Horn handled Bilton

B

Bill Sanders

Joined
Aug 18, 2003
Messages
580
Seems I'm having a problem with the handle of my Bilton getting smaller. At least around the "bell". It has become one of my every day carry blades. As such, it gets subjected to lots of unintintional abuse. I keep chipping the horn as I work, while it's in its sheath. The handle hits against things as I climb around, chaining down heavy equipment. I am thinking of replacing the horn, with either ebony or ironwood. Has anyone done this? Any pointers for a knovice knife handle maker? I'm also thinking, that while I'm at it, I could make the handle a bit longer. If I do decide to do this, I will try to duplicate the traditional handle shape, complete with the rings. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Bill

Edited, to add: I also have some zebrawood, that is the right size for a handle.
 
Never worked with either of those woods myself, but the consensus in shop talk is generally that African blackwood is a better choice than ebony. I guess ebony has too much of a tedency to shrink or something(obviously not a concern if you use stabilized wood)
 
i'd suggest macassar ebony, more resilient (in my opinion) than ebony. cheaper too!

Not jet black though. very dark brown to black, usually with nice brown streaks. gets a nice rich look to it after with linseed oil (boiled of course) treatments.
 
been wondering how that stuff wouldturn out. Pieces I've seen seem nicely dense, so i figure it'd be fine with just a good oil treatment, no need for stabilization.

As you said though, it's not perfectly black(or rarely, last tim eI was shopping saw big piece that had enough solid black for 2-3 knives, or at least looked solid black on outside). Sure looks nice though.
 
Originally posted by Seabee17
I keep chipping the horn as I work, while it's in its sheath. The handle hits against things as I climb around
Click to expand...
Wood would likely get banged up too......

Maybe, dip the handle in PlastiDip (tool handle dip),
or wrap it with heavy cloth tape.

Then again, If you have the woodchuck bug.........


Practice carving the rings on a spare scrap of wood.
The rings are easy to make,
BUT, for me,
hard to keep straight and thin.
Next time I'll also mark a line before I carve.
Next time also, will cut only one line around first,
then go back and cut the depth/width.
Any prying motion of the blade, even tiny accidental,
tends to knock chips from the wood.
 
Sounds like unless you change jobs the handle's going to take a beating regardless of the material it's made from. Here's my two cents; make a new sheath out of cowhide with a flap that snaps down to cover the handle. The sheath will no doubt take a beating, but sheaths are faster/easier/cheaper to make than handles.

Sarge
 
There's an idea. Thanks Sarge. Maybe I'll have to do both. The sheath and handle. Now, where did I put the leather tools?.......


Bill
 
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