iKnife Collector
Custom Leather Work Shop
We don't like machine work! So we make our own custom style...in leather!
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Snake Skin feature on pocket slips
I have been experimenting with some snake skin as a feature panel on knife slips and pouches ... a few failures along the way but slowly getting it to a standard I am happy with.
This is home tanned and very thin & delicate to work with.
A lot I have seen on the net cut out a panel in the top layer & then leave the snake skin at a lower level than the top layer (If that makes any sense)
I have been trying to raise the snake skin out to the same level as the top layer.
The smaller pouch is another experiment with snake skin covering the whole of the lower part of the pouch/slip I an curious as to how durable it will be over time being carried in a pocket, just a bit concerned that it may wear or break down quickly. So far so good - only time will tell.
KnifeMaker
Carl Rechsteiner
Thanks Fellas. This was a donate knife to the "Knife Rights" movement a few years back (I let that smooth talking Ritter, talk me out of it at the show in Louisville a few years back). It was a pretty big recurve fighter, 9"+ on blade I think. The handle is black locust and the blade was forged from a slice of a 52" sawblade. 90% to 100% of my work is from recycled material
My mentor, Dad (Sandy Morissey) taught me the tooling skills for this kind of leatherwork.
Derek, please don't miss-read me, I've used plenty of natural skins from snakes, lizards and even fish. I don't believe in wasting a good thing, just won't kill any of these unless unless for food. The skins are usually kind of fragile/thin and don't hold up to abrasion well, still hard to beat some of the beautiful patterns you see in the natural stuff. One of the prettiest and toughest I ever used was spotted gar (most of us know what their scales are like), had to drill all the stitching holes with carbide bits. Only did one. I can do the faux work much easier and quicker than tan curing a hide and adding all the panel frame work together on a sheath.
Thanks again for the kind words.
Jun 16, 2016
Derek Wells
Continuing my Snake Skin theme. It hasn't stopped raining here in the past couple of weeks - today very cold sleet & 15 mph winds so plenty of time indoors to work on my leather projects.
Jun 20, 2016
2021 Calendar
John Bamford
Looks good Derek , good use for roadkill !
Kangaroo skin is supposed to be just the job for strops , Bet a few Roos get run over , just an idea .
Jun 21, 2016