I have been wanting to make myself one of these for awhile and I got around to it this weekend, only took about a year. I have made a few Japanese style knives and had some rayskin in the shop so I decided to make a Ray Dubh
The handle is stabilized rayskin over wood that was dyed black and weathered a bit to bring out the nodules. It makes a very tactile and secure grip and rayskin or shagreen has been used for centuries on blades. Going to wear it to a semi formal event this weekend