My friend Ricky Wallace is a longtime knife maker that lives and works a hundred or so miles west of me here in Northwest Florida. Ricky’s a US Army Veteran, fishing guru, boat overhauler, and a genuine nice guy with a knack for fixing pretty much anything that breaks. If he can’t fix it, hell, he’ll just make one. The late Lewis Grizzard would call him a Great American. So would I. He’s also a photogenic feller, with a busy channel on YouTube. Ricky makes leather sheaths for all the knives he creates, and he’s been a great help to me in my knife making pursuits. I sent Ricky the first of my leather knives to actually leave my place and head out into the great beyond. He turned around and did the following video. Thank you, Ricky, and thank you for your service, Sir.
File folders, educated guesses, and a little “won’t work but it’s close.”
Good Saturday morning, and Happy April! There’s something about a brand-new, shiny month that always gets me kick-started and motivated. April’s a little weird because we tend to flush the first day with “April Fool’s” nonsense. I don’t do the April Fool’s crap–whether it’s aging and intolerance, or just that it’s stupid. Probably a little of both. Besides, we have the media, where every day is April Fool’s Day.
Closer. Not 100% spot-on, but pretty much there.
I’ve been making quite a few sheaths for the Buck 112 folder this past week, and I just started with the pattern making for the Buck 110. The first photo is of the first prototype which looks like something the dog got ‘hold of. That’s normal–or, at least in my world that’s normal. I use a lot of manila file folders, and dig in my scrap bin for pieces because the first couple efforts always get thrown away. The second photo is real close to what I’m after. I’ll trim a little here, and adjust a little there.
A few finished sheaths for the Buck 112 that will be shipping out on Monday alongside my Buck 110 prototype project that I hope to be producing a few of next week. Between holsters, of course.
That’s what we’re up to around here. The last photo shows a few finished for the Buck 112 that are shipping on Monday, and I plan to have more of those, along with a few for the Buck 110 in the upcoming week.
I’ve also been forgetting to mention my YouTube Channel. There’s only one video on it, and it’s not great, but I do plan to add more to it as time permits. You can take a look here GIBSON LEATHER ON YOUTUBE and please subscribe. Comments are always welcome, as well as suggestions for what you’d like to see. Just like here on the blog.
As always, thanks for reading. Check out YouTube and subscribe. Comment, or shoot me an email to BruceGibson@aol.com with any content ideas you might have, or something I do that you’d like to see more, or know more about.
Wikipedia says Buck Knives were founded in my old hometown of Mountain Home, Idaho, back in 1902. They also give credit to San Diego, California. Rewriting, or completely eliminating history is the flavor of the week in what’s left of America, so I choose to stick with the Idaho origination story. It’s my Blog.
Several weeks ago, my friend Gerry at Dakota Defense announced on Facebook that he had a few Buck 112 Ranger Autos available, and I got one. It arrived in record time, which is one of Gerry’s trademark moves–you order, he ships. No playing around. I was blown away by my new knife–my first Buck, and my first lock blade. I was so impressed with this Buck 112 that a few days later I ordered one of the classic Buck 110’s. Then, I got to thinking–rarely a good thing, but I got to thinking as a holster-maker, why not make a sheath? I’m left-handed, I have thousands of dollars worth of equipment, hard-won experience making gunleather, stress, blood loss, pain, scars, etc. Hell, I can make a knife sheath. It’ll be easy! One week later, after a half-dozen or so failed attempts, sure enough, I had one. But wait, there’s more.
Since I’m happy with the plain, left-handed, beautifully conformed to me leather Buck 112 sheath I have painstakingly created for myself…why not make a few more? As a holster-maker, pain, frustration and expense are my stock in trade. What could it hurt?
To wrap things up, I managed to finish a couple I’m happy with. Both for the Buck 112. Both for you majority right-handers. One is a hammer stamp design I adopted after seeing a holster that Mike Barranti built. The other is a simple basket stamp. Both are made from premium Hermann Oak leather, and lightly antiqued in mahogany. The borders on both of these are a little half-flower Barry King stamp that I’m partial to. Neither one’s on the website yet, but I’ll try and put them both up some time today.These are both in the Shop now. Just click the link up top.
Thanks for reading. Happy Tuesday–I hope you’re having a great week.
