Complete novice wants to make matching sgians dubh.

T

Tanalark

Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
2
Hi, guys.

I've never worked with knives before except to sharpen them (which I'm actually pretty good at doing), but I understand a bit about steel. I was talking with my dad a few days ago, and the subject of knife-making came up. He has actually made knives using both the forge method and stock removal, and said that he had always wanted to make knives for me and my brothers. I was immediately enchanted by the notion and offered to help with the project. I've decided that I'd like to make 3 roughly identical sgians dubh, starting from the bar steel and going all the way to the polished, finished product.

My questions are actually kind of simple: what kind of steel should I get to make the knives out of, and where can I find a good pattern (or patterns) for a sgian dubh if I want to create it using the stock removal method? I'd like the knives to be relatively tough and able to hold an edge quite well. Also, if I have several hours a day to work on the project, what is a good estimate on my turnaround time for three knives? Any chance I might get 'em made by Christmas?

I know it would be easier to just buy a sgian dubh knife blank, but there is a certain "romance" to the idea of making it with my own hands that I can't get away from.

I hope my questions aren't too "newbie," but it seems like this forum has quite a lot of helpful and knowledgeable members. I'm looking forward to the responses.

Thanks a lot.

-Bob
 
You should look through the posts the answere to your questions will appear many times. I always suggest to newbys to first figure out how they are going to heat treat and then select the steel. Your best bet for your first knifes is to go with a commercial heat treat faciltiy like Paul Bos. The problem is he and many others can only heat treat "air hardening steels" 440c, CPM, ATS A2... If you are going to do the heat treat yourself you will probably want a simple "oil hardening" 1084 1095.

Christmas is coming fast for a newby, figure 3 weeks turn around for heat treat. 1-2 weeks to get handles and steel if ordered today and its almost christmas. Can be done but need to get going.
 
Thanks for the info, Patrick. Christmas was only an idle thought - not really a serious proposition. I had, in fact, thought of a professional HT facility, but I don't know much about the steels except the 440C you mentioned. I'll look through the site to see if there's a steel guide.

The timeline was very useful, and it helped me to put things into perspective. Thanks again.

-Bob
 
Go to any on the knife supply web sites and you will see a variety of steels, 440c is fine for what you want to make. Check with your heat treater and see if they can do oil quench, I have heard that there are some that will, but I dont know of any. I use alot of A2, good working steel, air hardening, easy to get and not too expensive.

Good luck
 
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