Source for welt material?

[RickNJ]

Anyone know where I can get some heavy welt material? I looked in the tandy catalog and didn't see any. In the loveless/barney book he says to use shoe sole material and I have been trying to find an online source for that with no luck. Any suggestions?

[Don Cowles]

The Leather Factory has it, but your local shoe repair shop might be willling to sell you a piece, too.

[Sandy Morrissey]

Here again we have the mounta9n preceding the mole hill---- It is not necessary to have shoe bend leather as a welt in a sheath. Due to the fact that the welt is inserted in the sewn edge of the sheath that has the sharpened edge of the blade, even if the blade is double edged-- the welt will be the length of the sharpened edge and not subject to much slicing cut. Rather than go to the expense of purchasing a shoe bend (which is #### hard to work with) I would use up some of the scrap leather you might have laying around. When the welt is sewn into the sheath it is contacted (maybe) by the length of the edged blade, and is very resistant to being sliced through. Try not to be guilty of overkill when getting material for your sheath. If you are not making, or capable of making, a sheath of presentation quality, do not me coerced into purchasing materials that you can not hope to recover the outlay of dinero. It might be repulsive for the knifemaker that prides his ability to fashion all of his work as a personal achievement, whether factual or not, but, unless he is exceptional, gifted in leather craft as well as his/her skills in blade crafting, he/she will have to eat the extra expense involved in fashioning the sheaths that will compliment their knives. I am sure that most of us work to augment our income unless it is a labor of love (which has its own place) but the average knifemaker would be better off putting that time into grinding or forging another blade. Why should one be so desirous of fashioning the sheath while purchasing the stag or various scales for the handle material? Or , perhaps, purchasing a damascus blank from another? Sole authorship is a contrived fallacy that comes #### close to being a lie, or at the very least, an evasion of fact. Perhaps this statement will bring me a lot of flack but will NEVER sway my opinion. Sandy

[cactusforge]

Well said Sandy!
Gib

[Chuck Burrows]

Sandy well said!
For those who aren't aware, sole leather is heavily compressed as it is designed for taking the wear of walking on. It is therefore very difficult to work with. With all due respect to Messr's Loveless and Barney it is not necessary for a welt. I've either made or repaired thousands of sheaths in the last forty years and have never once had to repair one because the welt had been cut through. I suppose it could happen, but it must be extremely rare and would take a lot of effort.

Sandy also thank you for conveying your thoughts regarding "sole authorship" so well. I know there is a loooong post going on over on bladeforums.com regarding this subject and it has had my head shaking in wonder. Why is this such an apparently touchy subject with knifemakers? Most custom gunsmiths collaborate on projects (i.e. one does the action work - usually a reworked commercial action, another does the barrel, another does the stock, and so on). In fact I can only think off the top of my head of one maker who I would think of as offering sole authorship - Frank Wells of AZ who makes actions, barrels, and so on in one shop. I think much more important is a well made quality item and if takes collaborative effort to do that then fine. IF you can do it all yourself than great, but not all folks can or should do all things. That's not to say you shouldn't try, but as Dirty Harry so succinctly said, "A man has got to know his limitations." and one should not be thought less of when he reaches his limits of skill or desire. I love knives and have made a few blades over the years but that part of the work just doesn't ring my chimes. I do love doing grip work and my passion is leather and luckily I have some talent for it so that is what I put my energies into.

So again thank you Mr. Morrisey and such forthrightness should not be a reason for disrespect.
Read the quote below and take it to heart.

Chuck

[DC KNIVES]

Sandy, My Dear Friend, thanks for again showing your wisdom. New sheathmakers and knifemakers can benefit from those words.I'm pretty much in the labor of love group.While not exceptional at either, I truly have a passion for both sheathmaking and knifemaking.I know many times I barely cover expenses on a knife/sheath package.I know a time will come when I can see more income but that only comes from practice,practice,and more practice.
As we have discussed before, it is sad to go to a show and see a quality maker sell a knife and pull out a generic sheath from under the table. If the maker can't make a sheath worthy of putting a $250 knife in, he should be looking to someone else. With a quality sheath, that $250 knife might go for $300 or more.Think package guys.Just my $.02, Dave

[MtMike]

I used sole leather for the welt on my very first sheath. Never did it again, for all the reasons stated above. But at that time there was no Forum for garnering the combined wisdom of hundreds of years of sheathmaking experience, so I had to learn it the hard way. BTW I still have that sheath, and it's a constant reminder that by asking questions, I can do things smarter, often easier and cheaper, and always better.
MtMike