This was made from a 29 inch saw blade from a mill. Sparked like xxxx, and hardened up good. I gave it a good test on this board, and it did perfect. 

I ebonized walnut, then sanded back the top for the handles. 

Did you make the ebonizing stain or use commercial? Great job by the way and nice touch stamping the sheath.

Pnut

Edited July 31, 20196 yr by pnut

0000 steel wool dissolved in white vinegar, then run through a coffee filter. Takes about a week unless you keep boiling it.

I make mine the same except I add a few tea bags for tannins.

Pnut

To concentrate it quickly I put it in a Pyrex measuring cup and put it on the heating plate of an old coffee maker until it's dark enough.

Edited July 31, 20196 yr by pnut

Tea bags is a neat idea. I may have to make a small test batch.

Thanks

That's how my stepdad showed me to make it when I was about 8 or 9 years old. Steel wool, White vinegar and tea bags. I just added concentrating it on the coffee maker.

Pnut

heating temperature, Mr. Pnut, et al.,

Oak leaves and acorns have large amounts of tannins. (red oaks have more than white oaks).  A steel wool soak in acetic acid,  (i.e.  vinegar),  and then treating it with ammonia vapor will dramatically speed up the reaction.

Test this chemical treatment on  leather scraps before using it on valuable leather items.  (in order to determine concentration of the chemicals,  and soak times, etc. ).

SLAG.

There was a few old Gurkhas that visited the Hebrides a few years ago and one of them left a Kukri behind the bar in the local, we admire it from time to time. Jeez, they are sharp and such a weapon, when you hold them you can feel the damage they could do.  Yours is pretty impressive,  nice scabbard too. I’d love to try tooling leather for the sgian dubhs I’ve made.  Difficult? 

Wow that's a beast! Thanks for sharing it. 

It's really not bad at all. I have only been working with leather a few months and have really picked up on it fast. You can look up #cmaggardmetalworks on Instagram to see some of the sheaths I've been making. I just watched a bunch of YouTube videos, ordered some stuff and went at it,which is also how I started making knives and blacksmithing. 

One of the things I find useful making scabbards is a stitching pony and leather that's been dampened.

I couldn't do it without my pony. Definitely wet the leather. I also made this little cedar block to hold most of the tools. 

I guess the quality of the leather is important too. I bought a ‘cowhide’ off eBay. Turned out it was a very small cow with very thin skin. Any idea what ‘grade’ of leather is best?

I get most of mine from Tandy. Craftsman grade double shoulder. 6-9 Oz for sheaths. I did buy some superior grade for a tote I made for my wife. 

The iforgeiron of the leather world is leatherworker dot net. Same as here , worldwide participation, and good people.

 

The finer the steel wool the faster reaction. 

Just strong tea makes a pleasing wood stain, not ebony of course but nice.

Frosty The Lucky.

A good awl is a must. I have a friend who repairs tack at turfway park racecourse. She gave me a thing that has a leather pad in the palm and a strip that fits over the index and middle finger. It makes stitching much easier. Another trick is lubing the thread with beeswax before stitching and also making holes with an awl instead of trying to push a needle through the leather makes it much easier on the hands. These are probably already known to you but I thought I'd post them in hopes of helping someone who doesn't know. Once again KB21, Nice work.

Pnut

Or use a quick stitch sewing awl with needle & thread in one tool.