Rustic Cholla Dagger - SHEATH FINISHED

P. McKinley

P. McKinley

Joined
Jan 27, 2008
Messages
2,010
For the past month or so I've been suffering from a nerve issue in my left shoulder that causes severe chronic pain, numbness, and weakness in that arm, and I'm unable to sit down(it compresses the spine and hurts like hell). Working on the small details on a knife has become a joke - I have no patients for it anymore.

Frustration beyond belief!!

Well, to hell with it!!

I'd had enough of it and I decided to build a simple one and try out some new materials and techniques at the same time. I needed to build something that didn't entail lots of detail and small stuff like I often do. Since I had forged the blade several months ago at a hammer-in, all I had to do was finish the piece. I've been working on this for about three weeks... one or two hours at a time. This is also the first knife to receive my new maker's mark.

**Please offer up your advice and constructive criticism.... I like this style and want to do it better.

Thanks for looking.
Peter

This is what I came up with:

Rustic Cholla Dagger

Blade: 7" of old harrow rake from our farm, etched and blued. A copper rod is attached to the end of the tang and peened to the etched/distressed butt plate. Forged copper bolster w/ hammered texture.
Handle: 4 1/2" of Staghorn(Buckhorn) Cholla Cactus filled with black epoxy, rawhide with split leather lacing.
Sheath: The Quilted Red Maple case is fully lined with 1-2 oz leather split, a leather welt, and a Tung oil/buffed paste wax finished. The Maple has a very tight quilt figure and brilliant chatoyance. The rawhide upper has a leather lined belt loop, forged copper name plate w/ hammered finish, and split leather lace wrapping. The four handmade bobbles represent the materials used in the whole package(Cholla, steel, and copper). I collected the Yucca thorn while on a backpacking trip in the deserts of the Southwest US.



















 
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Oh I do like daggers, and this one is striking. Well done. May your recovery be swift and permanent!
 
Sorry to hear about the shoulder =(

That handle is pretty cool, have never seen one like it before. Can't wait to see the sheath!
 
Nice looking Dagger! I really like the way Cholla looks as knife handles.
 
Thanks folks!!

The sheath will likely be finished tomorrow.... we'll see if my shoulder cooperates.
 
Excellent! It all goes well together. I have seen the stabilized Cholla; did you do the fill on this?
 
David - Thank you.

I collected this Cholla almost 20 years ago while on a backpacking trip in the Big Bend NP, Texas. I just wrapped section with duct tape and filled the void while in place on the tang. Once unwrapped, it just takes a bit of final shaping and some cleanup.
 
Other Cholla handles I remember completely filled the holes in the cactus (or ground
down to the fill line). I really like the contours you've left in your handle -- they improve
the look a lot.

I like the dagger as a whole too, though the wraps don't seem quite right to my taste.
Maybe they're just a little to large compared to the visible Cholla?
 
Thanks folks!

Dan Pierson said:
I like the dagger as a whole too, though the wraps don't seem quite right to my taste.
Maybe they're just a little to large compared to the visible Cholla?
Click to expand...

Dan - That's what I was looking for. Much appreciated. And, I think I agree.... just a bit more cholla showing would have made the proportions look better.
 
I have finally finished the sheath!!

Photos added to the first post. Thanks for looking.

Peter
 
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Fine package, Peter!! I like it.

With chronic back/neck/shoulder problems, I wish you the very best with your 'repairs'!!
 
Love the sheath! I'm more used to the idea of leather over wood, leather lining a wood sheath is different. The baubles are great.
 
Thanks guys!

Here's a few more shots:



This bead was made from a soldered coil of copper wire.


The only way I could figure out how to attach the thorn without it splitting was to make a copper ferrule for it:


This spike is made of the same steel as the blade. Its been ground, partially polished, hardened, polished and heat-colored.


The copper piece reminds me of a Cholla branch.


This is a piece of cholla cactus branch just sanded and oiled up real nice:






 
very nice. the sheath makes a pretty knife a very rustic, wonderful and amazing package that I am sure anyone would be proud to own. very nice.
 
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