Bird Knife Sheath 3

Bird Knife Sheath Continued

After the leather had dried I used contact adhesive to bond the back loop to the back. Here are the two pieces before I stuck them together. 

Once bonded together I was able to punch the holes for the snaps that would hold the knife sheath to my bird vest. These two pieces will be stitched together in a later step.

Here are the snaps set. 

For the flap I chose to use a button stud instead of a snap. Here is the screw on the backside.

To keep the screw from marring the knife I chose to glue a thin piece of deer hide over the screw. 

I bond all seams before stitching. It makes it easier to stitch and it also helps in the edge finishing. Here are the two pieces prior to bonding with contact adhesive. 

After they are placed together I like to go over the bond line with the hammer to make sure the surfaces are touching and bonded. 

Then the pieces are stitched together. Here all three pieces are stitched together, the pocket, the back, and the flap. I use the double needle method so this seam will last a long time!  

Here is the sheath in its final shape. The edges still need to be finished at this point and the leather needs to be oiled/nourished. 

 Here you can see the back flap with its snap. This will be used to attach the sheath to the loop on the bird vest. 

After the wet forming cycles the leather is left very dry and is in need of oiling. I like to use Obenaufs products and start with the "leather oil" after the oil has soaked in I will treat the sheaths with Obenaufs "LP" to give it a good protective coating. The oil darkens the leather at first but it will soak in and leave the leather a tan color. I think that the oil gives the leather a pleasant color. 

Here is the knife sheath being installed on the side of my Filson Bird Bag.