The Deer Hunter....

[VaughnT]

Dad's big into deer hunting (not getting, just hunting!) and I thought this would be a good way to pay him back for all the years he's helped me.  This blade started out as mystery metal (ugh!) in the form of a golf cart leaf spring dad got from a friend of his.  Now, he's got something to take back to his buddy and do some bragging.

 

Right off the bat, this metal was rusting like nothing I've ever seen and that told me it needed to have a patina.  No sense in taking it to a mirror shine when the first drop of blood was going to give it that aged look, so I cut to the quick and used the cold blue and bleach method to give the knife something of an old timey look.  Of course, you can't have old timey if you don't have a handle to fit the look, so I went with deer antler and a rawhide wrap.

 

The pommel caps the whole thing off.  My first try with pouring pewter and I didn't realize just how weighty this stuff is.  Really throws the balance of the knife off, but it gives it a comfortable heft.  Thats my story, anyhow.

 

5" of edge and 5" of handle, roughly.  Now all I have to do is sharpen it and figure out what I'm going to do for a sheath.

 

[Dan C]

Very nice, love the look! What's the cold blue n bleach method?

[VaughnT]

Thank you for the kind words, Dan.  

 

Apply the Birchwood Casey's Cold Blue solution (available at hunting stores and walmart) to the steel in a haphazard manner, then stick the metal in a pot of regular bleach.  The bleach causes an instant rust to form - very neat to watch.  Then you sand off the rust with some steel wool.  You're left with a patina much like if you had used vinegar and mustard, but this is much faster.  If you don't like the look, simply do it again and again and again until you get a look that you like.  I probably blued this blade a half dozen times, removing a little patina here and there, and then redoing it to get something interesting going on.

 

If you put the cold blue on in a nice even coat, you'll get a nice even finish.  If you slap it on, splashing it heavy in some places and light in others, you'll get a more random patina.  Same goes for removing the rust afterwards; light sanding in some spots will leave darker areas more pronounced.  I use q-tips to apply the solution and then fine-grit paper and steel wool to remove the rust.

 

The nature of this steel is such that it will form a natural patina after skinning the first deer.  Blood reacts to the metal and forms an oxide layer giving it that bluish color a lot of older knives have - all I did was speed the process up.

[Dan C]

Sweet, thank you for the detailed description!  A skinning/hunting knife that my dad has had for 40+ years (and I used to profile some of mine with) has the exact same look.

[rhitee93]

I have no knife making skills of my own so accolades from me aren't as meaningful as from the other folks around here, but I can say that your knife is one I would be proud to own and use.

 

Apply the Birchwood Casey's Cold Blue solution (available at hunting stores and walmart) to the steel in a haphazard manner, then stick the metal in a pot of regular bleach.  The bleach causes an instant rust to form - very neat to watch.  Then you sand off the rust with some steel wool.  You're left with a patina much like if you had used vinegar and mustard, but this is much faster.  If you don't like the look, simply do it again and again and again until you get a look that you like.  I probably blued this blade a half dozen times, removing a little patina here and there, and then redoing it to get something interesting going on.

 

If you put the cold blue on in a nice even coat, you'll get a nice even finish.  If you slap it on, splashing it heavy in some places and light in others, you'll get a more random patina.  Same goes for removing the rust afterwards; light sanding in some spots will leave darker areas more pronounced.  I use q-tips to apply the solution and then fine-grit paper and steel wool to remove the rust.

 

 

 

Wow, that is a lot like the old rust bluing process that used to be common around 1900.  Have you ever tried to achieve a very even deep finish with repeated cycles?  I've been wanting to try to rust blue some gun parts I have made, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

[Loneforge]

Did you pour the pewter into the bone? 

[VaughnT]

" ...but I can say that your knife is one I would be proud to own and use."

 

And that's the highest form of praise I could ever ask for.

 

Loneforge, I did pour the molten pewter into the antler handle.  I dug out the pith a bit more than I should have, though.  When combined with the weight of the epoxy, the pewter really tipped the balance.  There's absolutely no chance that this could be a throwing knife!!

[homeshow]

Some heft in a Skinner is a good thing.

[Loneforge]

Nice little rig! 

[BCROB]

thats a great look , nicely done 

[VaughnT]

Finally got the sheath made.  The color came out spectacularly - just what I was looking for but didn't know how to accomplish.  Overjoyed by the look doesn't begin to describe how happy I am with it!

 

Then I notice two of my knots on the belt loop stitching have failed.  And it's a given that one of the failed knots is on the bottom of the loop, right.  I might have been able to fix the upper stitch with a curved needle, but there's no way to reach the bottom without undoing the entire side seam.  Even though there's another row of stitches to secure the loop, I couldn't just ignore the failure.  Can't glue it up with superglue because the waxed leather and waxed thread wouldn't give it anything to bond well with.

 

Curve-balls.  Gotta love 'em!!!