Looking for some guidance and suggestions so I have come to the experts.
I'm Scottish and just got back from visiting family. While there my uncle surprised me with hospitality tickets to see my favorite SPL team play. I've never been able to see them in person so it was a pretty special event for us both. He is very proudly Scottish and for the last 10 years of his career, he refused to live in London even though that's where his job was moved to. So his company paid for a flat and he stayed there 3 days a week to work. Anyways I wanted to do something special to repay him and decided making a sgian dubh would be perfect.
If you aren't familiar, a sgian dubh is a small dagger worn in the sock when wearing a kilt. There's a long history associated with from defense to proper etiquette. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgian_dubh
Nowadays it's a mostly ceremonial part of Highland Dress. For the most part they come in 2-3 styles horn/antler handle, resin with a jeweled top, or plain wood. By and large they are not sharp at all but lightly pointed. That's in part to knife laws in the UK but probably more to do with the mass produced nature of them (there are really only a few suppliers).
I want to make a nice handle out of a native Tx or Scottish hardwood (maybe even some locally sourced bog oak) and I am pretty confident about my ability to do so. The part that I am stuck on is the blade. I haven't the equipment nor the skill to fashion one myself (I could probably finish the edge/sharpen).
Since this thread is so old, any suggestions on where I could get a blade or blank made? I suspect it would need to be a custom job but don't know where to start. The funny thing is that the blade itself is probably the least important part and practically decorative in nature. It doesn't need to be Damascus, especially hard, or even sharp. What do y'all think?
examples of some sgian dubh
Some classic examples of the resin handle/jewel top. The majority of what you find looks like this:
Examples of the horn/antler style
And finally wood:
Bonus-This is one is made from Heathergem and one I just picked up. When Scottish heather is harvested, you are left with a bunch of woody stems. Rather than trash them, they are dried, dyed, mixed with resin, and compressed. The result is similar to engineered quartz and can be easily shaped and polished.
I'm Scottish and just got back from visiting family. While there my uncle surprised me with hospitality tickets to see my favorite SPL team play. I've never been able to see them in person so it was a pretty special event for us both. He is very proudly Scottish and for the last 10 years of his career, he refused to live in London even though that's where his job was moved to. So his company paid for a flat and he stayed there 3 days a week to work. Anyways I wanted to do something special to repay him and decided making a sgian dubh would be perfect.
If you aren't familiar, a sgian dubh is a small dagger worn in the sock when wearing a kilt. There's a long history associated with from defense to proper etiquette. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgian_dubh
Nowadays it's a mostly ceremonial part of Highland Dress. For the most part they come in 2-3 styles horn/antler handle, resin with a jeweled top, or plain wood. By and large they are not sharp at all but lightly pointed. That's in part to knife laws in the UK but probably more to do with the mass produced nature of them (there are really only a few suppliers).
I want to make a nice handle out of a native Tx or Scottish hardwood (maybe even some locally sourced bog oak) and I am pretty confident about my ability to do so. The part that I am stuck on is the blade. I haven't the equipment nor the skill to fashion one myself (I could probably finish the edge/sharpen).
Since this thread is so old, any suggestions on where I could get a blade or blank made? I suspect it would need to be a custom job but don't know where to start. The funny thing is that the blade itself is probably the least important part and practically decorative in nature. It doesn't need to be Damascus, especially hard, or even sharp. What do y'all think?
examples of some sgian dubh
Some classic examples of the resin handle/jewel top. The majority of what you find looks like this:
Examples of the horn/antler style
And finally wood:
Bonus-This is one is made from Heathergem and one I just picked up. When Scottish heather is harvested, you are left with a bunch of woody stems. Rather than trash them, they are dried, dyed, mixed with resin, and compressed. The result is similar to engineered quartz and can be easily shaped and polished.
