A new sgian dubh

[BuchananBiker]

Well, a while back I made a sgian dubh. The carving on the butt of the handle I liked. The blade was off a boot knife, and the hilt had to accommodate the existing sheath.

It works out fine enough in biker boots, but it's a bit bulky for kilt hose. It was time for a new one. But this time, I started from a rougher point. Specifically I started with an old file that I had kicking around. I'm not sure how old it is, but from the quality I'm betting at least 30 years old.

Now, I don't have access to a proper forge. I do have an oxyacetylene torch, a large ball pien hammer and a good sized chunk of I-beam to hammer on.
So, heat the file...

Get it nice and glowing hot, just before it starts sparking. Lay on I-beam and hammer away.

If you angle your strikes you can stretch the steel and thin it out.
Here it had a standard point, but I didn't like it so I hammered it more to a drop point.


It has a crude surface and little flaws. There are places it almost has a fish scale pattern from the original teeth of the file. All these things endear it to me and make it more mine.

[BuchananBiker]

Then it was time to make a hilt. This time I took a billet of brass and put it on a mill.

I measured out the width of the blade and got a tool of the correct diameter. From there it was just slow passed, back and forth. Each pass cutting a little deeper.
Then flip the billet over and repeat, only this time cutting the width of the tang.

Heat it up, try to fit it.

I wasn't overly thrilled with the final fit.

So I made a second one, but refined my measurements. It came out much better.


Now to select my handle material...

[Father Bill]

Dying to see the next steps!

[ChattanCat]

Nice work!

[BuchananBiker]

So, did a bit of work on my sgian dubh. First off, I selected a piece of antler shed by a white-tailed deer (for the animal lovers this was a spring shed, no harm came to the buck by my hands).


Now, tonight's first stop was the belt sander to get the end straight and flush.



Next was to center the antler on the brass hilt and trace its outline. Then came some rough cutting and grinding.



Roughed in



Then, I wrapped the blade in vinyl tape, and clamped it in a vice with the brass hilt in place. I boiled the antler for about an hour to soften the inner spongy material. Then line it up and push it on.... HARD. A few taps with a hammer and here we are.



Next will come fine grinding to blend in the shape of the brass to match the antler, and give it a finished shape near the blade.

[Standard]

Great looking project. Can't wait to see the fully completed sgain!

[MacGumerait]

Now that's just too cool . Looks like a " Red Jacket " project !

BuchananBiker , that's impressive , hold a file in your hand one day , then all of sudden say to yourself - hey , that could be a sgian dubh . Good old fashioned creativity and skill !

[CMcG]

This thread is really cool.

[BuchananBiker]

Well, got it finished. Last night I'd did the finish grinding to make the brass and the antler mate up. I did a bit of fine grinding on the butt of the antler to smooth it out. Polished the brass, fine sanded the antler, and did a little fine grinding to put the groves the back side of the blade. The sheath is next, but I'll do that when I make my sporran.

[Scout]

That's 1st rate!

The dangerous thing aboout these DIY threads is they put too many ideas into my head! I know I've got an old file and some shed antlers around here somewhere!