Sgian dhus and a dirk

[Nick]

Just finished the sheaths for these two sgian dhus I made for two of my groomsmen. The blades are forged from high-quality hockey skate blades, the roughness was left in the center intentionally. The handles are whitetail deer antler. They are not drilled all the way through, and the blades are inset slightly. The extra width of the hole was filled with dental acryllic to finish it. Also notice the small ricosso at the bottom of the blades, something not normally found on sgians.




Both handles have similar curves.


And here's the dirk I'm making for myself, forged from a 7" piece of 3/4" roundstock. The handle needs the finishing work and then a finish applied.


(This was also posted at www.xmarksthescot.com)

Cheers,
Nick

[julian]

Nick those are great! Were the hockey skate blades newer ones, or old ones? I thought they were stainless; how were they to forge? I was thinking about using skate blades as knives, but was unsure whethere they'd work.

Thanks for blazing the trail :)

[Nick]

Hi Julian,

I'm afraid I can't take credit for blazing the trail, I got the blades from a good friend of mine who's a bladesmith who uses them quite a bit. They do make excellent knives, though. They're not stainless, but they are quite rust-resistant. I'm not sure how old they are, but at least a few years, maybe four or five.

As for forging porperties, it's very strange. It's close to an air-hardening steel, and is difficult to file when cold. Though I actually forged these blades, my friend primarily stock removes when using them. He only forges scrolls of large bends, and I'd have to say that that is probably the best course of action for this material.

I'd like to get the exact properties of this steel, I'm probably going to give a piece to a friend who works in the Chemistry dept. at the university to analyze.

You can see Dan's work here: www.blackriverblades.com. He uses the skate blades mainly for the bodice daggers.

Cheers,
Nick