stag handle

Dan Gray

Dan Gray

Joined
Jun 25, 2001
Messages
8,474
hey guys, tell me what you think?

this is one I'm just finishing up..
A good customer of mine likes the Fallkniven sanmar bowie blades but not their handles.. so he sends some of them to me to rehandle though I don't do this for customers very often any longer I keep doing it for him where as he's a good customer..
this handle is of red deer Crown and forward the Subhilt is Indian sambar stag, the Red deer Stag before starting to work it was almost all white and to color it, I used Permanganate the fixtures are 303 SS , he sent me a 1923 silver dollar to inlay in the crown, I thought it fun for a change to imbed some of it and have some of it show it's edge, none of it had to be changed.. sorry for the bad pictures it seem the more I try to make them better the worse they get..and you can see my puss in the polish :rolleyes: :o
thanks for looking..

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That's slick Dan! I know that took a lot of thought to come out like that. Good going!
 
This is the first time I have ever seen a knife that I lusted for and only saw the handle. Great, inspirational work.
 
thanks Guys
it's shipping out today
This is the first time I have ever seen a knife that I lusted for and only saw the handle. Great, inspirational work
Click to expand...
you should feel it,, it seems to have it's own passion too.. :)
Gigemtxaggies that's what I try for :) I'm not ribbing or kidding you on this, some work just gets your juices flowing
I believe and try hard to make each part as it's own form of art and when the two come together as one piece of art then all the better TY
 
Very nice work. I'm of the same opinion on the antler handle. The first many years as a poor knifemaker, I lived in New Mexico and all I had was antler. I never wanted to see another stick of it again, but you changed my mind.

Supurb.
 
Looks good, Dan!
This is a popular idea in Sgian Dubh knives (skeen doo). Putting an ancient Scottish sixpence in the crown. On your next one ,try dapping the coin into a slight dome. It will fit the crown better,and really adds to the custom look.
To make a simple dapping block and punch for a coin here are the basics:

Start off by annealing the coin. Heat the silver coin to a dull red and drop it in a bucket of water. Now it will be dead soft.
Take a piece of maple that is about 4X4" and 2" thick. Carve/grind/sand a curved depression in the center that the coin will just sit in .It only needs to be as much curvature as you want the coin to take. Make the punch out of a 2X2 block of the same wood about 6" long . Just sand the end round and dome it to the shape desired (Make the striking end slightly domed and round the edges). Now you have the punch (positive) and the die (negative). Place a thin piece of leather of soft cloth (a piece of chamois works perfect) in the depression. Place the coin in (good side down ,of course) ,and place the punch on top. Give it ONE good wallop with a wooden mallet (or a 2X4). Remove the coin and check for the amount of dome attained. Repeat as needed, perhaps changing the punch/die curvatures if necessary.

Once you start doing this, you will quickly figure out how to be able to actually curve a coin to the exact shape of the crown ,or shape it to inlay on the handle side.
Steel and aluminum dapping blocks are often found on ebay,too.
Stacy
 
Thanks Stacy being a tool and die maker of yesteryear and making punch die presses I know it's about the same idea,
I'm glad you wrote that out though for the info to those that don't know how..:thumbup: TY

I actually was going to do that and asked the customer might I do that with his OK but decided not to on this one..if it was just a reg piece of silver I would have done that, also I had a time consideration thing to deal anyway on this one too....
I do agree, it would have added that bit of extra to it..:)

David, it's been balls to the wall here for me, but I get on when I can :)

thanks guys..
in the past I haven't liked the crowns a lot myself so that in it self makes me want to make them a bit different to appease me, when a customer asks for these things :D
 
Allan
you can look in a coin shop, some shops are found in shopping malls
I'm sure you can find them online also
look under coin collectors maybe..:)
 
thanks Don

maybe I can cobble the handle onto the blade from the site with photo shop
:o
I'll remember to take those pictures next time..:)

Don That Wostenholm Bowie IXL in your Avatar looks a lot like this one I made too.
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:)
 
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