Advice on first Sgian Dubh

[Ryan Ross]

Scotia Metal Works, I believe is the company name. J. Michael McRae is the man behind the knives. That'd be my advice, if you want a good, reasonably priced piece.

I bought a very nice sgian from this fellow, a few years back. Hand forged, differentially hardened, high carbon steel blade with an ironwood hilt. It came with a razor sharp edge, and his heat treat must be good, because it keeps that edge well. The hilt had a nickel silver bolster and bit of cable work tacked down it's side. Came with a sturdy leather sheath, too. $125 and worth every penny, I thought.

Bad picture, good knife:

[NewEnglander]

Scotia Metal Works, I believe is the company name. J. Michael McRae is the man behind the knives. That'd be my advice, if you want a good, reasonably priced piece.

I recently bought a pair of sporran belts from Mike and was pleased with his work and customer service. I'm glad to hear good words about his sgians. He's on the top of my list.

[YoungMan]

I'll throw my vote in for the Scottish Tartan Musuem's collection of sgians. There are several I've spotted there that I liked the look of and that seemed wildly underpriced when compared to similar work elsewhere.

[WClarkB]

Scotia Metal Works, I believe is the company name. J. Michael McRae is the man behind the knives. That'd be my advice, if you want a good, reasonably priced piece.

I bought a very nice sgian from this fellow, a few years back. Hand forged, differentially hardened, high carbon steel blade with an ironwood hilt. It came with a razor sharp edge, and his heat treat must be good, because it keeps that edge well. The hilt had a nickel silver bolster and bit of cable work tacked down it's side. Came with a sturdy leather sheath, too. $125 and worth every penny, I thought.

Bad picture, good knife:

I had the pleasure of seeing some of McRae's work at the last SMHG and it was very impressed. Saving my nickels and dimes to get some variety of the knife he has on his website "Book of Kells Dogs"