Completed knives

[civilwarblacksmith]

Here are some knives I finished this weekend and today.

Pic#1: This is the knife made from the ditchwitch tooth. It has a sambar stag handle with hand made brass guard and butt cap. The blade is 5 1/2" and the handle is 4 1/4"

Pic#2: This knife was made from a lawn mower blade (5160). Handle is buffalo horn. The blade is 5" and the handle is 4 1/2" long.

Pic#3: This is a knife made from 1095 with oak handle. It has a hand made guard and screwed on butt cap. Blade is 6" and handle is about 5".

Pic#4: This one was a better attempt at a rail road knife. The handle was flattened out to be able to put on wooden scales. The handle is purple heart and about 4" long. the blade is 7 3/8".

Question is, What do I put on the buffalo horn and the purple heart to put a finish on it?

Also does the stag handle need any kind of protectant on it?

[coltpax]

I just buff most of my horn and wood handles on a loose wheel with a fine green composite, and it usually stays fine. Makes the handle feel kind of greasy or waxy, kind of like an old, well used kitchen knife or butcher knife. I usually dont deal with wood or horn handles though, i jsut prefer wrapped handles on most of my blades.

[Donnie]

Nice work.

[Rich Hale]

I have all horn stabilized, it is really animal hair and if kept out of the sun will last a while with a bit of care but the stabilizing adds to dureablility, I have use linseed oil on purple heart, it will darken it but then that wood darkens with age anyway..z