Tac Report post Posted March 26, 2009 A buddy of mine came back from an Elk hunt in Colorado with a nice set of antlers, but they were not large enough to justify the expense of a trip to the taxidermist, so he asked me to see what I could do with them as far as using them for knife handles.... He asked that I make him a large bowie style knife and sheath out of the last beam from one of the antlers.... So I ordered a blade and set about putting together the knife. It took me quite a while after I got the knife together to make the sheath, as I didn't have much free time on my hands. Well, today I had some free time so I got a start on it. I haven't made a sheath in quite a while and my basket stamping skills are in need of more frequent practice, but I think this one turned out nice. I lined the belt hanger and the pictures are after the first coat of neatsfoot oil has been applied. I plan on letting it get a little sun tomorrow..... http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j296/Tac56/100_0958.jpg http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j296/Tac56/100_0953.jpg -Tac Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ArtS Report post Posted March 26, 2009 Good job Tac! I like it. Goes perfect with the knife. Art Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BOOMSTICKHolsters Report post Posted March 26, 2009 I think you di a beautiful job on both the knife, and the sheath. Great work! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chestercheeto Report post Posted March 26, 2009 Nice colour ...good job! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
colttrainer Report post Posted March 26, 2009 Nice job on both items. 2 questions: 1) where do you get your blades from, 2) what method are you using to install the bone. Al Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
K-Man Report post Posted March 26, 2009 Nice job. Would it be possible to see a picture of the backside? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tac Report post Posted March 26, 2009 Colttrainer, I ordered my blades on line from a company called "Smokey Mountain Knife Works". They sell mostly assembled knives, but they do offer a few various styles of blank blades. As for mounting it in the antler.... This knife blade had a reletively small tang that was drilled with a couple of holes and rectangular in shape. I use a drill bit, slightly smaller in diameter than the tang of the blade is thick and tape it so that it stops at the correct depth, then I drill the hole in the antler from the cut end. On this one, becasue of the shape of the tang, I had to drill two holes, one on top of the other, then cut out the material in between, in order to make the hole the same general shape and size of the tang.. Once that is done, I sand and shape the outside edges of the antler to fit the size and shape of the hilt of the knife blade. Once I have it mocked up to where I want it, I test fit the blade in the antler. This usually requires some tapping with a mallet to get the blade to seat in the antler. Once I am satisfied with the overall fit of everthing, I pull it all apart and use a super strong epoxy to partially fill the hole in the antler. Then I tap the blade tang back into place and clean up any over-flow of epoxy and let it dry. Because this knife is intended to be more "ornimental" than meant for serious hard use, the assembly method I used should work fine. If the knife was meant to be a hard use knife or working blade, I would likely have used a more robust and stronger assembly method. In the past, I have also used brass pins to affix the antler to the blade. Anyway, thanks for all the kind words. I hope to get the sheath finished completely and post some more pictures. I will try and remember to get a pic of the back of the sheath at that time. -Tac Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
