- Joined
- Jan 27, 2008
- Messages
- 2,010
This is my 17th knife and my third blade fashioned completely by hand and heat treated myself.
This one is going to my father-in-law for Christmas. I wanted to make him a sgain dubh that was quite wearable when in highland garb, but one that would also be a usable knife for around the farm. So this one's a bit bigger than a purely decorative version.
The blade still needs a bit of cleaning and a final polish to get out some of the fine scratches. It also needs a sharpened edge, but otherwise its done.
My decorative filework along the spine could use some improvement and I really need to figure out a more accurate method of maintaining crisp lines when sanding the blade/bevels, but otherwise I'm pretty happy.
I enjoyed working with Blackwood for the first time. Its hard as hell, takes a fine finish, and has an odd chatoyance that makes it look darker or lighter when viewed from different angles. Great stuff!
The White Birch burl was harvested from a young tree on the farm. This burl was about the size of a softball growing around a wound on the trunk. I liked the look and flow of the white sapwood line along the bottom of the handle so I tried to keep it in all birch pieces.
The specifics.......
Blade:3 3/4", 3/16" O1 steel, hand sanded to 800 grit.
Bolster: Delbert Ealy's random damascus steel.
Handle: 4 3/4" African Blackwood and White Birch burl (harvested from father-in-law's farm property), vulcanized black spacers.
Assembly: the hidden tang is threaded and bolted with a Blackwood end cap hiding the assembly.
Thank you for looking.
All comments and/or self-confidence shattering criticism are quite welcome.
First.... Prior to gluing this up, I went through a decision making process. Which spacers to use: moose antler w/ black spacers, burl wood w/ black spacers, or the Blackwood ones lined up with the other parts....???
All epoxied up:
Done up with one coat of oil and a short buffing:
This one is going to my father-in-law for Christmas. I wanted to make him a sgain dubh that was quite wearable when in highland garb, but one that would also be a usable knife for around the farm. So this one's a bit bigger than a purely decorative version.
The blade still needs a bit of cleaning and a final polish to get out some of the fine scratches. It also needs a sharpened edge, but otherwise its done.
My decorative filework along the spine could use some improvement and I really need to figure out a more accurate method of maintaining crisp lines when sanding the blade/bevels, but otherwise I'm pretty happy.
I enjoyed working with Blackwood for the first time. Its hard as hell, takes a fine finish, and has an odd chatoyance that makes it look darker or lighter when viewed from different angles. Great stuff!
The White Birch burl was harvested from a young tree on the farm. This burl was about the size of a softball growing around a wound on the trunk. I liked the look and flow of the white sapwood line along the bottom of the handle so I tried to keep it in all birch pieces.
The specifics.......
Blade:3 3/4", 3/16" O1 steel, hand sanded to 800 grit.
Bolster: Delbert Ealy's random damascus steel.
Handle: 4 3/4" African Blackwood and White Birch burl (harvested from father-in-law's farm property), vulcanized black spacers.
Assembly: the hidden tang is threaded and bolted with a Blackwood end cap hiding the assembly.
Thank you for looking.
All comments and/or self-confidence shattering criticism are quite welcome.
First.... Prior to gluing this up, I went through a decision making process. Which spacers to use: moose antler w/ black spacers, burl wood w/ black spacers, or the Blackwood ones lined up with the other parts....???
All epoxied up:
Done up with one coat of oil and a short buffing:
