Skeen Doo

P. McKinley

P. McKinley

Joined
Jan 27, 2008
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Well, at least that's how its pronounced.

Anyway, I'm making one for my father-in-law for Christmas. My version of a "Sgain Dhub" will feature a stylized thistle flower in a basket.

The handle will be no more than 5/8" thick so it can rest comfortably against the leg, and the blade will have a 4 1/4"cutting edge X 3/16" O-1 steel blade with a file worked spine and a two inch fuller. The bolster/guard is a small piece of random damascus. The 4 1/4" (or so) handle will have two oval-ish pieces of white birch burl (taken from the farm where he was raised) with an oval-ish piece of African Blackwood in the middle. The "flower" will also be of birch burl. The "show" side of the middle piece will have the initials "G. F. M." in an absolutely stunning, stylized monogram completely thunk up..... by moi. The initials will be carved into the face of a raised panel on the side. We'll see if I'm capable of pulling it off. I will not do the basket weave on the front piece of birch and, instead, let the natural beauty of the burl be sufficient.

On both ends of the middle piece will be thin moose antler spacers/disks, carved to look like a coil of rope on its outer edge. This rope coil will sit just proud of the surface of the adjoining pieces when all is finally assembled.

Often these knives feature semi-precious stone or jewel attached to the butt-end of the handle on more decorative versions. My jewel will be a highly polished faceted, bar-cut piece of Blackwood mounted to the very end of the handle with hidden pins.

Sgain Dhub sheaths often feature thin, highly decorated bands of silver around the bolster-end of the handle. These silver bands are also seen at the throat and tip of the sheath. My interpretation will have all those silver bands replaced with "bands" of the birch burl in the handle. For the sheath, I only need to do the face-side, but I'll have to work with really thin pieces of burl to make those small decorative pieces.....finely carved, highly polished, pre-drilled, glued and stitched together with the leather case of the sheath..... I'm not looking forward to this task.

Here's where I'm at at the moment.

Hints, tips, advice, soul-crushing criticism..... are all welcome.

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Interesting piece, it will be nice to see how it turns out.

One thing I would try and do is blend the sheath into the handle with out the lip.
All the Sgian Dhubs I own have the handle flush with sheath either using a sliver
"basket" on the hilt of the knife to slot over the top of the sheath or have silver
fittings that just match up keeping it all flush.

:):thumbup:
 
Esav - Thanks for the lift to the right neighborhood and kind words.

Andy - Thank you!! More pics after heat treat on Friday.
 
Haze - I'm not going to get too complicated with the sheath other than the decorative pieces of birch burl on the throat and tip. It will be just a simple black dyed veg tanned leather sandwich-style with full welt. I may take a few liberties with the shape of the mouth as well as wet form the mouth just slightly to get it to "flow" onto the handle.

I haven't decided yet.

Kevin - Thank you. I will.
 
Bigblue17 said:
Haze - I'm not going to get too complicated with the sheath other than the decorative pieces of birch burl on the throat and tip. It will be just a simple black dyed veg tanned leather sandwich-style with full welt. I may take a few liberties with the shape of the mouth as well as wet form the mouth just slightly to get it to "flow" onto the handle.

I haven't decided yet.

Kevin - Thank you. I will.
Click to expand...

I hear what your saying, it's the sort of thing that can get complicated and time consuming very quickly.
They are generally kept flush because obviously being worn in the sock they will get anoying really fast if they arn't. :p

I have a nice plain one back home in Scotland with no silver and just black bog oak for the handle and a wood lined leather sheath.
I think that one may well look like the one your making just now.

I'll defo. look foward to seeing this one your making all done and dusted :thumbup:
 
I like your design and plans a lot. Very well thought out.

Thanks for posting this -- it's going in my file for future reference.
 
Haze - I have enough of the Blackwood to do a completely wooden sheath for and I've thought hard about doing just that. If I do that, I'd want to line it with something.... leather, suede, deer skin, or maybe Mackenzie tartan cloth - ever seen this done? Any thoughts on durability?

I've seen versions on this and other forums and web sites that feature these elaborate, but handsome as all hell, raw hide lined sheaths with goat skin outer and silver decorative work, and, and, and.....

Love to.... but not this time. :p
 
I'd just make the blackwood sheath with extra clearance on the inside, leave it unlined except for about a 1/2" on the inside of the throat with leather. That would look really nice!
 
Wow, I think it looks great. I like the precise wood work. One thing to think about -- you might want to flatten the side of the handle that sits against your leg. Makes it a bit more comfortable.
 
gator68 said:
One thing to think about -- you might want to flatten the side of the handle that sits against your leg. Makes it a bit more comfortable.
Click to expand...

Good thinkng. It also makes it easy to tell which edge is sharp when you draw it without looking. :)
 
Bigblue17 said:
Haze - I have enough of the Blackwood to do a completely wooden sheath for and I've thought hard about doing just that. If I do that, I'd want to line it with something.... leather, suede, deer skin, or maybe Mackenzie tartan cloth - ever seen this done? Any thoughts on durability?

I've seen versions on this and other forums and web sites that feature these elaborate, but handsome as all hell, raw hide lined sheaths with goat skin outer and silver decorative work, and, and, and.....

Love to.... but not this time. :p
Click to expand...

The plain one I have seems to have a 2 piece wooden sheath (hard to tell with out taking it to bits :eek:) with black leather wrapped on the outside and just stitched up the back.
There is bare wood at the throat wide enough for the hilt to just sit inside and secure it. It's basically a totally naked knife with only a thistle carved handle, I suppose its what they look like before all the silver gets put on.

I realise it would be much easier if I just post a pic but that knife is on the other side of the world from me just now :rolleyes::D
 
Wow. I cant wait to see that beauty finished ! :)

Interesting choice and combination of handle materials by the way.


Tostig
 
The elves are wondering how things are going in your branch/outlet/corner of Santa's workshop???
 
Phil, are you referring to me??? I know I'm short, but come on man!

Just joshin, BUT I am very interested in this WIP and would love to see some updated pics!
 
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