The unladen swallows showed up!

[Tim Little]

Congrats on the haul; looking forward to the pix!

The sgian is a beaut -- I was ogling it only a moment ago myself. The open knotwork hilt is quite unusual. If "Heatherstone" is anything like Heathergems, it should look particularly spectacular.

And while the Tay is quite reasonably priced, I really can't justify the purchase of a new sgian myself, so I live vicariously through you!

EDIT -- Aye, this looks to be the item:



Well done, indeed!

[TheKiltedCoder]

Okay, folks, here goes.

First, the Sgian Dubh. In the box -



with the box open -



from the top, showing the stone pattern, and the Heathergems card that came with the sgian dubh -



and finally showing the blade -



The blade arrived dull enough that it will cut warm butter only with persistence and elbow grease. I am strongly considering getting it sharpened, but Illinois law is so screwy about knives, I'm not quite sure whether I can wear it legally, or whether or not having it sharpened even makes a difference in whether it can be worn legally. Part of me really hates carrying a tool that can't be used for its intended purpose, but I also really don't want to get arrested either. I'll have to go consult a lawyer (or the local constabulary).

And now for the kilt. From the front (note: the following images are color corrected using a 50% grey card) -



From the back, showing the pleats



Oblique front showing the apron



and finally oblique rear showing the pleats



Let me know what you all think!

[TheKiltedCoder]

Congrats on the haul; looking forward to the pix!

The sgian is a beaut -- I was ogling it only a moment ago myself. The open knotwork hilt is quite unusual. If "Heatherstone" is anything like Heathergems, it should look particularly spectacular.

And while the Tay is quite reasonably priced, I really can't justify the purchase of a new sgian myself, so I live vicariously through you!

EDIT -- Aye, this looks to be the item:



Well done, indeed!

Yep, as you can see above, it was a Heathergems stone. In addition to going reasonably well with the MacRae, the stone matches my Thompson Grey almost like it was made for it.

The only reason I grabbed it was that I'd gotten a rather minor year end bonus at work, and figured I had to get SOMETHING kilt-related out of it, and that cheesy little plastic $20 sgian that I'd been using was just too tacky for words. I expect that the plastic sgian will be relegated to duty during renfaires and such like (so I don't have to worry about something bad happening), and I'll keep the Tay for dressier occasions.

Thanks much!

Brian

[Tim Little]

In addition to going reasonably well with the MacRae....

I was just looking at the pics and thinking as much; the whole ensemble looks wonderful... and quite an unusual color for the Heathergem -- I'm used to seeing mostly ivory, red, or green... certainly nothing quite that vivid or multi-toned!

[csbdr]

I'm just wondering, how much extra it sets you back to have Jerry order the custom length and pleating. He estimates 1-3 months for custom work on the site, but I've been curious about pricing.

[Tim Little]

I'm just wondering, how much extra it sets you back to have Jerry order the custom length and pleating. He estimates 1-3 months for custom work on the site, but I've been curious about pricing.

I looked into this a couple of months ago, and was told the surcharge is $18/order.

I'm hoping to follow up on this soon....

[TheKiltedCoder]

I looked into this a couple of months ago, and was told the surcharge is $18/order.

I'm hoping to follow up on this soon....

The invoiced amount was for $130, which is right at the quoted price for an off-the-rack model at Stillwater's website. I don't know if Jerry waived the custom fee because of the error or what. My suggestion would be to just shoot him an e-mail if you're curious.