Look after your tools

I like to keep my carving tools in a roll. I made this a few years ago out of canvas. It's nothing fancy and I don't claim to have any skill with a sewing machine, but it does the job, or at least it used to.

As you can see, my tool collection has outgrown the roll. I could get rid of some of my tools (yeah right), or I could make a new one with a few more pockets to accommodate all of my knives (plus a few extra, it's called future proofing). For this new one I quite like the idea of making it out of thin leather. A while back I got myself a sewing machine, not just any sewing machine though, this one is made by Husqvarna. Husqvarna make chainsaws, so I reckon that makes this a very manly sewing machine.

Having never sewn leather before I didn't want to run the risk of ruining a big piece, so I thought I would practice by doing a small roll that will hold just two knives. This is something I've been meaning to do for a while so that if I'm away from home I can take a little spoon carving set with me. This is what I came up with.

I'll confess it was more difficult than I anticipated. The leather, part of an old jacket, was a bit stretchy  and when the grain sides (the shiny sides) were together, there was a bit of slippage. I got there in the end though.

Whilst on the subject of tool protection I thought that I might as well post some pictures of my sheaths. My regular knives all have Birch Bark sheaths. I learned how to make these from Del Stubb's  website. There is a link here. The two on the right were made at the first Spoonfest under the tutelage of Jarrod StoneDahl. The one second from the left came with the knife I bought from Magnus Sundelin.

My spoon knives are all protected with a leather wrap. I first saw this method on the knife that I bought from Ben Orford. I think that all of his spoon knives come like that. It's just a strip of leather, but it works very well and has never fallen off.

I decided to be a bit fancy with the one on the left and do something like the method shown in Wille Sundqvist's book Swedish Carving Techniques. It's still a leather wrap, but includes a little bit of sewing.