. Then I am very careful to wipe it down completely with paper towel, and, in the case of carbon steel, a coat of oil.

ya...that explains it...I sometimes leaves the knife in there for 2-3 days...untill the leather is dry. Other time I remove it after a few hours and stick the sheath in the oven at low heat to dry out.