Ever See a Handle that Needed a Knife?

[ricky_arthur]

I have a friend who was telling me about some of the knife making supplies he put in storage 15 years ago and never used. I asked him to dig them out and among the various and sundry items was a Cape Buffalo horn. He had cut up the bases to make scales, (started but never finished) and there was about 10 inches of the tip that was untouched. I immediately decided it needed to be a knife handle. I asked if I could buy It and he simply gave it to me.

It became todays project. I was pretty excited to design something for it. and here it sits so far. Had to take a break to come into work for a while, so I thought I'd post it as a WIP.

Any input on the handle spacers? My wife liked it like it is pictured with 2 steel and one brass in the middle. I thought about taking the second steel one out and just using one of each.

If I get lucky, I will have this one ready for heat treat by tonight.

Any input at this stage is welcome as well as suggestions about working with this type of horn as it is my first time. I did cut, sand and polish a scrap piece and it appears to take a pretty good shine.

 

[buckmaster96]

imo i think either leather of even cf would look better than the steel but it looks great as is

 

[Burl Source]

Looks like it is going to be a great looking knife.
It will be fun to see more photos as the knife progresses.

 

[ricky_arthur]

Buckmaster, I don't have any leather or CF that would work on the handle, but that is a nice idea.

Looks like it is going to be a great looking knife.
It will be fun to see more photos as the knife progresses.

Ok

Thanks for the input.

here it is after blade grind and profile. I'm about to start working on the Handle parts.

I could use some more input here if anyone has an opinion. My plan is to do a simple blade on this one. This knife is about the handle, No swedge, no filework. I'm having a hard time now. I have never done just a plain ol blade. Can simple be elegant? I do plan on doing a Hamon, so maybe that will be enough?

Thanks,

 

[jll346]

Can't wait to see more.

 

[BallewBlade]

I think its looking great so far keep up the quality work!

 

[ricky_arthur]

normalizing 3 cycles before I coat the blade for the hamon.

 

[BonhamBlades]

i agree with the wife keep spacers as you have them in the pic.

 

[SteelSlaver]

I too sometimes see a piece of material and say that would be great on a certain knife. Just got a piece of interior mammoth cause it screamed at me. Once carried a Mule deer shed for a couple miles cause it spoke to me. LOL.

Nice looking project and it should come out real well. Hope your hamon kicks well. Jim

 

[Horsewright]

If you are still looking for suggestions, how about sheep horn for spacers. So guard, sheep horn, brass spacer, sheep horn and then buffalo horn. The white of the sheep horn would contrast well with the buffalo horn and it polishes very well. Then on the other hand what ya got rocks too! Keep the pics a coming.

 

[ricky_arthur]

Hows this hamon?

I had it all ready for heat treat this morning and the Clay popped off as I was heating it. Wrapped it in wire and redid the clay. Cost me the whole day waiting for it to dry. The wire worked like a charm, the clay stayed on good.

As I started to etch the blade I was thinking I didn't have a very good hamon, but the more I etched and polished the better it started to pop.

Now to start finishing the handle.

 

[ricky_arthur]

It is starting to come together. I need to break the edges of the filework on the guard. It is a little rough on the hand.

 

[ricky_arthur]

Here it is, I do like this one. Pics in direct light show The silver/while in the hamon. Pics in shadow show the handle better.

 

[ricky_arthur]

It is Finished, My brother told me he would like to make the sheath for this knife. He got a leather craft set for Christmas and thought he was up to the task. He brought it to me tonight and I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. He did an outstanding job.

Here it is.