Meryl Grandy

Hook Crooked Knife Sheaths

When I purchased the Frosts Hook Knife at LeeValley it came without a sheath, simply wrapped in tissue paper. Since that time, I've managed to slice my thumb and fingers open a few times on this double-edged, razor sharp tool. Simply storing it wrapped in material wasn't keeping it or my fingers protected so a sheath was in order. While giving the Canoe project a bit of break, I set out to come up with cover.

I got an idea seeing a creative sheath on Flickr posted in Nickshep's gallery. From the photos, it seemed to be a folding sheath with a coiled bit of leather to protect the blade.


NickShep's creations posted on Flickr

I had a few scraps of leather lying around and thought I'd try something similar, but quickly realized his leatherwork skills far exceeded my own and my paltry supply of scraps wasn't suitable. So I used what I had and came up with a simple sheath by folding a piece of scrap leather in half, punching some holes, and stitching them with a bit of leather shoelace that could be tightened and loosened as required. I obtained the lacing pattern from Ian's Shoelace Site, a fantasticly esoteric and practical site on various lacing and tying techniques. Gotta love the internet for sites like this one! Anyway, I decided on the Roman Lacing method and finished it with a tie off around the back which keeps the knife in place. Not the most aesthetic solution, but a practical one that'll save the blade and my clumsy fingers.


Hook Knife sheath with Roman Lacing

After receiving the crooked knife with the Canoe Model Kit, I realized that this unique blade would need a sheath too. Basically the same design as before made with some scrap leather, a hole punch and left over leather shoelace. The leather piece wasn't perfectly symmetrical but I was too lazy to bother trimming it perectly flush. This was supposed to be a basic protective cover here and didn't really care about looks. For the lacing pattern, I chose the the Double Helix Lacing which spirals down the edge while being easy to tighten / loosen with one hand. Now that the knives are protected, I can get back to carving.


Punching out the holes


Tied Sheath


Crooked & Hook knife sheaths