that knife looks awesome keep us updated on its performance

"...It's holding it's shape so there must be a fair bit of wax in there..."

Actually, it should hold the shape even if you only wet formed the sheath to the knife (sometimes called casing). The wax, to the best of my admittedly limited knowledge, mainly helps to protect the leather and kind of waterproof it. Looks nice on your sheath...

Hi Hacksaw,

Nice report on a very interesting knife, I can feel the need (want) for a Scandi-Grohmann coming on.

I have collected a few Grohmann models over the years.

- An engraved #1 from the Canadian Scout Jamboree in PEI 1977.
- Another #1 that I recently bought off an internet ad for $15
- A #4 Survival that I use for moose hunting.
- My Fathers #2 that he used for hunting for 35 years.
- A #3 Boat knife that I got for FREE at a garage sale, the tip was broken off, the blade had been damaged in a grinder and by arcing and the sheath was missing. I reshaped the blade and ordered a sheath from Grohmann, no problem.

All of these blades are stainless steel and the "regular" sabre grind, I would be very interested to hear about the performance of the carbon steel and Scandi of Flat grind models.

I have a problem with the Grohmann open-topped sheaths, they do not offer enough protection from the blade and are prone to knife loss. Even the leather flip-over tab on my #4 is easy to slice into when inserting/removing the knife. My hunting partner lost a #3 in the bush once (proabally pulled out on brush by the lanyard), and we looked for hours but never found it. I am going to try wax-hardening one of the sheaths to make the knife fit tighter.

Replacement sheaths, including the CF overlap sheath can be found on the Grohmann website here http://www.grohmannknives.com/pages/sheaths.html

I will be away from my computer for a couple of weeks on training, look forward to the replies when I get back.

Mike

On/Scene Tactical make Concealex Sheaths for several Grohmann models in house without the need to ship your knife in.

I might be sending them my Gerber Freeman to do up soon. I'll have them do one for the Grohmann at the same time if I have any worries about the sheath.

Personally I like the style of the Grohmann because I often wear my knives around my neck...hiking packs don't fit well with lots of stuff on your belt. For beating it through the bush, I wouldn't trust that style on my belt. I'd worry the lanyard would get snagged and pull out like your friends may have.

I should note that the knife stays in much better now than before waxing.

Sheath looks good to me. Did you just melt the candles and paint and hairdryer it into the leather?

I hot dipped my SBT knife sheath in molten paraffin, then molded it around my knife handle (I wrapped the handle in 3 layers of wax paper to shim it a bit). It is hard as iron now and the handle "clicks" into the sheath. No way it is coming out unless I want it out.

I didn't have enough wax to actually boil the sheath in the wax so I went to plan B. I double boiled 5 bees wax tea lights in a metal cup and borrowed my wifes heat gun (she's into crafts like I'm into survival) to heat the leather up. I applied the liquid wax to the leather using a clean tooth brush and used the heat gun to keep liquifying the coats over and over again scrubbing the wax into the leather. When enough dripped off that there wasn't much of a coating, I'd apply another coat. I think I spent nearly an hour painting, heating, and scrubbing.

Then I put the knife in, wrapped the whole thing in foil (I got it a little too hot to touch) and began to mold it until it cooled. When I unwrapped it there was a lot of wax cooled on so I used the heat gun and a wad of paper towel to wipe off the excess and get it out of the stitching as best as I could (if you look close there's still wax solidly inside the rivet). Then I wrapped it in a dish towel (too hot again) and moulded it until cool. This absorbed any remaining wax and wiped off anything which dried on the surface. Then I buffed it out with a microfiber cloth to give it a little shine.

Not actually applying the wax to the inside is likely why I didn't get it super hard but I didn't want to make a huge mess on my first try or even ruin it.

I bet that worked just as well as dipping. I bought a block of beeswax and plan on doing a mix of paraffin/beeswax for a couple other sheaths I have. I think I will do my Grohmann trout and bird sheath up too. I have always wished it was a bit stouter.

Good one and let us know how that scandi grind works out for you. I think you made a wise choice and set it up perfectly in the waxed sheath.

You guys have got me thinking about this waxing leather thing, since I have never done it, and am about ready to make a sheath for a kit knife I am working on. So, I did some googling, and came up with this bit of info:

"Wax has a low melting point. To keep your waxed leather from "melting" in the sun, add about 3 tablespoons of stearine (sic) to each pound of wax. You can buy a bag fairly cheaply at MJ Designs. It makes the wax harder, melt at a higher temperature (eliminating wilted leather) They also sell crystals, but if you can get it, use the powder, it dissolves completely."

Never heard of Sternin(e) before, so I googled it to find out what it is:
"Stearin...is a glyceryl ester of stearic acid, derived from animal fats created as a byproduct of processing beef. It is used as tallow in the manufacture of candles and soap..."

Now, assuming that it does as described, I've gott figure out where to buy it...

I read the same thing while researching it OBG. I was impatient so didn't take it any further than research. Personally I don't think it gets hot enough here often enough for it to matter too much...time will tell.

I think a 50/50 mix of beeswax and paraffin will do about the same thing as trying to find the stearin. More expensive candles generally have stearin in them to control the melting point.

I have had excellent luck with 100% paraffin wax dip on untreated leather sheaths. It is board hard and does not melt. It is likely too hard for sheaths that require some give for the knife to seat well though, so a mix with beeswax is what I want to do for my Grohmann sheaths.