My first attempt at a Sgian Dubh

[GrainReaper]

First let my say I have never attempted to make anything like this before...

With that warning in mind I will now get on with it.

I decided that I needed a useful and functional blade to tuck in my hose to replace the crap-o one I got for under 10 dollars on the web. So where does one start? I decided that I wanted to try my hand at some basic metalworking.... A quick search on google revealed several good reads on crafting a blade from an old file.

Hey, I have a drawer full of old worn out files! So a quick search got me a nice quality Nichols file ready to be repurposed, I built a roaring fire in the pit out back and chucked it into the coals.

Next day I dug the file out of the ash and tested it for hardness with another file. It cut like butter so the file was ready to cut and grind into shape!

I opted for a thinner blade than what is normally seen to suit my needs, when done I gave it a nice polish, then re hardened it with an oxy-acetylene torch and a quick quench in oil, when cooled I checked hardness on the tang with a file and sure enough it was tough to make a mark.

With the file hardened I cleaned it up again and worked the shine back into it before tempering it in the oven for an hour, letting it cool and repeating a couple more times, with the blade basically done I turned my attention on the handle, what was kicking around the garage.... I decided to use an antler from a deer from a couple seasons ago, there was a nice bend in the antler to help with its place in my hose so I started to saw, sand and polish it up to a decent handle, with the blade epoxied in place in the handle I did a little cleanup on it and snapped a couple pics.

Next project is the sheath!

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[GrainReaper]

It seems rough yet, and needs more polishing but it's coming along, the file work on the spine could be much better but hey, it's my first go around!

[Hawk]

Keep the updates going. Would like to see how your project works out....

Hawk

[Chas]

Very handsome indeed!

[ASinclair]

It looks good, GrainReaper. I'm looking forward to the photos of your shealth project.

[MNlad]

Very nice looking blade. That's your first attempt? The proportions are beautiful.

[Nathan]

well done!

[GrainReaper]

Very nice looking blade. That's your first attempt? The proportions are beautiful.

It is indeed my first foray into making a knife, I tend to have an eye for details and work carefully if something is new to me

[Grizzly]

For a first attempt I think its splendid, well done , keep up the excellent work.

[GrainReaper]

Tonight I'm going to draw up the pattern for the sheath halves. I'm unsure if I should go two bits of leather stitched, or go three layers to make it tougher to cut the stitches at the sacrifice of a full snug fit on the blade.

I'm planning on forming the leather to a bit of the handle, maybe some basket weave design tooled in. Then finish it off with neetsfoot oil and some sunlight to darken it a little without stain