Thought I'd try my hand at it...

[JAB]

I had an old kitchen knife blade laying around and was trying to think of what to do with it.  It was an Old Hickory knife and was so old that the wooden scales had gotten brittle and broke off.  I can't even remember exactly where it came from to begin with but my thinking is that it is older than me.  It looked like this:

 

 

Anyhow, I wanted to do something with it other than just re-make a kitchen knife out of it.  I kept trying to think of ways to put wood scales back on it but doing so would have just made it look, again, like a kitchen knife.  It laid around for months and every once in a while I'd look it over, fail to come up with any ideas and put it away, again.  Then I got an idea.

 

Last year, I happened to be in the right place at the right time to pick up a deer that the local LEO had to put down.  It had been hit by a car and was suffering and, because the stars aligned correctly (I was at an auction that an off-duty officer was also attending - he got a call from the guys at the scene and put out the word that the deer was still alive and available) I got to the scene before they had even put it out of its misery.  I took it home and when I processed it I left the parts of the forelegs that have no meat, etc. lying with the gut pile.  One of those forelegs showed up next to my fence in my mom's yard (mom is my neighbor on one side) a couple of months later, obviously dragged there by her dogs.  For several weeks, I looked at that foreleg and was tempted to take it and toss it down across the woods.  It was pretty well 'mummified' by that point and not smelling or anything, though, so for some reason I felt like I should leave it be.  Then, last week, it hit me - that was the new handle for my knife.

 

Like I said, it was pretty gnarly looking when I decided to start on it.  Luckily, stuff like that doesn't bother me, much ( one of my undergrad degrees is in Anthropology and I would have been a Forensic Anthropologist if it hadn't meant moving to Arizona to continue my studies plus spending another eight to ten years in school with not much chance of getting the job I really wanted.)  So, with a warning for the feint of heart or weak of stomach (probably no one here), this is what the deer leg looked like when I started:

 

 

I had to cut the tang of the blade down so it would fit into the cavity inside the shaft of the bone.  I tackled it with my Dremel.  A few minutes and a couple of cut off wheels later, I had this:

 

 

I actually ended up having to trim it some more to fit in the bone the way I wanted but I didn't get pics of that.

 

Then it was a fairly simple (a little messy but simple) matter of using a two-part epoxy to fix the tang inside the bone.  I then built up a little 'bolster' (for lack of a better word) of epoxy around the top of the handle/base of the blade.  I used Loctite epoxy of a type that comes in the double-sided 'syringe' and during the process confirmed something for myself that I already suspected - I hate that stuff.  It is probably fine for larger jobs but for fine work I simply can't get fine enough control of the flow or placement of the epoxy.  In the future, I'll have to find something that is more suited to the purpose.  Once it was cleaned up and everything, I ended up having to superglue the epiphysis onto the diaphysis because I wanted to keep it as the 'pommel' and the epoxy, for some reason, didn't work.

 

In the end, while it wouldn't work for gluing the epiphysis to the dyaphysis, the epoxy did work for keeping the blade in the handle.  Once it had set for a few hours, I wrapped the blade/handle junction area with some beading wire I bought (on sale/clearance) at Walmart.  All in all, I think it turned out looking pretty good for my first, real attempt (I sorta kinda made a blade once, years ago, by cutting out a blank and grinding it but never really finished working with it and don't even know where it is at the moment.)

 

 

That pic was before I re-polished the handle and cleaned up the blade to get rid of the stray epoxy.  This was after I re-polished it but the lighting isn't as good in this pic:

 

 

Being a learning project, I didn't think about sealing the bone until after I had finished the knife.  I have read in several places online that applying a coat of superglue, sanding and repeating until no more superglue will soak in is a good way to seal it with the bonus that it will actually polish up even better after sealing with the glue.  I will probably try that at some point.

 

The only disappointing thing is that I can't seem to get the blade as sharp as I am generally able to get Old Hickory knives.  I can get a cutting edge on it but can't seem to get a 'scary sharp, razor edge' on it.  For some reason, it gets to a certain 'cutting edge' point then if I keep sharpening it looses the edge altogether and I have to start all over.  Oh, well, it really isn't intended for a whole lot of heavy use so a 'cutting edge' will probably suffice.  I also plan to eventually make a sheath for it, just to complete the package, even though it likely won't be carried a whole lot.

Edited October 1, 2013 by JAB

[UncleJak]

I love it! Bone handles rock!

sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

[Guest Broomhead]

Very nice.

[BJB]

Very Unique I like it

[Timestepper]

Looking good! My best friend also used a deer foreleg for a handle on a sharpening steel he made me for Christmas several years ago and I love it!

[rugerla1]

Very nice!!! :up:

[Spots]

That looks awesome. Great job man Tapatalk ate my spelling. Edited October 2, 2013 by Spots

[JAB]

Thanks all for the comments and compliments.  I'm pretty happy with it for a 'first attempt'.  I have a couple of kits I bought at the Woodcraft store (only came with blades and pins) and a little strip of maple I bought to make scales that have been collecting dust.  Hopefully, this project will be the 'ice breaker' I needed to help me get motivated to work on those.

 

I looked at a small belt sander at Harbor Freight the other day.  The belt it uses was just an inch or two wide but the thing only costs about forty bucks and the hang tag that was on it specifically stated that it would work well for stock removal.  I am going to try my hand at a few kits and purchased 'naked' blades and if I end up being decent at finishing those, I might buy one of those sanders and try my hand at stock removal.  It would eventually be fun to actually hammer one out using a forge, I think.

Edited October 2, 2013 by JAB

[Guest Broomhead]

I started on an HF 1x30 belt grinder, it'll definitely work. I sold mine to Spots when I upgraded to a Craftsman 2x42.

 

Stock removal is fun, but forging is a blast. Similar to how 1st base was fun as a teen, but 3rd base was a blast. It is a good idea to start out slowly. Putting together kits and putting handles on blades is a great way to get going. Hit me up with a PM when you are ready to tackle stock removal and I can help you get started.

Edited October 2, 2013 by Broomhead

[Spots]

I started on an HF 1x30 belt grinder, it'll definitely work. I sold mine to Spots when I upgraded to a Craftsman 2x42.

Stock removal is fun, but forging is a blast. Similar to how 1st base was fun as a teen, but 3rd base was a blast. It is a good idea to start out slowly. Putting together kits and putting handles on blades is a great way to get going. Hit me up with a PM when you are ready to tackle stock removal and I can help you get started.

And I still use that 1 x 30 though I do need to order up a big order of belts. And I do prefer forging its just more fun to me, though stock removal is necassary to a point to clean them up. You can do stock removal with files, its slow but lots of people do it. And when your ready to try forging give me a holler

Tapatalk ate my spelling.

[JAB]

Thanks again, guys.  I'll likely be taking both of you up on those kind offers at some point in the future.

[UncleJak]

I have the same HF 1x30 and I agree with them; it works great.  I look forward to seeing your future works.

[bigbabysweets]

I was laughing so hard at that first deer leg picture! I was like, " what is that, a deer leg?" Sure enough, it was... Lol

Knife looks good! I'd keep a copy of that deer leg close by for the before/after reveal!