The birth of my first Scandi...

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PaulSanderson

Settler
May 9, 2010
731
1
North Norfolk, GB
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...

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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...

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

IMG-20110909-01752.jpg


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'.

IMG-20110909-01759.jpg


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Then onto the final shaping...

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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...

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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.
 

PaulSanderson

Settler
May 9, 2010
731
1
North Norfolk, GB
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...
 

luckylee

On a new Journey
Aug 24, 2010
2,412
0
birmingham
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;)
 

addo

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 8, 2006
2,485
9
Derbyshire
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

Settler
May 9, 2010
731
1
North Norfolk, GB
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...
 

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