Unique Cutlery

Well, here it is, my first craft related post!  This is actually a little hobby my husband has recently embarked upon.  He is making knives using reciprocating saw blades and any number of things for the handles.  His first few creations were with deer antlers.  They have a lot of character and each one is unique.  Here is a picture of his very first one.  

 The next knife handle was made with an oak dowel.  It is certainly functional, and not at all bad looking, but doesn’t have quite the personality as the antler handled ones.   

Moving on, he started experimenting with Bois d’ Arc wood.  We have a tree out in the yard that was anxious to share it’s branches with us.  He fiddled with shaping the wet wood on the lathe but wasn’t satisfied with the result.  One knife was made with wet wood, the bark still on.  I have to admit that I find this knife quite attractive in a rugged sort of way.    

Finally, he went out to the back of the property and got the Bois ‘d Arc wood off of some very aged fence posts.  The wood inside is beautiful.  He worked on shaping and sanding some of it and came up with these for handles.  I can’t wait to see the finished product!

If you want more information on the particulars of the process, read on.  As mentioned, the knife blades started out as reciprocating saw blades.  A lot of sanding, grinding and sharpening goes into each blade in order to shape it and get it up to spec.  Spec in this instance is razor sharp.  Until then, it won’t meet my husband’s quality standards.  He hasn’t done any particular testing to find out how well the blades will hold an edge, but he took the first knife he made with him today when he went looking for the Bois d’ Arc posts.  He used it to scrape the outside of the wood off down far enough for the color to show on about 10 aged posts.  A simple stropping had the edge back to razor sharp.  He plans on expanding out and trying other types of blades, but for now these are keeping him plenty busy.

If you want more detail on the handle making process, just let us know!   It is an inexpensive, fun way to make a knife.  His next project is sheaths.  I might have to help him out with that one.