Leatherman Horizontal Sheath

My favorite tool just got a new home! I've had a Leatherman since I bought my first one in SF back in 19… sh#$t… way back in the last century. Since then I've always carried it with me. But from the start, I've never really liked the original sheath. I want to almost hide it when I wear it. So a year-long search for the best solution has come to a close. (I know there are horizontal versions out there, but none like this one:-)

Leather of your liking (I used leftovers)

Studs and push buttons

Wood (leftovers)

Glue

Tool:

Hole puncher

Round corner cutters

Stich hole punch, 1 & 6 holes

Hammer

Scissors

Knifes

Rulers, thin & thick

I've never been too happy with the Leatherman sheath, I'm repeating myself but, my first L, the Pulse had a really tight and narrow form factor which I kind of liked. With the newer tools, the leather was swapped for nylon alternatives and they had gotten bulkier and wide.

But most irritating was the lack of holsters that were horizontal. So I had a go using leftover bike tires. You can check out the Instructables I made for that project here:

https://www.instructables.com/Bike-Tube-Leatherman-Sheath/

The one in the middle… I'll get back to that one, i think you'll like it:-)

For this project, I brought out my Leatherworking toolbox. So happy I made this because now I know where all my tools are, for a while:-)

https://www.instructables.com/Portable-Leather-Workshop/

No this is a little nerve-wracking, this is the first step and also the most important. If the size is wrong, the tool will either fall out or not fit.

So I crafted a piece of wood to the exact same size as the knife, thickness and length. Next, I had to create the mould, here it is important to leave some room for the leather to squeeze in. Remember to choose leather that will hold your tool for years and yet be soft enough for a tight fit. Mine was 2mm

I glued the wood and later screwed everything in place, a lot of pressure is hitting this scrap of wood. I also sanded the edges for a nice finish.

I left the leather in water for 30 minutes, I worked some water into the piece by rubbing and twisting it. Next, I sandwiched the 4 parts going into the press. Mould, leather, "knife" and a wooden piece to top it off.

I left it overnight and couldn't wait to see the result…

Ohhhh… that feeling of pealing this apart!!!

And what do you know, it turned out great! Well done buddy! Thanks!

Like I said from now on and out all is possible:-)

I wanted to give a nice variation in the use of leather and choose 3 different types and colors. I had all of this in my leather scarps box(es). This is what I truly like about making, we can modify and custom build stuff to our liking.

I was glad I was taking it a bit slow because I would typically rush this type of build, but for once I was leather calm… That way I remembered to sew the bottom before doing the sides with the third layer of leather.

So I glued first and then sewed the two together at the bottom.

As you see I have not yet trimmed the edges, later…

Before stitching the third piece in place I made sure my belt would fit. As an extra cautionary measure before the next step, I cut a piece of plastic to the size of my belt. Now I would not sew too tight and make the belt would pass through.

I used contact glue for the areas that I needed to sew and this makes it so much easier to focus on the stitching. I let the glue set on both sides for 10min and hit down hard on the edges. This type of glue doesn't take much time to set and I could start punching holes for the needle & thread.

When I first started doing leather I had made one purchase that made me love stitching leather… the stitching punch tool! With this in hand, I could sew anything. I have several different sizes in my lather toolbox.

As you can see I used the plastic belt template for guiding the thread to not get in the way of the belt gate.

My little addition to this design is the magnet next to the push button. With this contraption, I hope to have a way of catching the knife from falling out if for some reason I forget to click it in. This is of course a possible downside to wearing it horizontally.

The rest here is pretty straightforward, just have some patience…

Trying it one for the first time was a little scary, would it be to tight, was the belt passing through, would I be able to get the Leatherman out… I will not keep you on your toes… It totally worked, everything worked!!!

PS I'll admit I did some minor cuts and alterations for the finger to be able to pull the knife out, cosmetic:-)

I'm so happy with myself (good feeling)! This turned out better than I hoped. But it just shows it's not that hard to work with leather… Ok to make it look really great it takes practice, I know:-)

For now, I wear this like a proud little boy showing off to all his friends (to those who cares at least:-)

Want to see more projects like this, please follow along over at my Instagram: @smogdog