The birth of my first Scandi...

[PaulSanderson]

Hi everyone...

...I have recently just finished my first scandi, and thought I would document its birth. Please excuse the terrible photo quality as they were taken on my phone. It's not the first blade I have made, but to be honest it has probably been the most enjoyable. It started of as a peice of scrap 01 which went through the usual HT (58HRC-ish) in the garden forge/fire pit and then the Aga. Dont know why but I dropped the point slightly, so this was purely aesthetic and not scandi at all...

So having made the blade I set off into the woods on the farm with my 2 favourite bush-buddies, and they found me this...a fallen oak tree...

Out came the folding saw, and I was left with this...Enough for the handle and a few spoons...

Quickly roughed out the handle with an axe and mora and drilled the slot for the tang. At this point, i etched out some grooves in the tang to help the araldite 'bite'.

Then onto the final shaping...

It took me a while to work out the final shape. Just couldnt seem to get it to feel 'right' in the hand. Finally got it right though and here is the finished result...

I thoroughly enjoyed making this one, despite its relative simplicity. Im already planning the next one...

As for the blade itself, it takes a fine edge and manages to maintain it remarkably well. I also managed to avoid the strange patina effect I somehow got with previous blades...I must be learning something!

Many thanks for looking.

 

[Retired Member southey]

Thats a good looking knife matey! What is the bolster made from

 

[PaulSanderson]

cheers Dave, the bolster is made from copper, black scrap leather and an alloy of 75% copper and 25% nickel that were kicking around the house. There will be more, as well as some bone, in the next handle...

 

[Retired Member southey]

hahahahahahahaha well it looks great, that's my 52 pence worth!:theyareon

 

[PaulSanderson]

ha ha thanks mate!! i like it too...and it didnt cost the earth to make...gotta love recycling...

 

[Barn Owl]

All nice, except I don't like a drop point personally.

 

[PaulSanderson]

All nice, except I don't like a drop point personally.

fair point Barn Owl, I dont even know why i dropped the point on this. I often think drop points look more 'tactical', so totally against what a scandi should look like (IMO)...needless to say the next one will NOT be a drop point.

 

[luckylee]

looks great bud.

 

[luckylee]

fair point Barn Owl, I dont even know why i dropped the point on this. I often think drop points look more 'tactical', so totally against what a scandi should look like (IMO)...needless to say the next one will NOT be a drop point.

paul if ypu decide that you want to put a leather spacer or two in the next one let me no bud, and i should be able to find you a few peices i think

 

[PaulSanderson]

thanks lee!! thats quality mate...i'll give you a shout

 

[addo]

Good work Paul. I like the way you went about using scrap and foraged materials.
Handle looks nice too. I drop my blades just slightly for opening nettles stems, bunnies ect. Just a couple of mm blended in with the rest makes a difference to the way it works and looks.

 

[PaulSanderson]

Thanks Addo...i to make do with whatever I have around me instead of buying specific materials where possible. The knife before this had the pins from a door hinge as scale pins...