Any wood sgian handle treatments you would like to see?

[AKScott]

I have four blades on order to keep me occupied over the looming winter.

I have a piece of fossil walrus tusk to play with again, and a really nice piece of quilted maple for two of the handles.

So right now I have two blades that could get "whatever" for a handle.

I am not talented enough to think about becoming a vendor here. I am just a guy with some basic shop skills and basic hand tools. The fourth and fifth knives off my bench came out pretty well, so I am planning / hoping to put one thread in the showroom of various handle treatments regular guys like you and I can easily do at home with out spending a fortune on specialized tools.

I also hope to put a different thread in this section of the system I have worked out that works for me. I basically googled up "home made knife making" and put together my own system based on what other people have already figured out, with an eye especially towards a sgian to wear in hose rather than all the other curcumstances other homemade knives encounter.

So ask already. I saw one a couple years ago of grandpa's partially rotted axe handle made into a sgian handle, so that has been done already. What look or idea do you have kicking around in your head you would like to see someone try? I am abotu to have some free time indoors...

[Cecil]

I guess a piece of Usik would be too light for a handle? Make a great coversation piece though. LOL

[AKScott]

I guess a piece of Usik would be too light for a handle? Make a great coversation piece though. LOL

I suppose. I am used to seeing it spelled oosik, though I see both spellings are in current usage. They are quite expensive.

I am leaning more towards woods with really nice grain patterns like walnut burl or birdseye maple. Stuff anyone in the US could order off the internet as a piece of lumber from multiple vendors and end up with a nice looking home made/ handmade sgain. Without spending a prince's ransom.

We have some very talented crafts people and I mean them no disrespect. Now that I am able to make something presentable after four tries, I have much better appreciation of how much workmanship is involved in making something gorgeous.

If I have an opportunity to by a piece of an oosik big enough for a sgian handle I will consider it. I want to make a few knives this winter that could be had for under $100 each, and a couple under $50, plus straightforward not complex workshop time. I am not going to dig a sandpit and build a forge.

[Skiballa]

I can't speak for everyone, but I'd like to see a briar burl handle. I see flawed pieces on ebay frequently, no good for making tobacco pipes, and they can be got cheaply. It's nice, hard stuff, I've heard that it can be carved quite nicely if it's soaked in a vinegar/water mix for a bit beforehand. You can find some really interesting grain structure, with a mix of curly, birds eye, and flame grains in one piece.

[AKScott]

I can't speak for everyone, but I'd like to see a briar burl handle. I see flawed pieces on ebay frequently, no good for making tobacco pipes, and they can be got cheaply. It's nice, hard stuff, I've heard that it can be carved quite nicely if it's soaked in a vinegar/water mix for a bit beforehand. You can find some really interesting grain structure, with a mix of curly, birds eye, and flame grains in one piece.

Exactly the sort of idea I am hoping to pick from. I would not have thought of briar burl in a million and six years. Thanks.

[joecomet]

As a piper that wanted to ware a dirk that was not a piece of Pakistani junk, I was lucky enough in the 70's to study under Al White , Colt's Master engraver and arms expert . He actualy owned more period dirks and blades than the Royal Museum. I became a successful dirkmaker. My suggestion is to look at John Wallace's 'Scottish Swords and Dirks' at page 77 and built yourself a REAL scottish weapon/tool, namely the 'skeen-ochles' or sleeve knife. Sometimes worn on the belt. The "Black Knife" has been only found in the hose top in the late eighteenth century. A very impractical place to carry a knife while on the move or march. Another error are kinsmen made when they desided to be Scots again, along with clan tarten and family origins. Heart teak soaked in Watco teak oil makes a good substitute for the heather root that many sgian's used. Bone was not used much as it will split with rough use. Again there is a world of difference between the real weapons of the medieval Scot and the Victorian revival.JWLH Esq. FSA Scot. Steward of Carrifran

[Destin_scot]

You could also take a look at a wood known as Texas Ebony, Ebenopsis ebano. It's a dense wood, with some interesting grain patterns.

http://www.texaswoodcrafts.net/Texas%20Ebony/

[sydnie7]

Bob has a lovely one made by Drac with a handle of Kauri wood (here's one source of blanks link, just something I Googled up).

The photos that Drac posted while he was making it are gone now and I haven't taken any of my own, but it's a beautiful wood and, apparently, surprisingly affordable.

[AKScott]

I picked up something I hadn't seen before on a camping trip with my wife this past weekend. We were in our canoe quite a ways off the road system and ended up sharing river banks with a couple beavers. I brought home a few sticks of beaver trash, fresh birch sticks with the bark scraped off in a very orderly workmanlike fashion.

First pic is the bare wood, still quite damp I am afraid, it was live when the beaver cut it off the tree and still damp with beaver spit when I pulled it off the riverbank. I whittled a few knife handles on the riverbank as vacation activity. They are drying rapidly but not cracking yet. Second pic is same handle with damp epoxy on one end and all the way down the sides. I'll see if it cracks in the next few days.

If it holds together ok I'll likely drill the end with no epoxy on it yet and epoxy a blade into it.

[Dajo95]

If you we're looking for something a little more exotic I think that Bubinga wood from Africa has the most amazing pattern.