Butcher Knife for Son-In-Law

[gitano]

I'm not too satisfied with the finished product here. It's a little "clunky" to me, BUT... it's the way my son-in-law wanted it, and I refuse to become a "gunsmith". In other words, I refuse to make something FOR someone else[/B], but make it the way EYE want it[/U]. That's being a "gunsmith". :frown

Personally, I would have left it with the natural brown patina too.





However, that's easier said than done. What most folks, including hunters, don't realize is that the brown color of most deer antlers comes from the blood that dries on the antler when they strip the velvet off. The tips look 'ivory' because they 'polish' the blood off when they thrash the bushes during the rut. That natural "blood brown" patina comes off VERY easily with just the slightest sanding, so ANY shaping you need to do removes it and it's REALLY obvious. However, in this case, as I was shaping it, the deep grooves (from the arteries when the antler was growing), looked pretty good to my eye because they protected the patina in them.

Also, I 'inlet' the shank of the blade into the antler scales, instead of sandwiching it between the scales.


I haven't done this in the past. I like it, but even discounting the extra labor involved, it has some drawbacks. The primary one being that you can't shape to the outline of the shank or you reveal the inletting, which looks bad. In the future, I will grind the shank of the knife down considerably before inletting for it. That reduces the labor and leaves significantly more 'meat' for shaping.

I hafta say that these Russell Green River blade blanks are a very good product. Quality steel and VERY sharp right out of the box. There was no need to sharpen them at all. In fact, the blue tape you see on the cutting edge of the unfinished knife wasn't to protect the edge, it was to protect ME!

Paul

PS - Both sons-in-law got one of these butcher knives for Christmas. I didn't get a picture of the one that went to the SIL in Utah, but it looked very similar. The main difference was that the blade for that one was "sandwiched" between the caribou antler scales, not inletted like this one was. Therefore, 'top-to-bottom', it was a bit thinner.

Paul

[sakorick]

Very very cool. I want one!!

[Paul Hoskins]

I like it. Working tools don't have to look fancy. Simple & efficient is all that matters.  .......Paul H