Knife 14 and Sheath 6

I was recently reminded by my lovely wife that I had not yet made a knife for her ... so I rectified that situation.  This is the story.

This one would have to be pretty, feel good in the hand, unusual (i.e. special) and "fit for a lady".

I decided to use stainless steel this time because, although I wanted it to be sharp, it did not need to be hardened or able to retain a razor-sharp edge.  The overall blade shape is a "recurve", which is when the blade curves twice along its length.  It is a full tang design but before assembly I drilled many holes through the tang to reduce the weight.  The blade is finished to a fine satin finish all over.

The scales are olive wood.  I had not used this material before and I must say I like it.  Although a fairly hard wood, it is quite easy to work with and it returns a beautifully smooth, tactile surface finish.  I found it interesting that the wood has a natural slight oiliness to it, not really surprising when you consider how oily olives can be.  The resulting effect was that it was not necessary to apply any wax or oil to polish it at the end.

For decorative effect there are 3 cubic zirconia set into the wood on each side,  2 amber and 1 mauve in the centre.  The scales are attached with epoxy glue and 2 x 6mm brass pins (0.25").

Overall dimensions are:

Blade - 150mm long (5.9"), 30mm (1.6") at its widest point, 4mm thick (0.16")

Handle - 100mm long (3.9"), 17mm thick (0.67")

Overall length - 250mm (9.8")

I took a different approach to the sheath for this one.  Instead of a single piece of leather folded in half, I used 2 separate pieces for the front and back, separated by an all-around welt.  (The welt is a strip of leather inserted between the 2 sides of the sheath to provide a spacer to allow for the thickness of the blade.)  For further decorative effect I created a woven effect on the front by cutting a series of horizontal slits not quite all the way to the edges.  From a different piece of thinner grey leather I cut 5 long strips and wove them through the slits creating a grid pattern.

I glued all the pieces together, keeping them tightly pressed overnight.  Instead of saddle stitch, this time I used blanket stitch all the way around the perimeter of the sheath.  This one has neither a belt loop nor a handle clip because it will never need to be carried on a belt - remember, it is a lady's knife!  Hopefully the result will be acceptable to the new owner.

Enjoy the photos!

Sheath number 5

Following on from my last post, I thought such a handsome knife really deserves a sheath ... so this is the story. 

Although fairly simple in its design, I tried hard to focus on the crafting technique so that it would look as good as possible.  The body of the sheath is formed from a single piece of leather, folded over along the spine and stitched with saddle stitch all the way along where the edges meet.  At the top, the leather is folded over to form a generously proportioned belt loop where a second strip of leather is stitched on to form a securing strap around the handle.

The securing strap closes with a press stud and the observant reader will see there is a small insert of thinner leather glued to the inside surface, over the back of the stud.  This is to prevent causing damage to the wood when pressing the stud closed.

Note the top edge of the front surface, where the leather meets the knife handle.  The edge of the leather is curved to the same shape as the front of the handle so the two meet together comfortably.  Also note how I continued the saddle stitching along this curved top edge as well for decorative effect. 

To neaten off the edges of the leather I used a find sandpaper all along the stitched edge.  See how the first stitch at the tip of the sheath curles around the spine, again just for cosmetic effect, and all the stitching is recessed into a groove cut into the surface of the leather about 4mm in from the edge.

Enjoy the photos!