Making a Criollo Knife

[Ruben Calo]

This is how I made this Criollo knife


Heat treated and etched damascus criollo blade, ready for a handle.

Some file work.

Drilling the ebony piece for the handle.

Removing some material at the point so the boslter can fit perfeclty.

Cutting a piece of stag for the handle.

Cutting a piece of sterling silver.

Marking a piece of fiber with a sterling silver piece, already shaped (for the spacers)

 

[Ruben Calo]

Welding a sterling silver ring to the bolster

Bolster already welded. It's still missing a good polish and the file work on the ring.

Unensambled handle.

Putting the handle together (still missing the buttcap)

Sandpapering the ensambled handle.

Stencil for the sheath.

Using the stencil to mark and then cut the leather.

Decorating the leather.

 

[Ruben Calo]

Decorating a 2mm thick sterling silver piece for the belt bucle with a small chisel. For this sheath, I chose a bird feather.

Welding it to the top part of the sheath. (Also sterling silver)

Molding the bottom part of the sheath. (Also sterling silver)

n order to decorate that bottom part, I cutted small pieces of sterling silver til I got a rose. Then I welded them one by one, first the petals, then the branch and then the leafs.

All the pieces together.

After a final polish.

Finished knife

Regards,


Ruben

 

[mete]

Beautiful job Ruben. What is the red spacer material , and the white section ? When decorating [embossing] the feather what is the red material used for your "anvil" ?

 

[John Andrews]

WOW! That's some beautiful work, and the running pictures and commentary are great, too!

 

[Lukers]

Wow Ruben! Thats wonderful! Thanks for taking the time to share the process in detail and the finished work.
Regards
-Luke

 

[Temper]

I love these step by step posts, it really gives you an idea of the skill and effort involved.

Thanks for sharing

 

[indian george]

Ruben: Very nicely done. The knife is outstanding.

 

[Don Hanson III]

Thanks Ruben, very nicely done, I enjoyed very much.
You're an artist for sure.

Don Hanson lll

 

[L6steel]

Outstanding Ruben!!!
Thank you for taking the time to put together and post the pictoral.
Amazing work and one very fine knife and sheath!!!
Michael

 

[Ruben Calo]

Thank you very much

The spacers are fiber and sterling silver and the white section is polished red deer stag (what I'm cutting on picture #6)

The red material is sealing wax, and it's what jewerlers use to fix pieces into position to work on them, you heat it, place the piece and when it gets cold, the piece remains in position.

Regards,

Ruben

 

[rhrocker]

Thanks Ruben for taking the time to show us your procedure. I think the work is fantastic. I like your torch also, do you recall the brand? Would like to see more of you works, keep them coming!

 

[oljoe]

I was just wondering are you a jeweler/knife maker or a knife maker/jeweler. Very nice work indeed.

Joe Foster

 

[Will52100]

Man that's awsome, realy love the way you did the handle, and the sheath is increadable to!

 

[Ruben Calo]

Robert,
The torch I use was custom made to my specs as the few comercial ones I could buy here didn't impress me much.
This one comes with intercheangable thin tips and it is for butane and oxigen.

If you're interested I can see if this guy still makes them

Joe,
I consider myself a resourcefull knifemaker. Plus my wife is a jeweler, so I already have the tools available

Regards,

Ruben

 

[peter nap]

What a beautiful knife Ruben!
As long as I've been on this board, I am still amazed frequently at the talent members have.
Thanks for putting that together.