Deer pelt knife handle? or sheath? ??

[XScavngerX]

How should I incorporate this deer pelt im drying into a blade or other smithing project? Ideas!

[bigfootnampa]

Tanned buckskin is too soft to be very useful for knife handles (IMO) but you might try slipping the hair off of a section and see how it works as a rawhide wrap.

[Stephen Olivo]

you can make 3 different products with a deer hide. Rawhide, buckskin, and leather. Each have different properties and work better for different things. Rawhide requires the least work from you. Veg tanned leather requires more work and buckskin the most. Rawhide lets light through and is good for light shades, boxes, handles, blade areas of sheaths, drums, etc....It is also more susceptible to weather. In a way it is kind of like working with a shrinking plastic. You could use it to bind the parts of a knife together and as it dries it would cinch them tighter. Veg tanned leather is known for being the only leather that will hold tooling marks and this makes it a favorite of sheath makers in many places as well as a very nice handle covering. Buckskin is a natural animal cloth (basically) it is soft supple and the least durable of them but also the softest. Don't get me wrong it is still very strong. Best for clothing though I could see it being very comfortable as a handle material just not necessarily as durable as the other two. Basically all 3 would be usable for handles when treated properly each with a different effect (knives, fireplace tools, etc.). There are plenty of ways to incorporate them into a blacksmithing projects from tables to lights, boxes to chairs. All are good for accents. Hopefully this has given you ideas. I have made all three and I am using them in knife work and in making clothing, and other items. It really depends on what your going for. Its a versatile raw material.

[ThomasPowers]

Or you could taw it with the hair on for #4...