Looking to tweak the sgian dubh

[ShaunMaxwell]

Drac:

Please don't think I was questioning the quality of your materials. Having seen other samples of your work, I felt sure that someone capable of producing the knives you make would use only the best available materials.

I think you and I have had a conversation before about utility vs. decorative. I'm all about utility, but like you, I don't believe that just because a knife is beautiful doesn't mean that it shouldn't be used! (Okay, with exceptions like the stunner you just posted...HA!).

Here's another tweak that (I hope) goes to Ryan Ross' suggestion about eliminating the shoulder near the but of the handle.

Let me know if this is at all helpful. I'd be happy to help out with additional tweaks to sketches.

SM

[CMcG]

I think there is lots of room to tweak the design of a sgian and still keep its essence recognizable. The use of a full tang is brilliant to me because it makes the knife more sturdy but not too many other makers are doing it. A little Google image searching has brought some interesting ideas (though not all are full tang), which I'll throw out for discussion:

Crandart knives


By Rob Millar


By Daniel Fronefield


A "contemporary" sgian sold by various retailers:


By Omega Artworks:


By Stockwell knives:

[Drac]

By Daniel Fronefield

BTW did you guys notice the blade is metorite?

Jim

[artificer]

BTW did you guys notice the blade is metorite?

Jim

I did! The distinctive crystalline Widmanstätten pattern is fantastic, and a bit of a giveaway.

[Ryan Ross]

Here's another tweak that (I hope) goes to Ryan Ross' suggestion about eliminating the shoulder near the but of the handle.

Ooops.

I meant that I was a fan of the slight shoulder near the butt. I think it helps keep the knife in the hand.

Sorry about that.

[ShaunMaxwell]

Ryan:

I'm gonna learn to read one of these days...

SM

[Drac]

I like the Millar and contemporary designs.

SM, no problems here. I got to remember to get off the soap box

Here are some handle materials for tweaking as well. Now all but one of these will be dress. Sorry guys, not really utility. All of these are just a quick sand and buff. Even a scanner can't some of the effects in the ironwood. The outside two pieces are sanded and buffed. All the gemstones are reconstituted.

Here are Scott's materials. Hopefully I will be able to do the sheath -



Some malachite to go with a damascus blade. Again hopefully with a sheath -



Some jade and purple (they call it charoite but it doesn't look a thing like it) -



And for the casual lovers, some sambar stag, the real stuff. This one will go on one without the rear bolsters -



Jim

[artificer]

Even a scanner can't some of the effects in the ironwood.
Here are Scott's materials. Hopefully I will be able to do the sheath -


...

Jim

MAN, I am drooling already (and it's not the broccoli in spicy black bean sauce that I'm cooking right now either) !

That is beautiful stuff, and I'm dying to see what you do with it.

SLIGHTLY O/T, but still knife related; so what type of knives DO you use in your kitchen, Jim? I prefer Wustof Classic myself

[Drac]

SLIGHTLY O/T, but still knife related; so what type of knives DO you use in your kitchen, Jim? I prefer Wustof Classic myself

I have a real mix. I got into knife making when I saw some kit knives in a magazine. I told my wife "Look I can make some knives a a fraction of the cost." About 10 years later I have a couple kit knives, a few knives from my time in a meat packing plant and a couple odd production ones but so custom ones yet. Never seem to get around to it.

Jim

[CMcG]

I like the Millar and contemporary designs.

<snip>

The contemporary designs have a sleek, modern look that is appealing and I like them too. Unfortunately they don't appear to be too well made... like a lot sgians, they seem to be made for the look and not for use. I'd love to see where you could go with that concept though Drac!

Here's another few contemporary sgians, all found at:
http://buyakilt.com/contemporary-sgian-dubhs







In tracing the "Millar" image back, I found that it was a custom sgian review by a customer. It was actually made by Rob Miller from Castle Keep knives on the Isle of Skye.

Here's a couple more views of it:



Found another couple pics too.

By Thomas Haslinger:


By Jonathan Fenwick: