Sgian dubh Build-along

[Tartan Hiker]

I'm a do-it-myself kind of guy, and I bet lots of you are as well. In real life I'm a biology teacher, but in my down time I build arrows, strings, and leather accessories for traditional archers (those who shoot longbows and recurves, not those mechanical arrow-flinging devices so popuar today). I have always wanted to build my own knife, and never had any truly compelling reason...until now. With the arrival of my new kilt I had to have the minimum accoutrements, which I decided must be a belt, sporran, and (of course) a sgian dubh. I committed to making all these myself. The belt and sporran are done, but I'm still working on the knife.

Anyway, I thought that there might be others that would like to give this knifebuilding thing a try but who were afraid that it would require too many exotic tools and techniques. Well, it really doesn't! My shop is fairly well equipped, but I could easily see this project successfully completed by someone with less equipment. I'm very new to this list, so if this isn't an appropriate thread please tell me!

So here is the first installment, where I prepare the blades. Now if you are the type who would n'er carry a sgian dubh that was not crafted of Scottish steel with a bog-oak handle and silver hardware, then scroll down nae further!
This one will have a good 'ol Black Walnut handle, because I really like walnut and I happened to have a chunk sitting around looking for a knife to wrap around!

First of all I had to find blade blanks. I found just what I was looking for at Track of the Wolf in Elk River, Minnesota. (Item # Blade-7, 7" dirk) The blades are cast from 4140 steel and have not been finished in any way. $11.95 each. A quick phone call and three were on their way (one for myself and one each for the sons!)

These blades are not finished at all (no polishing or heat treating) so there is a lot of hand work in getting them ready to haft. First they must be smoothed to remove the rough surface caused by the casting process. Clamp the blade to a solid surface and use a small mill bastard file, pulling the file from butt to tip. Pulling the file this way helps maintain the flat surfaces of the blade. You need to remove a good bit of metal to get down to a nice smooth finish. Don't bevel the edges yet, but get then down to approximately 0.5 mm. If you find that you have gone too far and gotten a sharp edge, flatten it carefully with the file so you don't cut yourself!




Here's a blade after the initial filing. I don't have a photo of the blade before filing, but if you look at the tang you'll get an idea of how rough the finish was. It took about two hours to get the blade to this stage; 90 minutes with the file and another 30 minutes with 220 grit silicon carbide paper to remove the file marks. Wrapping the paper around a small block of wood helped maintain the flat surfaces of the blade. Use a power sander only if you really know what you're doing and you have a respirator.



After getting the blades smoothed it is time to harden them. If you don't intend to actually use the blade for anything more than slicing the occasional apple this step may not be necessary, but an unhardened blade will not hold an edge and the tip is prone to snap off.
There are many ways to harden the blade. The easiest is to heat it with a torch and quench it in oil. I took mine to the local community college and the metals instructor helped me with this chore. Fire up an acetylene torch, heat the blade evenly to cherry red, rapidly quench it in oil, and you're done. Any shop that works with metals should be able to do this job for you. It took us 15 minutes to do three blades.

After heat treating the blade is too hard for the file to cut, so all work must now be done with the silicon carbide paper. In this photo the blade on the left is as it appeared after hardening. The one on the right has been polished with paper. Start with 220 grit, then work up through 320, 400, and 600 grit for a mirror finish. I chose to leave my blades a bit underpolished as this gives them an "antiqued" look.



That's all for now. I'll be back again to show you how to attach the handle.

[GlassMan]

Wow, what an incredible post. Even though I doubt I'll ever make my own, I loved reading that. And thanks for such great pictures to help illustrate your text. It is positively amazing the types of experts we have on this site.

BRAVO!

[Robin]

*makes notes.

I can't wait to see the next chapter!

[djweso]

This is really great. Well written and clear. This is something I too always wanted to do but didn't have a good reason or any idea of where to start. Now I've got both. Its a project I probably won't get too for a while but something I would like to do.

Thanks so much for the thread. Please do keep it up.

[Rab Gordon]

I would suggest tempering the blades after hardening or they'll likely be too brittle. A lot depends upon the particular steel but you'd typically heat the blade slowly until it turns to a straw to blue colour then stop. I apply a bit more heat to the tang than the blade when tempering as it doesn't need to be hard and you don't want it snapping.

If anyone wants some bog oak or silver ferrules, etc. or any advice then drop me a line,

Regards,

Rab

Sgian Dubhs, etc.

[Cawdorian]

I never cease to be amazed by the depth of knowledge and the talents of our members here at X-marks.

That is a very interesting post, I probably would never try to make my own. I can't wait to see the finished product. Be sure and post the pictures when it is completed.

[Tartan Hiker]

Thanks for posting in, Mr. Gordon. Your work is truly exceptional, and I hope to own one of your truly fine pieces some day. My humble efforts are not even in the same ballpark as the many fine bladesmiths, such as Rab Gordon, who are out there.

And Rab is absolutely right about tempering...it's a really good idea to temper a blade's edge to ensure that the edge is as durable as possible. The hardening process I described makes the steel hard, but brittle. Tempering the edge of the blade by heating as Rab describes reduces or "draws down" the hardness, making them less brittle and prone to chipping or breaking. Considering the thickness of the blade profiles and the light duty I'll expect of them, I chose not to temper them. A thinner blade, or one that I was going to really stress, would definitely need to be tempered.
Of course, if one is only interested in the sgian dubh as an accessory and not as a functional tool, none of this heat treatment is actually necessary.

[auld argonian]

I can't thank you enough for doing this post....I've been looking at Sghians for a long time and haven't found one that's to my taste and/or made with functional rather than decorative quality in mind. I've found blanks available and consulted a couple of knife making sites looking at how-to articles but it has always seemed like - how shall I say - starting a whole new "hobby" and, as any middle-aged married man knows, wives have a tendency to roll their eyes and give you the cold shoulder when they see that happening.

"You're making knives now? What happened to fly-tying, wood working, oil painting, photography and kilt making?"

"Silence, woman! Be grateful that you're married to a contemporary renaissance man!"

So I'm following this with interest and looking at ordering a couple of blade blanks. Incidentally, is that 4140 steel considered carbon steel?

Best

AA

[Rab Gordon]

Thanks,
We all start somewhere and I'm far from an expert or master in this field but I get a lot of satisfaction in designing and making things that are a bit different to what's out there.
I have some Dirk and sword blades if anyone wants to tackle a larger project. ;-)

Thanks for posting in, Mr. Gordon.....

4140 is a Chrome/Moly alloy steel which although containing carbon, would be more usually referred to as a low alloy steel.

Rab

[Streetcar]

Outstanding thread!