Sgian Dubh Styling

[Seosamh2]

Hi folks,

I've recently decided to make a kilt (Morrison Hunting, knife to line) and its accessories. I'm attempting the sgian dubh and sporran. Many of the sgian dubh pictures I've seen show handles either in black or natural finishes. I'm hand carving a knotwork pattern onto an oak handle. I'm leaning towards a natural, linseed oil finish. However, I would like the knotwork to 'pop' a bit more - don't want my hard work to go to waste! I'm thinking on carefully painting in the negative spaces (colored black in my pic) in a dark brown to make the carving more apparent.

Additionally, I'm considering attaching a small pommel. I've not found a pommel cap in my preferred metal (nickel silver) in a style or size that works for a sgian dubh. Another option would be a dark-stained wood pommel in a thistle design.

Any thoughts? I'm fairly traditionalist, but ready to stray a bit. Would this be too showy, or look laughable? Thanks a million!

IMG_1727.jpg

NOTE: The handle on the left has not been completely sanded. My craftsmanship isn't that poor

[Father Bill]

It's beautiful, I like it!

Moving thread to "Weapons" subforum.

[Damion]

I think solid colour infill would look tacky, but I'm sure there are stains that would make the details stand out and then linseed the rest. You can get gel stain for small projects like this.
Otherwise look up staining or glazing for woodwork. You could also dilute paint to a very thin consistency and paint it on until the crevices are filled. Once dry paint the whole thing with linseed.

As for showy, anything you're thinking of doing can't be any worse than the chromed plastic ones with coloured glass the shops sell.

[jumary]

How about wood burning the areas you want to be darker? There are some very thin pyrography tips that are great for doing detailed work.

[Geoff Withnell]

Not being an artisan in wood, I will not venture to suggest method, but I believe having the negative spaces darker would look wonderful.

[Seosamh2]

Thanks everyone for the input! I hadn't even thought of pyrography for the detailed work. I think that will do a wonderful job - and the tools aren't even expensive! Many thanks, jumary.

[Alisdair]

You could also bring out the deeper negative spaces with coloured shoe polish, if you're going for a waxed finish

[OC Richard]

IMG_1727.jpg

The band of knotwork at the bottom violates the traditional "rules" of how knotwork is done.

The lines always go over one, under one, over one, under one, and so on.

Never over two or under two.

Think about is as if you are plaiting cord.

If you don't have the Bain book I highly recommend it.

Some links

http://store.doverpublications.com/0486229238.html


http://www.maths.ed.ac.uk/~aar/knots/celtic.pdf

[Seosamh2]

The band of knotwork at the bottom violates the traditional "rules" of how knotwork is done.

The lines always go over one, under one, over one, under one, and so on.

Never over two or under two.

Think about is as if you are plaiting cord.

If you don't have the Bain book I highly recommend it.

Some links

http://store.doverpublications.com/0486229238.html


http://www.maths.ed.ac.uk/~aar/knots/celtic.pdf

Woah, didn’t even see that! I usually check each line individually, and must’ve missed that. Luckily haven’t started on it yet. Thanks for the tip!

[uncle remus]

if you want wood dyed a different color I would try one of the following:
for a subtle finish I would use a light cherry or early american stain
for medium finish I would use red oak, special walnut or red chestnut
for a dark finish I would use dark walnut or ebony

the problem I see with using staining is getting the stain color evenly distributed because you rub the stain to evenly distribute it and remove excess. wood burning would probably be better.