Symmetry and deer

PEU

PEU

Gaucho Knifemaker
Joined
Aug 6, 2006
Messages
1,182
I'm finishing a knife handled in deer and as always I have doubts about keeping the beautiful sides or make it symmetrical, the photos speak for themselves.

Whats your take? make it symmetrical from the bolster and lose some deer or meet the bolster with a corrective curve on the deer?

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Pablo
 
My deer are rarely symmetrical so I get an odd number of points !! LOL

To me the more important is to get the most of the original surface texture and that you have .
 
The two red lines you drew were not symm. If you stuck with the angle on the left red line it would be ok I think to remove some of the character of the scales. Since you already had to work them down to the tang it will be ok to work them to even the bolsters. Just keep that angle shallow so you only work the top 1/4" of the antler. Sand it to 1000 grit and buff and it will shine white and contrast nicely with the dark.
 
When I first saw the picture I thought that you were talking about the fact that it does not look like your bolsters are square to each other, the left one is higher than the right.
 
As you say, it's a personal opinion, but I like any handle to meet the bolster with a smooth flow. That's one of the problems I've had with deer antler is getting that nice smooth transition, just like I would with wood or mammoth. I personally like the lines of your left red line. Allows the antler to match nicely with bolster, and also tapers the bolster for a nice slide into sheath. As Hugo says, the white will contrast nicely with the dark.

Ken H>
 
Thanks guys, the bolsters are symmetrical, but photo parallax makes it difficult to capture, I will taper the bolsters a little, as it is now I don't quite convinced...

BTW... I finally decided to pay for my knifemaker membership, I'm just waiting for Spark to update it :)


Pablo
 
My first thought when seeing the initial photo was that the bolsters were too cylindrical. The second photo with the lines seemed a bit too tapered. Some taper is needed, but just enough tpo fair into the stag. I like to keep as much stag texture as possible. In many cases, I use a ball burr to blend the stag's grooves into the butt cap and occasionally the bolsters.
 
I like the way it looks right now as I like my scales showing as much as they can and not throw off the knife at the same time.! Plus I do like to feel like I have a real knife in my hand also.* Don't care for skinny handled knives at all.
In other words they look just fine the way they are with a lot of the meat showing.
 
Take two, tappered the bolsters, now it flows better and not much of the sides were lost in the process, now its time for the finishing touches...

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Pablo
PS: Still waiting for Spark to enable my knifemaker status :rolleyes:
PS2: Yes, my desk is a mess...
 
NICE!

Check your user groups in your profile to see if it has been enabled yet. You have to change it yourself once enabled.
 
Nicely done, much better with the taper. Next time... tighten up the gap between the stag and the bolster. Also, if you thin the stag down from the back side, you won't have to remove as much from the textured side. Good looking knife!
 
Thanks Jason, next time I will start with a tappered bolster to begin with, then adjust the stag accordingly. My mistake was to like how were the bolsters.
Thinking from the get go how it will be finished produces a more controlled result :)
But Im liking it a lot how is it now. I will send the knife for bolster engraving, hopefully in a couple of weeks it will be done.


Pablo
 
Now that's the way I like a bolster/handle to blend together. I think that bolster taper will allow the knife to just slide into the sheath. GREAT JOB!!!

Ken H>
 
Amazing how different the handle looks before and after.
Again, a beautifull knife
 
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