Junk Box Scabbard

Swampman · Post by **Swampman** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 5:09 pm

I wanted a traditional looking scabbard to go with a Queen Cutlery butcher knife (note rosewood scales)I found in an old hardware store in Athens, AL for $15.00. This sheath is made entirely from scraps. The fringe is from the flap of an old shooting bag I made years ago. It is alum tanned deer hide and was the excess I removed from the flap because it was too long. The sheath itself is leftover cowhide dyed with wet crushed walnut hull paste. All the stitching is with linen thread from Walmart. The harness rivets were a gift. Friends made the spoon & striker and they were gifts from them. A good friend gave me the hawk which is forged from a gun barrel. This hobby can be done cheap if you aren't too picky and you have good friends.

Iron_Marshal · Post by **Iron_Marshal** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 5:53 pm

WOW! I am really envious! That is some set. I am making a scabbard for a small skinner but it is no mountain knife like you have there. VERY NICE!

Why did the man use a gun barrel to make the tomahawk? It is very ice, but a gun beats an edged weapon any day IMHO. (But d@mn that is a nice tomahawk.) That being said, I like edged weapons and stick fighting as well. It reminds me of something out of The Last of the Mohicans. Any Vietnam vet would have been proud to carry such a weapon and Iâ€™d love to own one.

Thank you for putting that picture together!

Iron_Marshal · Post by **Iron_Marshal** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 5:58 pm

BTW... Have you read a magazine called "The Backwoodsman" that is published every two months? The latest issue, Mar/Apr, has an article on how to make a knife sheath.

Again...NICE picture!

oldCop · Post by **oldCop** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 6:43 pm

A number of frontier gunsmiths and blacksmiths made hawks from cut off pieces of barrels after they were formed, or from scrap pieces of barrels from guns that were cut down to a handy length or had bulged barrels and were cut off in front of the bulge. They didn't waste much.

Swampman · Post by **Swampman** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 7:24 pm

Irish_Cop wrote:BTW... Have you read a magazine called "The Backwoodsman" that is published every two months? The latest issue, Mar/Apr, has an article on how to make a knife sheath.

Again...NICE picture!

I normally buy Backwoodsman. I'll be sure to check that out.

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 8:11 pm

Nicely done. I should make myself a scabbard for my Green River, currently it just hangs in a loose pouch on my possibles bag strap.

Post by **Hobie** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 8:49 pm

Nobody would accuse you of not being picky, that's some neat stuff and apparently you've got some neat friends, too! Thanks for sharing.

Iron_Marshal · Post by **Iron_Marshal** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 11:15 pm

oldCop, I didn't think about having a barrel resized. I'm sure many people had rifles resized from 20+ inches to a Trapper in 16". This would leave enough inches to heat and transform a bit of octagon barrel to a tomahawk. Thanks for opening my mind to a possibility that was right in front of me...I just didn't see it.

oldCop · Post by **oldCop** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 12:47 am

Those folks were pretty darned ingenious given their limited resources along the early American frontier. Way prior to the cartridge guns, 'smiths in the Allegheny area were putting these barrel stubs to good use. You hit the nail on the head with the "Last of the Mohicans" time frame.