Custom "Buffalo Skinner" and another "Sheep Skinner"..

The same neighbor that started this whole knife building "Hobby" of mine has ordered several more knives. One for each of his two Grandsons, and one for his Son-in-Law..
His oldest Grandson, "Buckshot", is an avid Boar Hunter, and wanted a very aggressive blade on his skinning knife.. I showed him several designs, including the "Sheep Skinner" that his Grandad chose, but he wanted more aggressive curvature, and his pick was the Green River Buffalo Skinner (A in this picture), his little Brother "Birdshot" (I'm not kidding, those are their nicknames) wanted one like Grandpa's, the Sheep Skinner (B in this picture).

So the build was on... I didnt get many step-by-step pictures of Buckshots knife, as the first handle had a weakspot in it and while riveting the scales to the tang, it split...
But these shots are just after the epoxy had cured, and I had drilled the rivet holes.

This is also after I had filed and rasped the general shape of the handle, what I call a "Coke Bottle Lite", and sanded to about 220 grit....  The next couple pictures show it sanded further, and then with the first few coats of Tung Oil on it...

He also wanted a finger indent rather than a guard, and I obliged... But removing what may seem like a small amount of this very hard steel is not as simple as it would seem. And you always have to be careful to not overheat the steel, thus losing your Temper and turning the steel brittle. I also used Guitar inlay as I have in other knives.

Better shot of the index finger groove and also the grain of this wood. He needed a hard wood since this will be a hard working knife, and Iron wood and similar very hard woods were just not in the budget.. So I chose "Black Palm", which with the way it is stabilized, is HORRIBLY hard, and by that I mean that it took about 3 times the amount of sanding/rasping/grinding as other woods I have worked with did. It is some hard stuff!!

Chose, again with the help of my lovely helper Pamela, Red liners. They really bring out the lines between the very dark wood and brightness of the steel..

Now rivets in place, final sanding complete, and Tung Oil application started...

On to Birdshots Knife... I chose this "Tigerwood", I have also seen it called "Red Zebra Wood". It is a very beautiful and medium-hard wood.

Here I have just applied the guitar inlay at the front of the handle.

Now, comes the gluing of the scales.. The epoxy I use is fantastic stuff, but only gives me a 5 min work time, so attention to what you're doing is VERY important! (trust me, I found out the hard way)...

 
Epoxy cured, now time to start shaping.... This knife I decided to not only put an index finger notch in the bottom, as I had done his brothers, but also a thumb indent in the top. This was due to my making this "new" style of handle, I call "Lite Teardrop"..

Hmmmmm. where to start... I know many knife makers use patterns, and I really should too, since it would cut the time down quite a bit per build.. But just like cooking, I HATE going by recipes. Unless its in a box, I dont want directions. Same with carving, whittling, knife building... General idea of what they want, and if no specific type handle is given, GO WITH THE FLOW!!
So Pamela took some pictures of me chilling on the back porch, sanding from rough to eyeballed smooth and even...

Getting there....

Maybe I am just too picky, but it takes me FOREVER to get the handle just right... You really need good natural light to see the slight differences in angle, depth, grain pattern, etc... Cant overstate that...

Finally down to the 400 grit final sand.... Everything looking good...

This is the thinnest tear drop style handle I have made so far... I was a little worried it would be uncomfortable being so thin at the front, but with the thumb indent at the front, this is probably one of the most comfortable knives I have made to date..


 Both Skinners finished and with wooden sheaths.

Since Buckshot wanted a "working knife", he got the plain-jane version.










Birdshot, on the other hand, was getting a "Keepsake Knife" from Grandpa, so he got the fancy exotic wood sheath for his...

Hope y'all enjoyed the build... Will be posting more soon, so keep tuned in!!

And remember my motto:

"Give a Man a piece of wood and some steel, and
he WILL build something".....