Ebay sgian blades

[David Dubh]

Does anyone have any experience with these Damascus steel sgian dubh blades on eBay? I'm not exactly crafty but I'm considering buying a group of them and either making handles for them for my grandsons or giving them to my son in laws to craft handles and see who does what. My question is are these good quality sharpenable blades?
Also any ideas where I could get sheaths for them?
Slainte David

[Dirty Rogue]

Hi David,
I've bought a few from different sellers on ebay. You have to be careful with the less expensive ones and check what other items the seller is offering to help you make a judgment call. Some that I bought showed up with thick, flat edges like they were cut from sheet, and turned out to be stamped with ink to appear like damascus. Those ones were made of decent steel and took, and kept, an edge alright after filing and running over a whetstone, but they weren't what they were advertised as. The best damascus for the price that I've purchased on ebay was sold by the smith that made it, and he was also offering various blade types and small chunks/bars/plates of damascus and other steel.

[Dirty Rogue]

I made some sheaths by sewing together heavy scrap leather I had. For some of the knives, I made wooden scabbards that matched/lined up with the handles.