Ranger boot/belt knife

[Ecart]

Hello all. Some of you here know I have an interest in Tolkein's Middle Earth Rangers. To that end, I am a mod over at a site dedicated to the reenactment of the ranger lifestyle. I won't go for a shameless plug and free advertizing though. If you're interested in the site, PM me and I'll direct you to it. I set out to make a boot knife a few months ago. It turned into a very experimental knife for me. It has a few contradictions and foul-ups, but overall I think it came out all right. I'm afraid though that the handle and bolster may be a bit too bulky to fit comfortably into the boot, so I'm considering making a sheath to go at the back of my belt at a slight angle, tilted up from horizontal with easy access for the left hand. So without further ado, here is the link:


Picasa Web Albums - Eric - Ranger Boot k...

Stats:
OAL: 12"
Blade length: 6 1/2"
Blade width: 1 1/2" just in front of the ricasso
Handle: Walnut with brass screws.
Handle thickness at bolster: right at 1"
Bolster: Mild steel from angle iron

As I stated, this knife was experimental for me. At the time that I started forging, it was the biggest knife I had tried in recent times. All others were my first attempts at knife making and failed miserably. As you can see in the pics, the tang doesn't make much sense- to me anyway. I fully intended this to be a hidden tang knife with bolster and butt plate, but I cut out and drilled the full tang before I thought about what I was doing. There were several times I thought I lost this knife. It developed a nasty warp in the heat treat. I would heat to a straw color, straighten and quench in oil only to see the warp come back. I decided for a while to leave the warp. One factor in helping me decide not to sell this item.

This was the first try at bolsters and soldering. I accidentally got the knife too hot around the ricasso and completely annealed that area and part of the cutting area. I was afraid the knife would crack in heat treat because I had taken the edge down pretty far by this time. I blunted the edge a bit with a file, reannealed the entire knife then reheat treated and tempered to a dark straw color. I did draw out some of the hardness in the tang. The soldering isn't the prettiest, but it held so I'm happy. Oh, and there is still a small kink in the blade, but nothing like the warp that was there before.

This was also the first attempt at carving the handle. I was trying to go to sleep one night, but was thinking about how to do a different handle and this idea came to me. I carved it with my pocket knife. Brass pins are no fun to try to carve with a pocket knife. But I accomplished what I wanted to there.

There is a space between the bolster and the handle material, but I'll have to live with that I suppose. I am happy with the way it turned out, but see the vast potential for improvement. I think that's all there is to tell.

Any comments/suggestions/questions are not only welcomed, but encouraged.

[ThomasPowers]

Looks very nice. Have you thought of inletting silver in the handle? The rangers seemed to work closely with the elves and so much of their gear may have elvish traits that simple fluid silver inlays might bring out.

[Ecart]

Hmm, that would be a very nice touch. I'll have to look into it. Thanks.

[ThomasPowers]

I'd go with "wire" inlay as simple and pretty durable.

[Ecart]

Thomas, I've been thinking about this idea more. I am going to be producing another similar knife soon.
Silver wire: Where can I get my hands on it? Is it available at crafts stores, or am I thinking of the wrong stuff?
Inletting it: Is there a tutorial anywhere on doing that? (Having said that, I'll be using the search function in a little while, so I may answer that question myself).
I plan to work out some of the bugs that are in this knife to come up with a better looking second edition. The guy I'm thinking of making it for- if we work something out- really liked the idea of a Cocobolo handle, so that may be one modification.
Thanks

[ThomasPowers]

Watch out for cocobolo sawdust, the tropical woods can be quite nasty that way!

Yes there are tutorials, I think there was one in one of the old "Knives XY" annuals. Bill Moran did a lot of that type of inlay and you can get the materials commercially. Note that the "wire" is actually a thin flat strip of silver or nickle silver and not round wire.

[Ecart]

I've worked with Cocobolo once before and because of a similar warning, I wore my respirator. No problems from it that way, thankfully. I was told that some folks are allergic to it and I have enough allergies to worry about so I went ahead and took some precautions. Thanks for the warning though. It never hurts to make sure somebody is protected.
And thanks for the info. I'll be looking everything up this evening.

[MattBower]

Oh, those rangers! When I saw the title I thought you mean the U.S. Army kind. If you said Dunedain/Rangers of the North you could prevent some confusion.

In any event, I'm sure either kind of ranger would be pleased to have this blade.

[Ecart]

Ya know, you've got a point there. I spend a lot of time over on our website. There, "ranger" only means one thing. I will have to remember that next time I post something Dunedain related.
Thanks for the complement too. It is much appreciated.