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Re-handle a knife with stag.

 
A piece of stag among the bag of dog chews I purchased online. Frankly, I could not tell the difference between the antlers of Elk, Moose, Deer, etc. I only know they call a male deer a stag, or a buck. I'm not sure if female deer (doe?) has antlers.
Well, that stirs my curiousity. Googled. Nope. Maybe a small nub, but that's all.
But.. a female reindeer does have antlers, and they are actually caribou...but that's a topic for another day.
 
What I do know: It's cheaper to buy dog chews than antlers labelled as knife scales. Well, they can't charge you $25 for a split piece of horn which you're going to throw to your dog. It felt wrong to do that.
Knife scales, that's another story.
 
 
 I really don't know why I bought the huge bag of antlers. Especially since I have not completed forging even one knife. Many of my blanks are either half forged, broken from cold hammering, or semi finished awaiting heat treat.

But I see no harm in practicing on a cheap fighting knife. This knife is from Tramontina, the "Stanley Tools" of Brazil. The aluminium rivets are a breeze to remove by countersinking.
 Looks like a East European bayonet, doesn't it?

One rivet passes through the 2 scales and the knife handle;
Another secures the tang to the handle, but hidden under the scales;
The third passes through the scales, but not secured to the handle.
Odd.

 In the process of working this knife, I realized why custom knife makers charge so much. It's not so much the material. It's really a lot of work.
I split the blank in half. Cut to length.Shaped it to my fancy with files.



I find that a junior hacksaw blade works well for antlers. But it also makes me wish I had a scroll saw.
(Bottom right: The pile side scale completed)


 The other side's handle profile traced out.
Tracing the profiles on the ends. (Both finger guard and pommel ends)


 The only brass pins I have are 1/8" in diameter. Too small for the holes in the tang and handle.
I took a long brass screw and filed down the threads.

 This knife jiggles a bit, and I notice a gap between the ricasso and the finger-guard. So I made a spacer. These would be called "Seppa" on a Japanese Sword.




Cheap cast alloy and chrome plating do not go well with age and use. I tidied things up a little with a ball pein hammer and a small file. My target look will be a buck native steel.

Beat the snot out of the pommel too.
 
 
No, the bug here is not Spyderco's latest offering.
But Persistent it is.


The fit and finish won't win any awards here. I nearly fell into the gap while peening at the edge.

It does provide a very good exercise on how contouring affects the markings, how the scale tends to interact with the bolsters, how they feel in the hands..How tight the peened brass rivets hold (quite firmly),..etc..
 The knife is really an experiment, so I filed on a restless swedge at the clip point.

 

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